Fire Symbolism Throughout

1. Fire Symbolism Throughout • The Forge • What does the fire at the forge represent in the novel? • Warm & inviting- like Joe • Service to man • Place of embarrassment- Pip imagines seeing Estella’s face haunting him • Fire Place- Miss Havisham • The small, barely visible, ashy fire that burned in Miss Havisham’s hearth. • It shed no warmth and was of little use. It is this smallness that is seen in the character of Miss Havisham. • Even though the fire was small and pitiful, it jumped from its place and burns Miss Havisham- accident? • This is in the moment of her epiphany- she sees the light and has finally realized the consequences of her actions • The cakes crashes to the floor, the beetles and spiders scatter, and she is laid upon her table • She is burnt out the outside, but the real danger lies within- it is too late for her- she is a shell who keeps her “bridal” appearance even after the dress is gone

2. Fire Symbolism cont. • Pip • Leaves forge- place of warmth • Ashy fire after the revelation of his benefactor • Burnt hands from fire- significance? • Magwitch • Torches burning out- end of freedom • Orlick • Causing fear in Pip at forge • Brings lighter to Drummle • Puts out candle at Sluice house when he captures Pip • Limekiln How does Dickens use fire as a symbol for all people?

3. Redemption • Miss Havisham • Confronted by Pip’s torment and Estella’s inability to love • Asks for forgiveness • Is Miss H. finally redeemed? • Does Pip truly forgive her? Why or why not? • Magwitch • How is Magwitch redeeming himself through Pip? • Pip • What signs do we have that he is on the path to redemption? • Where did his redemption begin? • Jaggers?- p. 413 • Mrs. Joe? • Estella? • Society?- Does it have chance to be redeemed?

4. The Ending • The novel has two endings, the original unpopular one and the second one that proved more acceptable to Dickens’ readers. • Probably the original ending was more realistic, but the public wanted the relationship of Pip and Estella to have another chance after both had changed so drastically.

5. All the mysteries have been solved at the close of the novel. • Pip, whose beginnings were humble and noble on the marshes, becomes at the end of the story, the same decent person he was at the beginning. • The first stage of the novel, Pip’s childhood, is filled with satisfaction, loyalty to Joe, and contentment with his social class position.

6. In the second phase of the novel, he becomes dissatisfied and sets high goals for himself after being affected by the appearance of Estella and Miss Havisham in his life. • The internal conflict begins at this stage of Pip’s life. • The first stage represents the down-to-earth simplicity of Pip’s childhood, and the second stage reflects the sinful era of his life when he turns away from all that he knows is good and honorable.

7. Guilt for doing wrong has affected Pip’s life from the very beginning of the novel. • Good and evil and their effects upon his life have helped shape his life and have caused him to return to his humble beginnings. • While he does not return to the marshes to become a blacksmith, he does return spiritually and emotionally to the values he learned there.

8. Also, the effects of wealth are closely associated with goodness and evil. • It might be noted that while Magwitch was a criminal and considered to be evil, the money that he gave to Pip was gained through honest work and the unselfish desire to make Pip into something that Magwitch could never be. • Miss Havisham, on the other hand, had wealth, but never had happiness. She too tried to reshape another individual.

9. Bildungsroman • While changes take place within several of the characters, Pip is the one who changes the most. • The novel has been labeled as a bildungsroman, which means a “novel of changing or education.”

10. The busy industrial life in London reflects the emotional turmoil within Pip’s life. • The serenity of the marshes is replaced with crowded streets, Newgate Prison, and complexities brought about by indebtedness, overspending, and the identity of his real benefactor. • Pip suffers socially and physically.

11. The third part of the novel represents the redemption. • Pip turns from his sinful and thoughtless ways and returns to his beginnings. • In the last chapters of the book, as Pip draws closer and closer to Biddy and Joe, he has “a sense of increasing relief as I (Pip) drew nearer to them, and a sense of leaving arrogance and untruthfulness further and further behind.” • Pip realizes that wealth and happiness do not necessarily go hand in hand. • He learns that life is made up of unexpected turns and events all of which form the individual into the person he will become.