Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens
Table of Contents
Chapter 21 to Chapter 30
Chapter Twenty-One
Pip spends the night with Herbert Pocket, who is the son of his tutor. Pip and Herbert form an immediate connection. Although Pip is on his way to becoming a wealthy gentleman, Herbert is poor. His greatest wish in life is to become a shipping merchant. Surprisingly, Herbert turns out to be the pale man whom Pip hit in the garden of Satis House.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Herbert agrees to help Pip learn some gentlemanly manners; to make him sound more gentlemanly, Herbert gives Pip the nickname “Handel.” Herbert also relays the entire story of Miss Havisham. The story reveals the strange clocks and the reason Miss Havisham is obsessed with her wedding dress. In her younger days, Miss Havisham fell in love with a man from a social class lower than her own. She wanted to marry the man, who convinced Miss Havisham to purchase her half brother’s share of the Havisham family brewery. However, on the day of their wedding, the man sent a note. Miss Havisham received the note twenty minutes before nine. Presumably, Miss Havisham’s brother was in cahoots with the man she wished to marry, and he and her brother split the profits. Miss Havisham later adopted Estella, but the details regarding this are unknown.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Pip visits Matthew Pocket’s house for tutoring and a meal. Somewhat dumbfounded by the bustle at the Pocket’s house, Pip realizes that his “gentlemanly” education will teach him more than he imagined. Along with Pip, two other boys are being tutored: Bentley Drummle, an irritating future baronet and Startop, who is quieter. Although Pip likes the Pocket family, he finds them very strange.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Pip goes to Jagger’s office. He wishes to share a room with Herbert. Along with Herbert, Pip becomes friends with Wemmick. Wemmick invites Pip to dinner. Upon arriving at Wemmick’s home, Pip is able to observe Jagger in the courtroom; Jagger is just as...
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