Section III Questions (also inspired by, and cribbed in part from this page)
1) Were you surprised by the revelation of who Pip’s benefactor was? What do you think of the character of the benefactor, and their backstory as revealed in the next few chapters?
2) Who does Pip think Molly to be, based upon what?
3) What did you think of Miss Havisham and Pip’s interaction, and the information she gave him about Estella. What do you think of their relationship in the aftermath of the fire?
4) What good deeds does Pip perform?
5) What did you think of Pip’s capture and rescue?
6) How is Pip’s opinion of Magwitch changed after the scene on the water? How does he repay him prior to Magwitch’s escape?
7) How is Pip affected by his illness, and by Miss Havisham’s generosity? How does this change him at the end of the novel?
8) Describe Pip’s return to the village, and his decision in love.
9) There are two endings to this novel – which ending do you prefer, and why?
10) What did you think of the novel overall?
posted by Mimi @ 6/22/2010 02:29:00 PM
3 Comments
3 Comments:
Yipes, no comments! Are we not real women?? Did we not finish a Dickens book in June???
Well, here are some of my answers (to Mimi's questions, not my own):
1 - Surprised by who Pip's benefactor was -- No. I read this book 20 years ago or so, and as tends to happen, I remember some "punchlines" as I read. By the time I had gone halfway through, I remembered that the benefactor was the convict.
2. Molly -- I'm lost. Who's Molly? How fast I forget.
3. I'm glad Miss Havisham FINALLY had an epiphany. If it's difficult to believe that someone could enshrine one of life's disappointment, it was downright impossible to believe that anyone could work so single-mindedly at ruining someone else's life and never confront the consequences of her actions.
4. Probably Pip's best two deeds in the book are helping out the convict when he was a kid (but he was scared into that one, so he only gets half credit in my book), and helping Herbert get started. Not only does he pay into the scheme himself, but he absolutely refuses to take any money for himself from Miss Havisham. And in the end, Herbert is able to help him.
5&6. Frankly, all the stuff with Magwitch seemed to drag out a little too long to me. It's as if Dickens had decided that he didn't want to wrap things up too quickly and neatly, so he went for something protracted and complicated. I know I'm a simp, but I would've preferred quick-and-neat.
7. I can't remember much about this part, either. Pip seems to begin having attacks of conscience throughout the last third of the book, but it takes time and a series of events before he really becomes repentant of being so shallow and snobbish.
8. Pip's return, love - I remembered from my last reading that Biddy ended up with Joe, and I'm inclined to say, "Good for you, Biddy!" The easy choice would've been to have her end up with Pip, but I wouldn't think he'd really be a good match for her. On the other hand, I was disappointed that Dickens seems to gently but firmly close the door on the chance of Pip and Estella getting together. That annoyed me. I'm probably too much of a romantic at heart, but since Estella finally acquired some much-needed humility and humanity, I think they would have been good together.
9. Two endings -- I suppose I liked the first one better, though they seemed to have a lot in common.
10. Overall -- Liked it very much. I'd give it a B+. And it seemed very post-Victorian (I think I'm inventing a word), in that it still had the flowery language and a little of that Old School approach to life and people, but also was critical of social mores about status, class and money.
On the whole, good choice, Mimi! I'm glad we did this.
I finished, grin! I have a few minutes to put down my thoughts.
1) I was totally surprised by who the benefactor was, I was pretty sure it was Miss Havisham. I thought the backstory was interesting, and it was good to be reminded that he was in Australia, not the US.
2) I'd not spent a lot of time trying to figure out Estella's parentage, but it was sweet how it had come together.
3) I really thought Miss Havisham's assessment of herself was very interesting, and the way that she realized her mistake in raising Estella.
4) It is interesting that in a way, the book is bookended by Pip's good deeds - that he starts off with good intentions, gets sidetracked by gluttony and "living the good life" and basically returns to his goodness by his saving of Miss Havisham and as Grace mentioned, his relationship with Herbert.
5) I also agree with Grace that while I really liked this book, this part was a bit drug out.
6) I think that Pip has to learn to grow as he is at first repulsed by Magwich, and the fact that he has an obligation to him through his being his benefactor. I like that he ultimately comes to a place of acceptance, and Magwich to a place of redemption.
8) I am glad that Biddy married for love, and wasn't the person that Pip "settled on"
9) I liked the ending I had, I think that the other ending was too unfinished to have been a satisfying one for me.
10) I really liked this book - I was always kind of intimidated by Dickens, and this was a delightfully quick read and an interesting storyline. I'm glad to have read it, and will read more Dickens.
Thank you for reading along, this has been a great book to read!
Finally!! No, I had remembered who the benefactor was as well, and it made more of a "story" especially one that was going to include Pip's downfall and lesson learned and all that.
2. I thought it was a neat twist to find Estella's heritage. Mr Jaggers seems a bit cruel though dont' you think in this episode?
3. I think it makes sense that Miss Havisham had her epiphany ...FINALLY. She ws old and lonely and most of her pained passion had dissipated.
4. I think helping Herbert (and inadvertently helping the Pockets by telling Miss Havisham that they were worthy people) was part of his return to his natural, unspoiled self.
5. I'm with both of you, the stuff with Magwitch and the boats and all that seemed a bit unnecessarily melodramatic and drawn out. But I kind of liked it, because if we look at interior landscapes, that is when Pip began to care for rather than be repulsed by Magwitch.
7. In many victorian books, illness marks a change. This as Grace points out, is kind of post-Victorian but still used illness as a plot device/turning point. So yes, that's when he changes. Possibly the close contact with Joe and being dependent on him again helped, too.
8. it would have been to implausible and impossibly neat to have him return and marry Biddy. And she didn't seem the type to have meekly waited all those years either.
9. I prefer the latter. She was married, presumably somewhat happily, had softened and learned humility but Pip was free to live his own life. Coming full circle like that and the whole rather melodramatic scene at the ruined home was a bit too neat for me.
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