Photo Book Connection Post

To represent the first two stages of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens I decided to use these two photos. The first photo, the catterpillar, represents Pip as a cute young boy trying to find his way through life. The second photo shows Pip after he has grown and learned a lot, transforming into a gentleman, or in this case, a butterfly. Notice how the butterfly is ugly just like Pips new personality once he starts being cruel to Joe and embarrassed of his old lifestyle. 

Shrek and Great Expectations

In the movie Shrek, the character Shrek is very similar to Pip in Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. At the beginning of the movie, Shrek is a grumpy ogre who lives all alone and doesn't to do want anything to do with anyone. At the beginning of the book, Pip is the opposite, he is very friendly and loving. Throughout both stories the characters begin to change after a particular day.
After meeting Ms. Havisham and Estella, Pip starts to seek out a better life for himself. However in doing this it changes his personality. He begins looking down upon his way of life, his family, his house, and his clothes. After he leaves for London he becomes ignorant and bitter.
Shrek meets Donkey one day, and that is when his life changes. At first he is horribly mean to donkey and treats him like dirt, but as the story goes on Shrek's heart begins to grow and grow. At the end of the story Shrek's personality has mad a complete turn.
Throughout both stories, the main characters personalities changed greatly, in opposite ways.

Great Expectations,the Second Stage

Herbert, or the "The pale young gentleman" helps to enhance themes and motifs in Great Expectations. We discover that Herbert is the same boy that Pip fought in Ms. Havishams yard. There are many characters who were introduced in the first stage of the book and are now being reintroduced in the second stage. Mr. Jaggers, the man who Pip walked past on the stairs at Miss Havisham's house comes back to be the man who provides Pip with his expectations. Toward the end of the first stage and the beginning of the second, Pip's dream of changing his self value, one of the themes throughout the book, becomes a reality. Pip wants to change himself for Estella and Ms. Havisham.

The use of doubles was a motif that we discussed in class. A good example of this is the characters Biddy and Estella. Biddy is sweet and cares a lot for Pip. When they are walking in the marshes together, he tells her of his love for Estella and about how much he wishes to see her again. Biddy gives him the advice not to. Biddy is very poor unlike Estella who is a wealthy young woman. She has been brought up by Ms. Havisham to break the hearts of men who fall in love with her beauty. 

Great Expectations Quote

Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day.


In this quote found at the end of chapter nine, Pip is saying that without one critical event, all of the events that followed in his life would not have been the same. He uses chains of gold and flowers to represent his path of life that gradually builds day by day. Visiting Ms. Havisham's changed Pips whole perspective on life. After that day he wanted different things for himself and saw himself in a different light. After this chapter Pip becomes much less innocent in his thinking, and he is ashamed of himself. He wants nothing more than to be important and to be a gentleman. Before visiting Ms. Havisham's Pip looked up to Joe, and it seamed like he wanted to be like him. Now that he has seen a better and more advanced way of living life, he looks at Joe as someone less fortunate and honorable, though he still loves him. 


One day that altered my life was the first day of middle school. Going into middle school I didn't have any classes with my friends from Elementary School and so throughout the week I branched out and made all new ones. It was really hard for me at first to lose relationships I had built for so long and I miss those friends a lot, but I love the group of friends I have now. Without them, I would be no where near the person I am today.