How Dickens Develops Suspense English Literature Essay

In this essay I am going to examine how Dickens uses different methods when creating and developing suspense in first three chapters of his novel Great Expectations.

Dickens’ novel, first published in 1860, is focused on the personal growth of main character Philip Pirrip, known as Pip. We follow his journey of becoming a gentleman and fulfilling his Great Expectations with more than one twist from Dickens. As we progress in the story, we discover crucial truths about protagonists and their secrets, underlined with detailed description of characters and settings of the story all contributing to development of plot and maintaining suspense. Dickens had to use all his tools and literary talents when building a character and story, to be able to capture the reader. We also have to take into account that Dickens published his story in periodical instalments so he had to make reader want to buy the next one. How did he achieve this? He made first chapters of the novel really strong and surprising, and ended each instalment with a cliff-hanger. In first few pages readers are grasped by sudden incident which will prove very important later in the book.

In his opening chapter, Dickens describes Kent marshes, childhood home of main character and narrator of the story, Pip. Dickens takes his inspiration from his own childhood experience.

We first meet Pip on ‘a memorable afternoon towards evening’ in the bleak atmosphere of an old churchyard. Here, setting is as much important as the story that is about to happen. We see a young boy standing upon stone graves of his own parents, trying to imagine what they would look like. He says: ‘ “…derived from their tombstones… He was a square, stout, dark man, with curly black hair.” ‘ He also describes his mother as ‘freckled and sickly. ‘ (Great Expectations, p.1) So here we have a tearful but quiet picture which is about to be interrupted by an unexpected visitor who will turn Pip’s life upside down.

Magwitch, a runaway convict, runs at Pip screaming out loud: ‘ “Keep still or I will cut your throat.” ‘ (Great Expectations, p. 6) Dickens underlines the gruesomeness of his character with Pip’s description of this man. Pip’s eyes see him as : ‘ A fearful man, all in coarse grey, with a great iron on his leg.’ (Great Expectations, p.6) This sudden change from the peaceful atmosphere of the churchyard turns the scene into a nightmare. This is a first moment of surprise for the reader and keeps him drawn to the story. Dickens is painting an image of complete helplessness and fear. Pip is feeling threatened by Magwitch but he still manages to keep a boyish wit when responding to Magwitch’s questions and threats. He says: ‘ ” If you would kindly please to let me keep upright, sir, perhaps I shouldn’t be sick, and perhaps I could attend more.’ ” (Great Expectations, p.7)

This way Dickens keeps the dynamic of dialogues and maintains the pace in narration of the novel . No part is too long because he uses lot of punctuation and combination of suspense and comic relief. He doesn’t tire his reader, he makes then want to read on.

At the end of the chapter one, Magwitch is asking Pip to bring him some food and a file. Pip promises the convict he will meet him again the next day. The whole chapter ends with the repeated image a of dark marshes as seen at the beginning and Pip trying to see the convict disappearing into them: ‘ The marshes were list long black horizontal line then, as I stopped to look after him.’ (Great Expectations, p.9)We as readers are left with a question hanging in the air. Will Pip keep his word? And what will happened afterwards? Was this meeting important? It all could have been just an unimportant episode but in the world of Charles Dickens it will later prove an important part of master plot.

Immediately after this surprising start, we find ourselves being entertained by the next chapter. In chapter two, Dickens is trying to ease the terror from previous pages to maintain the momentum of the novel. He places the reader in Pip’s home on Christmas Eve and describes his family with light humour. Pip introduces his sister, Mrs Joe, as a ‘not very good looking woman’ and comically remarks: ‘ “Sometimes I wonder, .. She washes herself with a nutmeg-grater instead of soap. ‘ ” (Great Expectations, p. 10) We also learn that Pip was ‘raised by hand’ and has a special bond with his brother in law, Joe. This is not an environment that would be nice for a little boy to grow up in, but Dickens doe not describe it as one of misery and darkness, instead choosing to use Pip’s childhood words and the charm of his age and character This is in real contrast to first chapter where Dickens uses a lot of harshness in his narrative to emphasize Pip’s fear and desperation.

Pip decides to help the convict and keeps his promise, meeting him on the marshes. Here again, Dickens uses the background to underline the story and writes: ‘It as a rimy morning, and very damp… The mist was heavier… everything seemed to run at me.'(Great Expectations, p. 17) As Pip wanders about the marshes, he sees a figure of a man and decides it is his convict. How big is his surprise when he realises this creature is not him and remarks: ‘ “He instantly jumped up, and it was not the same man, but another man! ” ‘ (Great Expectations, p. 18) Who is this figure? Yet again we are surprised and left wondering if it was important and if we meet with this character again.

Dickens leaves unanswered questions for his readers to try and discover true meanings and their place in the plot. The encounter between orphan boy Pip and convict will prove important, which we fully uncover later in plot. He captures his reader right from begging of his novel with exaggeration of characters, use of dramatic atmosphere and change in narration. A wonderful mixture of weather and colour help to paint a complete image and draws us into Pip’s story. To keep his Victorian reader engaged and willing to spend money, Dickens had to use suspense to keep pace in the story . He develops his story by combining terrifying images with easier parts to allow us to catch our breath whilst keeping us engaged with the story. He ends chapters with cliff-hanger: ‘ The last I heard of him, I stopped in the mist to listen, and the file was still going.’ (Great Expectations, p.23) These last words from chapter three leave us wondering if we will see the convict again, and what will now happen with Pip’s life.

Work cited:

Dickens, Charles. 1994 . Great Expectations. London : Penguin Popular Classics

Schlicke, Paul. 2011. The Oxford Companion To Charles Dickens. Oxford: University Press