Great Expectations

October 10, 2011

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Author's Note:  Today in our book club meeting we greatly discussed love more specifically What is love?, How many people can you love?, Can you love everything?, and so on.  We decided on a prompt to respond to, Can we love everybody and everything?  In this response I am using lots of my voice and opinion to get my point across.  This is also the second time I have tried to write this same response.  My first one got deleted, which I believe was my better response, so I tried to remember what I wrote with not much success. 

Love, a simple word yet so strong and powerful.  The word love is used all of the time for instance, I love my family, I love the smell fresh cut grass, I love my pet goldfish. They all use love, but not necessarily to the same extent.  When I think of love I think of family, friends, skiing, and other things that I enjoy or have a passion for.  To love each of those things in the same way would be irrational; love has it's variety of meanings and limitations. 

I love my family with my heart, similarly Pip loves Joe greatly; considering him family.  On the other hand, I can't say I love to ski the same way that I love my family.  Loving to ski means that I enjoy it very much.  Loving my family means that I adore them very much.  They have a very diverse significance. 

Can I say that I love everyone and everything?  Yes.  It's not impossible.  Love has many meanings and many terms which gives it many uses.  I use love as in passion, love as in devotion, love as in enjoying somebody or something and each has a unique meaning behind it.  I can say I love the world; everyone, every thing, every part.

October 8, 2011

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Author's Note: For our book club meeting, we were assigned a prompt to respond from the book.  The prompt: What was Pip's real motivation for bringing the food and the file to the convict who waits for him in the cemetery?  I suppose there is a more deep reason behind his action but I just don't know what.  

You walk down dark cobblestone streets far after the sun has gone down, a strange man comes up, holds you still with a tight grip and demands for food or money, or a different task all together.  No one is there to help you and you can't get away.  Still you obey all orders otherwise he threatens to take your life or the lives of people you love.  Frightened, you sprint away once he lets you go.  You can't believe it because by tomorrow, at the same time and place, you must have his order completed and meet him once again.

You did as he said no matter how terrible it was, but why?  Fear.  Simply the fear of the man, fear of losing your life, fear of losing lives of others, and fear of having to live the moment.  Similarly, an event like this happened to Pip in the marshes.  The convict threatened Pip's life if he did not get food and a file to him so Pip did bring them.  When we were asked what Pip's real motivation behind bringing the supplies to the convict, I thought right away: Fear.  Maybe it's not though, because the real motivation would be between the lines.  Pip's motivation was something in his head, something important that he was thinking about, something that pushed him to do it.

Honestly, I don't know the real reason why.  I try to put myself in Pip's shoes, but all I get is fear.  He has a true motivation that is yet to be found.