Amanda Lueck
Waller
H. English 11
10/5/09
Foreshadowing Throughout Great Expectations
Charles Dickens uses the technique of foreshadowing to develop the plot of Great Expectations. Throughout the first two sections of the book, Dickens describes a lot of key facts that seem to have very little to no relevance to the story. In chapter 3, Pip encounters a convict that was not the original convict. When Pip informs the original convict of this second escaped convict, he abruptly becomes upset. At the time, the reader, nor Pip, know the significance of this peculiar behavior. Not until chapter 42 does the reader, as well as Pip, find out how the second convict was related to the whole story.
Many other small events that take place in the early stages of Great Expectations also become extremely significant towards the end of this book. As one reads the beginning of the book, these small events seem awfully redundant and cause the book to read horribly slowly. However, as one nears the end of the story, having these events as prior knowledge make the pieces of the story come together with much more intensity.
In my own opinion, the entire plot of the story is based upon the foreshadowing that takes place in the first and second stages of Pip’s life.
