Chapter 2 introduces us to Pip's family. By the way.... the second "g" in Gargery is pronounced like a "j", making the phonetic spelling "Garjery. (I got this wrong for many years!)
So....Pip's sister is 20 years older than him, and he has five deceased siblings. Interesting that Pip only refers to his sister as Mrs. Joe. Any ideas why that is?
There are lots of examples of exaggeration and hyperbole in this chapter. Share a few and explain what this tells us about Pip as a character and as a narrator.
Joe is described as being "a Hercules in strength, and also in weakness." What does this mean? How is he weak?
The reference to "by hand" is repeated a number of times in this chapter. What does it mean.....is there more than one meaning? Does it have a different meaning for Joe...for Pip.....for Mrs. Joe?
Pip exaggerates many things in this chapter. He recounts himself being thrown at Joe by Mrs. Joe, and refers to himself as a "connubial missle"(Dickens 15). Pip also describes the Tickler (Mrs. Joe's cane) as being " worn smooth by collision with [his] tickled frame"(15). These quotes are all obviously hyperbole. Pip was not thrown at Joe with the strength and ferocity of a missle, and Mrs. Joe's cane was not actually worn smooth from hitting Pip so many times. These quotes, however removed from reality they actually are, tell us much about Pip as a character and as a narrator. These quotes tell us that Pip sees the world as someone who has only lived in it for a couple years. The reason we know this is because the account of what happened are grossly exaggerated, indicating an inability to view situations as they really are. As a result, hyperbolic quotes abound in Pips story.
ReplyDeleteThe main character discussed in this chapter is quite an oxymoron. Mrs. Joe Gargery is only ever brought up as Mrs. Joe Gargery. This indicates that the time in which the story is set is very male-centric, which is to be expected. It is 19th century england, after all. What does come as a surprise is her actual role in the story. It seems as if the traditional gender roles in the Gargery household have been reversed. The man, usually percieved as the de facto leader of the household, is in this story quiet and submissive. The woman, commonly associated with serving the man and being quiet is here shown to have an iron grip on the household. Of course, this reversal of gender roles is not completely prevalent. Mr. Joe Gargery is still a blacksmith, and Mrs. Joe Gargery still makes the food for the men in her household. However, it is the dominant and submissive roles in the household, commonly (for that time) attributed to the man and the woman, respectively, that are reversed. Such ideas expressed in 19th century england are very rare, yet very forward thinking at the same time. What Charles Dickens did was mock gender roles in england, and at the same time, further developed his characters.
ReplyDeleteThe way this chapter describes things "by hand" seem to mean that things are done "properly," or very strictly and abusive.
ReplyDeleteFor Mrs. Jones, she sees it as the "proper" way to raise a child, with discipline, in order to teach the child to behave better and realize the consequences to misfit behavior is worse than the behavior itself. (Although in more recent times it is highly frowned upon and is considered abusive- and I do agree with that, for it could leave a child terribly frightened and traumatized.)
For Pip, to "be brought up by hand" means to literately be brought up by hand. By this, I suggest the image of his sister slapping Pip every time he is being a "wuss" in order to man up and stand up straight. "Having at that time to find out for myself what the expression meant, and knowing her to have a hard and heavy hand..." (Dickins 6)shows that at the time, Pip was unaware to what it fully meant, but he knew the consequences. Hands would not be called heavy unless they were fat, but fat would not be called hard, as they would be somewhat squishy. That, in itself is an oxymoron. Another way for a hand to feel weighted and hard would there be a force of motion and a final harsh result- like a slap to the face.
Mr. Joe seems to be somewhere in the middle of Pip and his wife. He does not have the same harsh punishments like Pip, but that does not mean he is exempt from them. He rather cares for Pip, and out of speculation, I'm sure that he feels rather guilty, as the two are shown to be caring for one another in these abusive situations.
Some really good comments on character here. And of course, as a child, Pip would probably describe the weight of the "hand" in an exaggerated way....that's what kids do. But we also see the kind of childrearing in the Victorian era.
ReplyDeletePip refers to his older sister as Mrs. Joe Gargery which could be sign that he sees her more of a adult figure than a sister. There is no sibling bond but in place of that there is a respect and obedience. Since Pip's sister raised Pip as a child, this created a barrier between them. Mrs. Joe also raised Pip in an environment which was normal for the time. However, it was not always beneficial to the child. Raising Pip "By hand" can cause some issues such as the child fearing the adult. Pip is clearly scared of his sister. By calling his sister Mrs. Joe, that can show his respect for her.
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