Great Expectations is a novel by Charles Dickens. The main character of the book is a boy, named Pip.
The story begins on Christmas Eve, when Pip is sitting in the churchyard next to his parents graves. Suddenly a convict who has escaped from the prison,
scrounge Pip. The convict threaten him, to bring him food, otherwise he would kill him. So, Pip returns to his house, where he lived with his elder sister and her husband, Joe.The next day Pip steals food from the kitchen and goes to the churchyard again.There he gives the food to the convict and leaves.
The same day, during dinner, soldiers appear in the house and ask for the blacksmith, Joe. They tell Joe to repair their handcuffs as quickly as he can. Then the soldiers leave to find the two convicts who had escaped the day before. Pip and Joe are going with them, and at last they find the two convicts, the one is the man who Pip gave the food that morning and the other one seems to know the first convict very well because they were fighting when the soldiers found them.
As the days passed, a wealth old woman, named Miss Havisham asks Pip's uncle Pumblechook to find a boy and bring it to her home to play. So Pip goes to London to Miss Havisham's house to play.The house was very dark and old. Everything seemed to be stopped in time.Miss Havisham, wears an old wedding dress and she haven't seen the sunlight for about 20 years. She claims that she only wanted Pip to play cards with a girl , named Estella, which she has adopted.
Estella, was very beautiful and proud. As she was playing cards with Pip she always laughed at him and Miss Havisham often asked Pip what he thought about Estella. When Pip left the house he was crying and Estella saw him. Moreover Estella told Pip that she was happy when she saw him crying!
Pip continued visiting Miss Havisham and soon realized he was in love with Estella.However Estella calls Pip a common boy, and Pip cries again. Another time while Pip was leaving Miss Havisham's house he met a boy at the same age with him, who wanted to fight with Pip for Estella.Pip won, and Estella who had seen the fight, let Pip kiss her!
At last, Miss Havisham gives Pip 25 pounds for keeping her company, and tells him he shall never visit her house again. Years passed, and Pip became a blacksmith, although he wished to be a gentleman so he could meet Estella again. And then, Pip meets a lawyer from London who tells him that he has been given a large amount of money by an anonumous benefactor in order to become a gentleman. So Pip believes that his benefactor is Miss Havisham and moves to London.
More years pass, and Pip run into debt while he learns how to become a gentleman. He often visits Miss Havisham and learns from her that Estella is studying in Europe. Then Estella returns and meet Pip.She apologizes from her cruelty however he tells to Pip that he sould not fall in love with her. Pip ignores her words, because he believes that once Miss Havisham is his benefactor, she wants Pip and Estella together.
Then Pip learns that his true benefactor is Abel Magwitch,the convict , who Pip helped once as a boy. Agel Magwitch had escaped from the prison and went to another country where he became extremely wealthy. He never forgot the boy who helped him so he sent some money to him. Now Pip is really unhappy because he understands that Miss Havisham allowed him to believe that she was his benefactor and that she never wanted Pip to marry Estella. She also fears that as Abel Magwitch stays more in the country he might be arrested and hanged. So he plans to leave the country with him.
During all these happened Estella married a noble and old gentleman who Pip disliked very much.Before Pip's escape with Magwitch he visits Miss Havisham one last time. She ask forgiveness from Pip Because she now understands that treating Estella to behave bad at all men and especially Pip, she has created a monster.Then she dies in front of Pip. Pip is very sad and as he returns home he realizes that Magwitch has been arrested. Magwitch tells Pip that he leaves everything to him and dies.
Then Pip comes down with a serious illness. Joe is always beside him and as Pip recovers , Joe leaves and writes a note for Pip. In the note it said that Joe had paid all of Pip's debts and he wishes a good life for him. So Pip leaves overseas with a friend of his were ha does some good business.
After 11 years overseas Pip returns to London as an extremely wealthy gentleman. He visits Joe and meets Estella again. He learns from her that her life was very sad. Her husband had used her with cruelty and that she has changed now. Finally, Pip and Estella are great friends.
