Resumen Great Expectations

Walworth: The Castle Great Expectations The Castle... The good twin... The hidden Wemmick... The outlet for emotion... The need to be human... The weakness that needs to be protected... The opening of the true self... A world behind a mask... Walworth is an essential setting for the understanding of Wemmick. Dickens uses it to develop not only Wemmick's character but also his relationship withPip and the contrast between Mr. Jaggers and him. As the reader knows more about the place, he or she also knows more about the character. There are many dimensions or aspects to this setting for it is full of symbolism. It is not only the place itself that makes the Castle such an important element but also the characters associated with it and its influence on Wemmick. Walworth is the only wayfor Pip and the reader to see Wemmick as a person, and not as the dry, cold clerk at Mr. Jaggers' office. Far away from the city, the Castle is pure of its dirtiness, corruption and superficiality. The dry man. When Pip first meets Wemmick, at the office, he sees him as a dry man (171) walking in a self−contained way as if there were nothing in the streets to claim his attention (172). This givesa bad impression of Wemmick; however, it is just a misjudgment. Once Wemmick sets foot in his place, he transforms into a whole different person. In the city, he merely wears a suit, a uniform that makes him be one more among the crowd of regular people. Personal vs. proffesional. Never heard of it. Never seen the Aged. Never heard of him. No; the office is one thing, and private life is another.When I go into the office, I leave the Castle behind me, and when I come into the Castle, I leave the office behind me (208). Wemmick has never shown the place to Jaggers; however, he has shown it to Pip even though he has met him at the office and could make his relationship strictly professional. That is why the invitation to the Castle is so important in the development of their relationship.Opening up. Wemmick invites Pip to visit his home. I have not much to show you; but such two or three curiosities as I have got, you might like to look over; and I am fond of a bit of garden and a summer−house (201). He speaks in a humbler tone and, for the first time, mentions something about his personal life. This offer is the beginning point of the relationship between Wemmick and Pip,leading them to stronger and closer ties later on in the text. I can't help confiding in you, though I know it must be troublesome to you; but that is your fault, in having ever brought me here (295). The fact is, however, that Wemmick does not mind Pip's confidence. The Aged Parent. This character brings a sense of family to the Castle. He is also a very amusing character that makes the reader smileand sympathize with him. Dickens surprises not only Pip (and later Mr. Jaggers) with this character but also the reader who had followed and trusted Pip's misjudgments. In addition, when the old man says All right, John; all right! (207), he is giving Wemmick an identity other than the one he has at the office. Somehow, he is showing a more human Wemmick, a son. He gives his father treats andspoils him, completely destroying any previous image the reader had of him. The appearance. It appeared to be a collection of black lanes, ditches, and little gardens, and to present the aspect of a rather dull retirement (206). This is the first thought Pip has when he first sees the Castle. His opinion will change as he gets to know the place, the same way that he changes his mind about Wemmick.The place and its appearance remain the same; however, Pip perceives them in a different way because he realizes what this house means to Wemmick. He is extremely proud of it for it is his own doing (206). It is 1

something that he has done on his own, little by little. At the Castle, Wemmick is, so to speak, the king; at the office, he is the subordinate. The fort. Wemmick has built his house...