Analyzing Dickens Great Expectations

One of the most important elements of a story, whether it’s a Shakespeare play, a science- fiction or a Harlem renaissance story, is the use of characters. Authors use their characters to help assist them in getting their message across the reader. In her short story “Spunk” Zora Neale Hurston uses her characters to help develop the plot line while also showing how dramatic a character can change. With the help of the community members, Joe finally stands up to Spunk, (the towns strong man.) Through this ordeal, Spunk is forever changed for this is the moment that caused him to open up something that fear would take control over.

Whatever went on, she knew. Nothing ever got past her. Being such a young boy, Joe was saddened by what had happened to his mother, especially being that she was not herself at all. Joe was determined to find out who had attacked his mother and to get justice.

Throughout their marriage Janie learns that Joe doesn’t treat her right, he treats her like an object. Janie begins to hate Joe, and she insults him in front of the whole town. Soon Joe becomes very ill, and Janie doesn’t talk to him for

Nanny is successfully able to convince her granddaughter through her own traumatic experiences and make her feel “sympathy” as she tells Janie she doesn’t want her life to be spoiled like her own life was. At first, Janie refuses to marry Logan Killicks. Nanny being the older one, defends herself by saying “put me down easy” since she can no longer care for Janie and only her wish is for Janie to get married and be protected from the dangers she and her own daughter faced. By calling herself a “cracked plate” Nanny further elucidates that she went through many hardships in her own life and wants to do the right thing for her granddaughter by

In Hurston’s Spunk, the author’s usage of imagery to characterize key characters gives an insight into the prevalence of gender roles within the story. Being told from the perspective of a townsperson, Spunk is first introduced as a “giant of a brown-skinned man” and as “big as life an’ brassy as tacks”(1) from the point of view of one of the townspeople. When walking into the town, he had Lena, “small pretty woman clinging lovingly to his arm” (1). Using imagery to show their physical appearance, Hurston demonstrates both the roles of a masculine and feminine character. With the repeated usage of the word “big” by the narrator, Spunk is portrayed as a masculine figure showing authority and control.

In reality, no one has a perfect life and the novel is a perfect example of this but the characters go crazy because of their obsession with the Dick and Jane lifestyle. Unfortunately, Pecola didn’t receive any sort of justice for the things she went through. She was always the victim but was looked at as a serial killer. She was both physically and mentally abused for no reason at all.

It is seen that both Pauline and Cholly Breedlove experience their own shares of misfortune that eventually do translate to the ways they treat Pecola. Pauline Breedlove is described as harsh and cold, as she is dissatisfied with her life. She herself struggles with the preconceived notions of beauty, as she believes her disabilities and features make her ugly. This affects the way she’s sees her life and her family, as she is disappointed that she does not have the “perfect” family because this will not win her favorable glances from other women. Pauline sees everything as a goal to be perfect and beautiful, as explained with the line, “Along with the idea of romantic love, she was introduced to another--physical beauty.

however, Joe is also the cruelest and most despicable of the three husbands. The author uses Joe’s ambition to Justify his actions and in doing so shows the consequences of them such as His relationship wife deteriorating, the townspeople resenting him, and his public shaming, and cursing of his wife on his

One of Janie’s main priorities is to find love, however Nanny has a different plan in mind for her. Nanny wants Janie to find a husband who will give her protection, money, and status. This is a recurring problem between Nanny and Janie; the idea of protection and money versus love. Nanny tells Janie “If you don’t want [Logan], you sho oughta. Heah you is wid de onliest organ in town, amongst colored folks, in yo’ parlor.

This change of perception is significant because she now views the once beautiful and strong dandelions, which represent who she is as a person, as ugly weeds. These now ugly weeds are juxtaposed to the white, beautiful, blue eyed Mary Jane. While eating the candy, she thinks to herself that “to eat the candy is somehow to eat the eyes, eat Mary Jane. Love Mary Jane. Be Mary Jane (50).”

When he openly insults her, Janie finally unshackles herself from Jody’s “gag order” for her to remain silent in the community, by reminding him of his age, causing a fatal blow to his male ego. On his death bed, Janie confronts Jodie: “You wouldn’t listen. You done lived wid me for twenty years and you don’t half know me atall. And you could have but you was so busy worshippin’ de works of yo’ own hands, and cuffin’ folks around in their minds till you didn’t see uh whole heap uh things yuh could have" (86). Here, Janie dismantles Joe’s character: a self-serving man, who

Her brother encourages her to not let Tenzig no he hurt her by fighting back, but to act as if nothing happened, because that would hurt him more, and her fighting back would be exactly what he was hoping for. In this instance Polly learned she that not everyone shares mutual respect, and some people intentionally try to hurt each other if it can benefit

Also, her use of imagery makes you visualize all the struggle her and her family go through everyday. Parker explains about the last time she had to a job and what happened to her children: “When I left them with “Granny” the last time I had a job, I came home to find the baby covered with fly specks, and a diaper that had not been changed since I left. When the dried diaper came off, bits of my baby’s flesh came with

Through her attempts she replaces her daughter’s heart with ice and breaks young men’s hearts. In Dickens’ bildungsroman Great Expectations, Pip and Miss Havisham’s morally ambiguous characterization helps develop the theme, that one needs to learn to be resilient. The internal struggles that Pip experiences through the novel, reveal his displeasure to his settings and

Dickens tends to explore the implications of doubleness: characters complement one another, though their connection may not be genetically or physiognomically apparent, nor need they even share the same gender.’ The doubling technique is not only used to compare but also to contrast, to distinguish ‘the normal’ from ‘the abnormal’ in order to emphasize the dual nature of men. Surely, we all have characteristics that we consider normal and for that reason we show them to other people, however, we also have traits and habits that we think others may not regard as normal, so we do not like to expose them and when we do, we do it very consciously. For that reason Miss Twinkleton, a prim schoolmistress, turns into a sprightly gossip only after dark, and Mr. Crisparkle makes fun of Mr. Honeythunder and philanthropists in general, behind the closed door, exclusively.