Suffering

The suffering that occurs in 'Great Expectations' is usually a result of another characters actions. The reason Miss Havisham live a life hidden away, angry at men i because she was jilted on her wedding day by Compeyson. Moreover, Estella, Miss Havisham's adopted daughter is brought up to be cold hearted towards men; therefore not having a functional relationship with men. Lastly, Pip is the victim of both Miss Havisham and Estella's actions. Miss Havisham welcomes Pip into her home and gives him the idea that he could potentially be a Gentleman. Estella toys with his heart by making him believe she is interested only to find out that Estella can't be in love let alone with a boy lower class than herself.

I feel as though each character triggers a domino effect in order to create destruction and suffering. I chose this image because I feel it highlights the inequality in class and status. It shows two slightly higher class men looking down on a child or young man while he pulls cargo along. I think this image is relevant to not only the suffering in 'Great Expectations' but the suffering that occurred during the Victorian era. I feel a lot of it was down to choice and the fact that there wasn't any, everybody had everything pre-planned and set out for them. Which is how the main protagonist, Pip is treated. The novel sees a series of events happening to him, all that appear to be coincidence but really his fate is sealed because he is controlled by people with higher power or more defiance than himself.

Essentially Pip suffered at the hand of everyone else. As did Miss Havisham and Estella.