The Great Expectations | The Bildungsroman Novel

The Great Expectations The Bildungsroman NovelCharles daimon bildungsroman, Great Expectations (..), cannot attend exactly impress upon the reader an overwhelming ace of crime which permeates the tonic at various levels. As the plot unfolds, the characters develop, however the sense of guilt remains unchanging until the primary character completes his transformation. Intertwined as guilt is as a theme with the other themes of crime and punishment and the fallacy of compassionate error, which for the central character Pip, translates into a form of ego-imposed guilt, Dickens narrator recounts the journey of the youthful Pip from a focus on phoney value to self-awareness and moral fortitude. Evident from the onset of the novel, the character Pip implicitly finds himself involved in the act of wrong complicity as he steals in order to aid the convict, Magwitch, and this initial act creates in the young boy feelings of immense guiltMy state of mind regarding the pilfering fro m which I had been so minutely exonerated, did not impel me to frank disclosure But I love Joe perhaps for no better reason in those early old age than because the dear fellow let me love him and, as to him, my inner self was not so easily composed. It was much upon my mind (particularly when I first base saw him looking about for his file) that I ought to tell Joe the whole truth. soon enough I did not, and for the reason that I mistrusted that if I did, he would think me worse than I was. The fear of losing Joes confidence, and of thenceforth sitting in the chimney-corner at darkness staring drearily at my for ever lost companion and friend, tied(p) up my tongue. (33 ch. 6)From the onset of the novel therefore, the young Pip becomes embroiled in a world of criminal behavior where his guilt torments him. Instead of dissipating with time, Pips sense of guilt appears to overwhelm his consciousness until it appears to become an integral part of his character.As Dickens develop s this theme, he uses a great deal of the novels atmosphere and settings to win his objective. As a child the youthful Pips world is resounded by the long black marshes, the black beacon by which the sailors steered and a crucify with some chains hanging to it, which had once held a pirate (6 ch1). On the water there are the hulks, the prison-ships, and on the shore, there looms the battery with the guns which deter of prisoners escapes. Pips immediate consciousness is, in effect, bound by the literal manifestations of the criminal world. The physical duress created by Dickens use of this dark, foreboding resourcefulness underscores for Dickens the influence of the prospect of criminality which chronicles the life-path of his principal character. Explicit bondage translates for Pip into an implicit bondage legally, he is bound in bargain to Joe, while emotionally he is bound to Joe by gratitude. As a direct result of his meeting with Estella, and the perpetuation of several f alse values in his mind, he no longer views the honourable blacksmiths profession as an admirable career. Rather, the forge becomes Pips figurative prison, binding him to a lifestyle which directly dissatisfies him. His aspirations have changed, thus he feels held captive and this mental dilemma adds to his rational turmoil He feels guilty because he aspires to a different path, and in effect signing his own death warrant, dooming himself to the scaffold as he binds himself in apprenticeship to JoeHere, in a corner, my indentures were duly signed and attested, and I was bound Mr. Pumblechook holding me all the while as if we had looked in on our way to the scaffold to have these little preliminaries disposed of Finally, I remember that when I got into my little bedroom I was truly wretched, and had a strong opinion on me that I should never like Joes trade. I had liked it once, but once was not now. (85-86 ch 13)In addition to the physical setting with which Dickens surrounds hi s principal character, many of Dickens other characters in the novel who move with the principal character, serve the purpose of the thematic perpetuation of guilt and criminality. An exposition of the text by Foucault, as a Panopticon, suggests that Pips guilt and criminality whitethorn be viewed through the actions of Orlick and Bentley Drummle Orlick strikes Mrs. Joe with the leg iron (which Pip is guilty of providing and thus, to an close making the crime possible), while Bentley Drummle becomes the tool through which Pip achieves satisfaction for Estellas treatment of him. Both characters by extension are physical representations of Pips reclusive desires for revenge upon the people who have wronged him. As they enact these crimes they also protect Pips guilt (Tambling, Bloom, ).