Childhood Influences in Great Expectations and the Kite Runner

Michael Dennedy Word Count 1944 How do Dickens and Hosseini turn over the crook of childhood experiences in their novels Great Expectations and The increase smuggler? The influence of childhood experience is at the core of these novels as both of the important(prenominal) protagonists go with a sacrament of passage and change of grapheme which is influenced by their contrasting childhood experiences. In Dickens Great Expectations, the main char operati whizzr take grew up in southeast England with his harsh and girdle sister Mrs.Joe who raised him forcefully and often violently by egest and her benign and lovable husband Joe Gargery who is what many critics such as E. M Forster call a flat character as his personality and motives do not change passim the novel. Despite later feeling that blacksmithing is at a lower perspective him, in the Victorian era, take would get to been really lucky to guide had an automatic apprenticeship receivable to Joes profession . In my opinion, 2 major events in Pips childhood affect him for the rest of his life his foreboding(a) and terrifying meeting with the convict Magwitch, and his embarrassing and revelatory meeting with missy.Havisham and Estella. The premier(prenominal) life-changing event for Pip is when a fearful man with a expectant iron on his leg named Magwitch approaches him in the graveyard where our protagonists pargonnts lay. The Wordsworth Classics edition of the novel offers an illustration in chapter one(a) by F. W Pailthorpe is provided which connotes that Magwitch is dark and frightful, although the illustrator used irony here as the criminal stands fag a gravestone which reads Sacred in my opinion this gravestone represents Magwitchs true kind hearted nature.In these first chapters, we are introduced to the character of Pip who is the intimately important in the novel collectible to him universe both narrator and protagonist. Despite his horror at meeting such a horrific man, he is kind and compassionate to covers him, instantly showing that Pip is overtly, a good character. This and similar traits such as compassion and conscience in Pips personality define his character throughout the novel as they are the core foundations in his personality.By showing this, Dickens creates a bond amongst Pip and the reader that keeps us interested and concerned about the rite of passage Pip endures and the eventual outcome of the events he experiences throughout the novel. This humanity notify be taken in chapter forty one when Pip ashes careful and apprised of the good Provis and despite the utter shame and irritation he feels throughout, Pip respects that proper treatment is due to his open-hearted yet seedy benefactor and that he must save him, if accomplishable.Pip constantly thinks back about his shortcomings and bad deeds, which drives him to be morally conscious of his actions. This trait in Pips personality creates the initial storyline of the novel and constitutes the written report of gentlemen, as it is Magwitchs secretive philanthropy towards Pip for his kindness which creates mystery, Great Expectations and inconclusive loyalty for Pip who is later sent to capital of the United Kingdom to be schooled and glowering into a human. Throughout the novel Dickens uses the question of what makes a gentleman to create a kindly commentary.The materialistic Victorian mind-set maxim gentlemen as being wealthy and aristocratic like the hateful Bentley Drummle however, a real gentleman is more like the altruistic and good Joe Gargery who is a gentle Christian man. The second event in Pips childhood which I think, is the rouge catalyst to his change in character as his meeting with a woman who was made of bittersweet nightshade and skeleton, Miss Havisham and her beautiful ward Estella whose name means principal something for Pip to aspire to shown by his concupiscence.This meeting introduces Pip to the theme of social bet terment and class it also introduces false hope and Miss Havishams device of creating hopeless aspirations and sham suspicions about the identity of his benefactor. In the Victorian era, a working class boy would never be permitted to marry the ward of a wealthy, upper crust woman. Miss Havishams manipulation of Pips emotions further exposes her bitterness and cruelty.I feel that Dickens uses Estella as Pips original motivation for wanting to aim a gentleman and due to Estellas contempt, Pip loses grasp of his humble and kind roots and steers extraneous from being a gentle man in the process. In Hosseinis The Kite Runner, the main character Amir has an almost completely contrasting childhood although he is haunted by one key personal event the rape of his best friend and (unknowingly to Amir at the time) his brother Hassan, and another major event that affects the whole country of sheepskin coatistan the Soviet Invasion.Both of these events mark the upheaval of Amirs life both e motionally and physically as he is forced to leave his lavish upper-class life in his bagland and find a immature p strengthen as poor working class man within the stranger idea of America. An almost immediate change can be seen in Pip once he has travelled from town to the metropolis. Pips new GREAT EXPECTATIONS, are quickly foiled as he arrives in Cheapside just out of Smithfield.This field of force of London was filthy in the era due to the largest meat market in Britain, Smithfield, being in close proximity and due to the ugly, crooked, narrow and ill-gotten streets which were hackneyed in London at the time due to the poor sewer systems. This disappointment at arriving in a new lace are also expressed in The Kite Runner as it was living in America that gave Baba an ulcer. The return of Magwitch is an manikin of how childhood has affected Pips attitude and opinions on social class.Dickens uses idiotic fallacy at the start of chapter thirty nine It was wretched hold up stormy and wet mud, deep in all the streets this is used to announce the upcoming events and to emphasise the horror and disgust Pip feels when realising that Magwitch is his benefactor. Hosseini also uses punch-drunk fallacy to great effect throughout The Kite Runner, one example of how the weather is used to create a tense and boggy atmosphere is in chapter 7 shortly before the rape scene.Hosseini describes the area as a secluded muddy road My boot squished in the mud. Both authors have used this technique to foreshadow and correct the reader for what is to come. He took both my hands and put them to his lips, while my line of merchandise ran cold shows Pips horror as this kind act should not cause such a fearful reaction. Pip sincerely yours begins to appreciate the danger Magwitch has put himself into by returning to London as returning from transportation from Australia almost certainly meant death at the gallows in the eighteen hundreds.Childhood influences is shown in chapter forty-two as Magwitch was forced to become a thief after a-thieving turnips to survive as a child and due to this harsh difficult upbringing, sympathy is evoked form the reader as the convict has honoured his debt to the small boy. Throughout the novel Pips attitudes towards Joe and his home at the forge change constantly. Before Pip meets Estella the camaraderie and fellowship can be seen as they were both fellow-sufferers of Tickler and by the phrases and name and address they use such as you and me is always friends and how Pip simply calls him Joe strange almost all other adults in the novel.This respect for adults and even parents was commonplace in Victorian times however this example of not apply Mr shows how close a friendship they share in the novels opening. Respect for adults is a theme show dominantly in The Kite Runner. The term agha sahib meaning lord, commander or friend is used throughout the novel. This term is often used by both Amir and Hassan when t hey treat to Baba or Rahim Kahn as they are both their elders who deserve the respect of children.Despite the indecorum of the relation between Pip and Joe in the beginning. Joes visit is tug and awkward as he attempts to tell Pip the local happenings. For example Wopsle, for instance, has become an actor with questionable talent this shows the Dickensian technique of hinting towards a characters future or traits by using an appropriate name. Pip is rude and ashamed of Joe however until he redeems himself with the mention of Estella to returning to Satis House and that she has asked to see Pip.Upon this revelation Pip becomes nicer to Joe, but he leaves before Pip can make amends. Joes visit to London illuminates the theme of social contrasts and guilt. This slit serves by showing the awkward position between classes Pip has become and by showing the worry he that Joe will disapprove of his new life and that the aristocracy in his life will frown upon him, once again showing P ips character trait of guilt. The life of Estella and the effect she has upon Pip is a very good example of how Dickens uses ult experiences to shape and mould his characters.In my reasoning, I think that Miss Havisham brought Estella up for two main reasons for her to punish Men and break their hearts and for her to give Miss Havisham a final chance of receiving love despite it not being romantic. As a child Estella is very pretty, very insulting to Pip and to other men including Mr Pumblechook and she continues this behaviour throughout the majority of the novel until the very end when she returns bent and broken and humbled from the abuse given to her by her deceased husband Bentley Drummle.Dickens uses Estella as a tool to create a social commentary on birth rite and nature versus nurture. unbeknown to Pip for the earlier half of the novel, Estella is the daughter of a thief and a murderess adopted by Miss Havisham at the age of three. With her character, Dickens shows that c urrency does not buy happiness even in the superficial Victorian era as Estella has no heart due to the coldness displayed to her by Miss Havisham despite having all the material possessions she could ever want or need and due to this, many critics have stated that Estella is the only living female creation of Dickens.Estella contrasts heavily with the character of Soraya in The Kite Runner. Where Estella is cold and haughty, Soraya is kind, steady and dependable and despite her infertility she is the complete(a) wife for Amir although she often gives her negative opinions on patriarchal Afghan culture. Both Pip and Amir go through rites of passage in the novels as Humphrey House has stated that it is a remarkable achievement to have kept the readers sympathy throughout a prigs progress.Amir starts The Kite Runner as an arrogant, selfish, cowardly although loving boy and grows up with the guilt of the cowardice he displayed when Hassan was raped although he finds solace by return ing to Afghanistan seeking redemption by rescuing Sohrab during two-thousand and one whilst the Taliban were engaged in Afghan United Nations controversy.Pips character changes from the innocent, kind and timid child into a character similar to that of Amir as a child as he is arrogant and snobbish although he too begins to feel guilt for his actions during his period of snobbery and seeks redemption by returning to the forge and Satis House and the end of the novel to find free pardon from Joe. The authors of both novels use rites of passage as a means for character change and redemption however, Dickens puts Pip through a mental journey as he slowly unravels the traits and histories of those well-nigh him whereas Hosseini sends Amir on a physical journey to find a way to be good again.