Independent Reading Response 1

This week I started reading Great Expectations written by Charles Dickens. The book is about an orphan who is being raised by his very stern, tempermental older sister and her husband who is a blacksmith. She is very proud of having brought him up "by hand" when she could have left him in an orphanage or to starve. When she says to be brought up "by hand" she means that she brought him up in a very violent manner, which includes diciplinary actions such as pounding of his head into a wall, or consumption of tar water. The boy is constantly being put down and called ungrateful for his sisters' favors.

Luckily, through all of this hardship of being young, poor, an orphan, and being raised by a violent sister, the young orphan named Pip confides in his friendly and congenial Brother-in-law. His Brother-in-law, named Joe, is the father figure for Pip and is very kind to him. They often endure Pip's sister's abuse together and have conversations when she is not in earshot. Joe is the only person in Pip's life who actually looks after him and makes his difficult life a little easier.

Pip later becomes burdened by the meeting of an escaped convictwho takes his bread and demands Pip to steal from his sister and Joe. This criminal threatned Pip's life if he did not complete his requests. The criminal threatens Pip that his accomplice, a young boy that lives in the shadows, would creep into his house in the middle of the night and kill him in his sleep. The criminal is asking for "Wittle" which means food, and a file to file off his iron leg cuff. This of course terrifies young Pip by the fact that he would have to steal from under his violent sister's nose and guilty for having to steal from Joe.

Later, the convict is found and Pip is saved from trouble when the convict tells officers that he stole a file and food from a blacksmith's house. As far as I have read, I feel that the convict, despite his capture, will take a huge and important part in the story later. The first part that I have read so far is a very sad story and it seems like this boy runs in to so many hardships and so much sadness when he just deserves a break. I hope that later in the book his life begins to improve and he will find some happiness.