The Struggle of Having Power: Analyzing the meaning of power through the book Great Expectations
The Struggle of Having Power
Throughout Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Pip’s emotional battle with Estella and encounters with Miss Havisham, is the vinyl coating that reveals the grainy surface that is Victorian England. Throughout the book it seems as if Pip is brought into a new world of opportunities, giving him a chance to grow. Yet, unexpected and direct forms of violence throughout Pip’s journey have an opposing effect on his morals and character. Miss Havisham’s control over Pip and Estella is the abusive domination that highlights Pip’s moral decline. However, characters such as Wemmick and younger Pip, defy the temptations of superiority showing how authority is not always accompanied by control. Although physical violence occurs rarely throughout this seemingly civilized society, the consistent reoccurrences of emotional struggle and manipulation between characters show that superiority and mental security can tempt oppression or encourage compassion.
At first glance, violence does not play a prominent role in this book, however Pip’s encounter with Orlick emphasizes the intense levels of emotional abuse that occurs frequently throughout Pip’s journey. Pip’s attempt to obtain a higher status in society is dominated by characters such as Miss Havisham and Estella that show great levels of authority yet only through the force of their insecurities. After years of being controlled Pip finally makes this realization as he visits Estella at Satis house: “ I saw in this, wretched though it made me, and bitter the sense of dependence and even degradation that it awakened-I saw in this, that Estella was set to wreak Miss Havisham’s revenge on men and that she was not given to me until I gratified it for a term” (276). He realizes Estella was never meant for him and Miss Havisham never intended for Pip to benefit in anyway from his visits. Miss Havisham uses Pip like a servant, at her service at all times to control in anyway. Though she could have
Throughout Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Pip’s emotional battle with Estella and encounters with Miss Havisham, is the vinyl coating that reveals the grainy surface that is Victorian England. Throughout the book it seems as if Pip is brought into a new world of opportunities, giving him a chance to grow. Yet, unexpected and direct forms of violence throughout Pip’s journey have an opposing effect on his morals and character. Miss Havisham’s control over Pip and Estella is the abusive domination that highlights Pip’s moral decline. However, characters such as Wemmick and younger Pip, defy the temptations of superiority showing how authority is not always accompanied by control. Although physical violence occurs rarely throughout this seemingly civilized society, the consistent reoccurrences of emotional struggle and manipulation between characters show that superiority and mental security can tempt oppression or encourage compassion.
At first glance, violence does not play a prominent role in this book, however Pip’s encounter with Orlick emphasizes the intense levels of emotional abuse that occurs frequently throughout Pip’s journey. Pip’s attempt to obtain a higher status in society is dominated by characters such as Miss Havisham and Estella that show great levels of authority yet only through the force of their insecurities. After years of being controlled Pip finally makes this realization as he visits Estella at Satis house: “ I saw in this, wretched though it made me, and bitter the sense of dependence and even degradation that it awakened-I saw in this, that Estella was set to wreak Miss Havisham’s revenge on men and that she was not given to me until I gratified it for a term” (276). He realizes Estella was never meant for him and Miss Havisham never intended for Pip to benefit in anyway from his visits. Miss Havisham uses Pip like a servant, at her service at all times to control in anyway. Though she could have