Symbols
Symbols are objects or characters used to represent something more significant than itself. Great Expectations cleverly uses a number of these, explained below:
- The rising mists
- Miss Havisham's shoe and wedding dress
- The Satis House
- Miss Havisham's garden
- The stopped clocks
- Bentley Drummle and the stopped clocks
- Light and darkness
- Locks and keys
- Bugs and insects
- Statues
- Weather
- Shadows
- Joe Gargery
The Rising Mists
The Rising Mists
Dickens’ uses pathetic fallacy by the mists to demonstrate clarity of thinking. Whenever the mists rise, Pip is able to see things around him clearly. When the mists are present, they can symbolize danger and uncertainty like when Magwitch attacks Pip, shortly after arriving in London or before the attack of Orlick. The rising mists are also used in the last sentence of the novel when Pip sees “no shadow of another parting from [Estella]”.
Miss Havisham's Shoe and Wedding Dress
Shoe and Wedding Dress
Miss Havisham had only put on one shoe before finding out that Compeyson had left her on their wedding day. This shoe represents her lack of readiness for any further attempts at love in her life and it demonstrates this for Estella also when she picks it up while talking to Pip. Miss Havisham’s wedding dress represents death and the pain or rotting of her past.
The Satis House
The Satis House
The mason where Miss Havisham and Estella live is wealthy but crumbling and deteriorating showing a direct connection to those who live in it and to the upper class society as a whole.
Miss Havisham's Garden
The Satis Garden
Everything in the Satis garden is dead or decaying. None of the plants or flowers are growing, making a correlation to wealth and high society. It may suggest that the innocence or love can no longer thrive.
The Stopped Clocks
The Stopped Clocks
The clocks symbolize Miss Havisham’s desperate attempts at freezing time and refusal to change. However, both as we all know is impossible to do. They are stopped at ten past ten, the moment at which Miss Havisham had realized that her fiance had run off and stolen her money.
Bentley Drummle And The Upper Class
Bentley Drummle
Drummle is the perfect poster boy for wealth, success and gentleman statuses. He is however, rude and cruel to all those he feels are beneath him and only fights for Estella to later abuse her. He is the perfect example to show that there is no correlation between social standing and intelligence or morals.
Light And Darkness
Light and Darkness
Dickens uses the ever so famous archetype of light to represent the goodness and dark to represent the evil or unknown. Joe’s character almost emits light to guide Pip along the way while the Satis House is almost completely dark.
Locks and Keys
Locks and Keys
Locks represent things of secrecy or inaccessibility. Magwitch, being a criminal, is kept behind bars where he cannot escape, as he does not hold the keys. Estella is almost portrayed as a prison guard herself for Miss Havisham keeps her locked away emotionally. Estella is also like a gatekeeper for she lets Pip in and out of the Satis House, holding onto the keys. As they grow older, Estella keeps the keys to her heart, not letting it be accessible to anyone else.
Bugs and Insects
Bugs and Insects
The creepy crawly insects represent the disgusting or filthy things in life. Throughout the Satis House are spiders and beetles that occupy it, creating a sickening illusion. Also, when Pip questions Estella about Drummle, she says, “Moths and all sorts of ugly creatures hover above a lighted candle but can the candle help it?” suggesting that Drummle is the ugly creature.
Statues
Statue
Whenever Pip kisses Estella’s cheek, he mentions that the cheek seems to feel like a statue. Statues are hard and cold materials, perhaps representing that Estella indeed is not warm and incapable of feelings.
Weather
Rainstorm
Dickens’ uses a lot of pathetic fallacy by creating a very sullen atmosphere without sun or clear blue days but often only rain and thunderstorms. Furthermore, whenever anything tragic or exciting happens, there seems to be a change in the weather.
Shadows
Estella's shadow
Dickens’ uses the idea of shadows to suggest mystery or evilness. Pip often notices a shadow across Estella’s face and seems to suggest that she has a very dark side to her. Pip also shows that he realizes that everyone has a complex character and are composed of both shadows and light.
Joe Gargery
Joe's Happy Face
Joe Gargery is the ultimate symbol of good and caring in a world surrounded by of evil and deceit. He puts up with Mrs. Joe in the foulest of her moods and continues to support and care for Pip even after he had been tossed aside.