A Melodramatic Reflection

Putting my pride aside, Great Expectations was more difficult than I had anticipated. What I had taken for granted as just another Charles Dickens "soot covered boy" plot, swiftly evolved into something extremely complex. Whether it was the characters, or the narration itself, at times I had to read pages several times to understand and fully analyze them. For someone to whom English usually comes easily, this was pretty frustrating.

Perhaps my preconceptions were what truly misled me. Pip was definitely not the soot covered tyke that I had assumed him to be (although he did frequently ask for more), and this caught me off guard. Characters I thought to be one dimensional were suddenly more real than most people I know. This, at first, really irked me. If only I was able to predict their behaviors and project their futures, I would have had more control! Then, just when it all seemed pretty bleak, I realized that is what is incredible about this novel and Dickens' writing style. True to form, his characters at first seem to be just that. Their behaviors can be summarized and predicted with stifling ease. Then pow! Just when you least expect it they have acquired more depth than you have. As readers it is our duty to roll with the literary punches, but this one really caught me off guard.

As for the abundant mysteries of the novel, I was able to solve them on my own pretty quickly. The two convicts I quickly assumed to be somehow connected with Mrs. Havisham. While Sparknotes was helpful, it really only confirmed my suspicions. As for loose lipped sophmores, they're far overrated. My reading habits definitely aided me in this novel. I missed one night of reading. I tried to make it a practice to glance over Sparknotes after each night, if not to assure myself, to laugh at how many mistakes they made. By far my favorite experience was making my Extra Credit video. The hours hopefully paid off in full.

Overall, I am extremely grateful for the experience of reading Great Expectations. Otherwise, I might never have gotten around to it. By the end, I was completely and totally engulfed in the book. I believe its profundity has the power of lasting for as long as there are Honors English Classes to study it.