Great Expectations

Just a few notes to self before I actually finish reading the book -- two (rather broad) things to keep in mind: women & aging. From the very beginning, there seems to be a pretty sharp difference between male and female characters. Pip knows his parents only as well as he knows their tombstones. His mother's inscription reads, "Also Georgiana Wife of the Above" on a tombstone that made Pip believe she was "freckled and sickly." Pip's sister, Mrs. Joe, wife of blacksmith Joe Gargery, is similarly defined by her husband -- but only in name really. She is abusive, red-faced, and dressed in an apron covered in pins & needles. Miss Havisham is heartbroken & Estella heartless. Age also seems like it may form an interesting theme. Pip's description of the church when the convict turns him upside down reminded me of a child's perception of the world as relative to the self. The convict also threatens Pip with the "young man," who is much meaner. The relationship between Miss Havisham and Estella also presents an interesting age duality. Also, when we are first introduced to Joe, Pip mentions that he treats him as a "larger species of child."