Don't Forget The Old Version/ Interpretation-Victorian Age! Pip related to a rich sad woman and was encouraged to marry a beautiful girl called Estella! However, Pip needed a man in his life badly. He found male friends who were like brothers(brotherhood) and a male father-figure called Magwich. Pip had other career ambitions such as soccer playing and he did not really need a girl in his life at all. He is an individual without a Siamese twin. This author charts the progress of Pip (alias John-John 2004)from childhood through often painful experiences to adulthood, as he moves from the Kent marshes in England to busy, commercial London, encountering a variety of extraordinary
characters ranging from Magwich, the main escaped convict, to Miss Havisham, a foster-mother living with beautiful Estella. A focus is on Pip's healthy relationship with Ms. Havisham who was jilted by Arthur Compeyson on her wedding day. She kept on her white wedding gown until death. Ms. Havisham hated men with a passion and satisfied her passion for revenge (an act of reprisal) by training Estella to emotionally damage Pip while she looked on and admired Estella! In other words Ms Havisham got her "kicks" off of the children. She may have been a pedophile! It's possible. She had embedded lesbian tendencies which came to light when she lost her last chance to get married! Whose child was Estella? Was Pip's "sister" his mother? Was Joe Gargery an uncle or a step-father? Did Pip's father indulge in an incestuous relationship with any of his daughters? Can a father be a grand-father too? Pip regarded Joe Gargery as a friend and both suffered verbal abuse and torture at the hands of his "big sister" or biological mother, a bitter angry woman! I think that Biddy is the only happy woman in this story. She became a school teacher and loved children. She was married later on to Joe Gargery after his divorce from Pip's big sister.
Corporal punishment was administered using "Tickler", a nickname for the whip. Pip was brought up by hand and was abused by his guardian. He could not get the right information he needed to deal with life from his guardian/ parents. Was that a healthy relationship?
Pip did not recognize crime at all. The escaped convict, Magwich told Pip to shut up or he will slit his throat. Magwich turned Pip around and upside down without consent, in order to peep at his private parts in a disgusting manner that offended Pip. That was acrime. Pip did not understand exactly what Magwich was looking for in his rear-side. He thought it was a search for bread crumbs. Pip kept this a secret and never told his big "sister" and husband nor his teacher. Did Pip relate to Magwich in a healthy manner? In other words was it a healthy relationship?
He was a child and was horrified, so he complied.
Terrorism means fear, and Pip was surely afraid so he cooperated with the demands of an escaped convict whose intention was to kill Compeyson. Terrorism is a crime. This accomplice was in mortal fear of Magwich? Magwich threatened to kill Compeyson many times. Pip needed adult supervision in the graveyard. He disobeyed his guardian and went ther alone. He never heard the word crime. "I wonder what is "crime"...let God's will be done!" he said later on after he stole the pie to save the life of the convict. Pip was motivated to save a life of someone he became bonded to through destiny. However, Pip abhored and hated the ugly sight of this monstrous "criminal" who showed him love. What really motivated Pip? Is it his money? Pip lacked love at home and responded positively to love outside the home.
Pip never saw his biological parents! Pip enquired but his "big sister" insulted him and told him to go to the cemetery to find Mom and Dad! Poor Pip cried everyday at the graveyard until all hell broke loose! A monstrous hungry convict appeared with a chain on his left leg! Pip heard a loud gruff voice and trembled. His heart skipped a beat and he felt his spirit leaving his body momentarily. A convict called Magwich and his "double-accomplice", a dedicated con-man partner-in-crime called Compeyson. This second convict probably visited a plastic surgeon and always hid in the dark. Magwich attacked Pip and surprised him. Both men looked alike at a glance but one wore a broad hat to hide his face and grey clothing for camouflage. Crime was in his vein.
His heart beat was crime and his passion was crime. He drank "blood" at times to energise him to do more crime and earn "blood-money". Pip prayed silently. Tears rolled down his fat cheeks. Who can stop crime? Is it a crime to eat from a criminal to save a life? Is critical-thinking a crime? Think about it! Pip had a conscience and knew the difference between right and wrong. He was very independent and made his own decisions. This is a normal response for a child who was threatened. Abel Magwich said, "I will eat your heart and liver out if you do not bring me food tomorrow at 9 p.m." He looked hungry like a dog! Later on, he ate victuals in a hungry manner turning his head from left to right to prevent him from being captured. He was a fugitive!
Pip did not like creole food nor Kentucky fried chicken and chips. He liked Trinidadian bus-up-shot,roti, Indian doubles and aloo pie, geera pork, rice, bodi beans, channa or chick peas, sorrel drink, ice-cream and black cake. He did not like alcohol nor drugs. He did not know anything about sex at all.
He chose a "father" of crime called Magwich, approx. 60 years of age! His home was jail. His school was jail! His death-bed was jail and he died peacefully! In the early stage of the novel "Great Expectations", Pip meets Magwich over the marshes,at the graveyard and learnt about great surprises such as the second convict Compeyson being the "bi-sexual horner-man" of Ms. Havisham! Who is the foster-father of Estella? She was married first to Bentley Drumle who mistreated and abused her, he was an uncouth brute and he bent her into a mellow form for Pip. Estella had no male father-figure but through her suffering with men she learnt how to appreciate and feel for a nice Indian man like Pip who dated without violence.
Estella was brainwashed and "pre-programmed" for Pip by Ms. Havisham and a large sum of money was left for Pip by a benefactor, Magwich-Great Expectations! Estella is indeed the biological daughter of Abel Magwich! Who is the biological mother of Estella? Is Mr. Jaggers the attorney(abogado) and law guardian of Pip?
Did Pip become a lawyer too? Who is the best male friend of Pip in his age group?...Did Pip love Biddy?
On his death bed in prison, Magwich was told that Estella was his daughter. Pip told him! Estella and Pip met in a beautiful garden like Adam and Eve but they did not fall in love. The story line has a happy ending since Pip and Estella met again later on after her divorce from Bently Drumle and pledged to be friends. There was no shadow of parting for these two friends. Pip did his own investigation and used his critical-thinking skills to uncover secrets and find his "roots" or heritage. He vowed to protect Pepito (Trinidadian) from the scourges of society and generation curses.
