Great Expectations

Pip attends an evening school run by the lazy Mr. Wopsle and his great-aunt, who is usually in a drunken stupor. Pip supplements his education by reading with Biddy, Mr. Wopsle’s great aunt’s granddaughter who works at the family junk store. She is an orphan like Pip, and she gradually teaches him to read and write.

One evening, Joe sees Pip writing on a slate and remarks that he’s a scholar. Pip muses that he aims to become one, and Joe reveals that he can barely read, though he is fond of reading, and he even writes amateur poetry. Joe explains that he never went to school because his mother repeatedly ran away from his abusive father. This, Joe declares, “were a drawback on my learning” (106). Joe met Pip’s sister shortly after his mother died, and he insists that Pip’s sister is a great woman but that she dislikes education and “scholars.”

Pumblechook and Mrs. Joe arrive on a horse drawn carriage. Mrs. Joe announces that she has arranged for Pip to play in the home of a rich and eccentric old recluse named Miss Havisham. Pip’s sister declares Pip should be grateful for the privilege, though Joe seems wary of the opportunity.