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    Symbolism

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    s.faraj
    an essay about symbolism in Great expectations

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    Symbolism

    Uploaded by

    s.faraj
    12 views2 pages
    an essay about symbolism in Great expectations

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    symbolism

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    an essay about symbolism in Great expectations

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    12 views2 pages

    Symbolism

    Uploaded by

    s.faraj
    an essay about symbolism in Great expectations

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    You are on page 1of 2

    I

    Symbols in Great Expectations


    Symbolism is a great art in literature. It is sometimes used for
    political critics like in Animal Farm by Gorge Orwell where he attacked the
    socialist countries. The other times it is used for ornaments or giving strength
    for the meaning. The master professional novelist Charles Dickens has a great
    innovation at this field. For example in Tale Of two Cities he used the pour of
    the red wine as an introduction to the pour of blood caused by the French
    revolution. Here in this essay I am going to handle some symbols in the
    greatest Great Expectation. Simply there are many symbols used widely
    through the whole book. As an illustration for this mist weather, time clocks,
    The Satis House, The Marshes, ,money, the wedding dress of Miss Havisham,
    locks and keys and light and darkness are clear symbols used professionally
    to convey the sentiments and thoughts in a charming way. Here in this essay I
    will shed the light on only three main symbols.

    First the misty weather means vague and unclearness as the fog
    prevents the good vision. The first time we encountered this symbol was in the
    Marshes near the the grave yard when Pip met the convict (Magwitch) and
    helped him give him some food and a metal file. Here Pip doesn’t know the
    importance of this event for him (mist). Every time the weather is misty
    something goes dangerously and unclearly. For example when he travelled to
    London after receiving his fortune the weather was misty which states the
    coming dangerous and ambiguous events. However when the mist disappears,
    the characters have clear vision and see the reality. Second the stopped clocks
    this is an important symbol used for expressing sorrow, repentance and
    disappointment. Life means time when time stops, life stops. This was simply
    happened to Miss Havisham as she stopped her life at this time when her
    assumed suitor escaped with her fortune. She was deeply shocked by this
    event and decided to devote her life taking revenge to all man gender. She
    was almost dead she doesn't have any desire for life this was symbolized by
    the stopped clocks. This symbol is mostly dedicated to Miss Havisham as she
    stopped moving and refused to change or restart her life again. The stopped
    clocks refers mostly to her freezing and solidity. Third light and darkness is
    one of the most common symbols used in the history of literature as light
    stands for goodness but darkness stands for evil.
    II

    In our novel light is widely tied to Joe as he was the tutor and educator of
    Pip. He was always the person who sheds light on pip's mind, he always direct
    him to the goodness of life. In contrast to this the Satis House was always full
    of darkness to resemble sadness and the coming sorrows. Pip never saw a
    pencil of light that represents happiness in this dark and awful place.
    Moreover in the grave yard it was dark that didn’t only refer to the dead
    people under the ground but also refers to the semi life people on the the
    ground (Magwitch). The light also is related to disillusionment especially
    when Pip discovered his real patron was not Miss Havisham. Then he started
    to find out his reality and dealt with people out of their morals not their rank.

    To conclude, symbolism is one of the most artistic tools in


    literature. Symbolism is used for many purposes. Sometimes we use it to hide
    our intentions of criticism, other times used for decorating the work to create
    strong and deep meanings. Symbolism serves the plot intensively in Great
    Expectation. The author used many symbols like light and darkness locks and
    keys and etc……to convey the real emotions of the characters. However I
    shed light only on three symbols (mist, stopped clocks and light and darkness)
    as I think that they are the most effective and touching ones.

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