Great Expectations

Our story begins with an orphan boy named Philip Pirrip, who called himself Pip because his infant tongue could manage nothing more. Pip lived near the cold, wet marshes of Kent with his stern sister, Mrs. Joe, who boasted of bringing him up by hand, which meant frequent scoldings and beatings with a wax-ended cane named Tickler. Fortunately, Pip had a protector, his sister's husband, Joe Gargery, a gentle giant of a blacksmith with a heart as soft as his forge's bellows. Joe was Pip's best friend and his only comfort in the cold cottage. On a freezing Christmas Eve, seven-year-old Pip was visiting his parents' graves in the lonely churchyard when a terrifying man sprang from the shadows. He was shivering, dressed in muddy rags, with a heavy iron shackle on his leg, an escaped convict from the prison ships anchored in the river. The man shook Pip, demanding a file and some food. He warned that if Pip failed to bring them to the old battery the next morning, a savage young companion would find him and tear out his heart and liver. Terrified, Pip crept into the pantry early on Christmas morning and stole bread, cheese, mincemeat, and a beautiful pork pie saved for dinner, along with a file from Joe's forge. He delivered them through the thick fog to the shivering convict, who devoured the pie and immediately began filing his iron shackle. The man cast a look of strange gratitude after Pip as the boy slipped away. During Christmas dinner, the theft was nearly discovered, but soldiers suddenly arrived, needing handcuffs repaired. Joe mended them, and he and Pip joined the soldiers on the misty marshes to hunt the escapees. They found Pip's convict fighting another escaped prisoner in a muddy ditch. Before being taken back to the prison ship, the convict looked at Joe and lied, confessing he had stolen the pork pie himself, so no one else would be blamed. Joe kindly forgave him, refusing to let a fellow creature starve. Years passed. Pip attended a simple evening school where a kind orphan girl named Biddy helped him learn. He was destined to become Joe's apprentice, but when Pip was 11, everything changed. A wealthy, reclusive lady named Miss Havisham sent for a boy to come to her ruined mansion, Satis House, to play. There, Pip was met by Estella, a beautiful but incredibly cold girl his own age. She led him through dark, dusty passages to Miss Havisham, who sat in a yellowed wedding dress amidst decaying bridal finery, all her clocks stopped forever at 20 minutes to 9. "Play, boy, play!" Miss Havisham commanded. When Pip was too frightened, she had Estella play cards with him. Estella mocked Pip's coarse hands, his thick boots, and his habit of calling the knaves jacks. Afterward, she tossed him his food on the courtyard stones as if he were a dog. Alone in the shadows, Pip wept bitter tears. For the first time, he felt a burning shame for his simple life and his beloved forge, wishing with all his heart that he could be a gentleman to please the cold, beautiful girl. For years, Pip's life was divided. By day, he worked as an apprentice in Joe's forge, his face black with soot and his muscles growing strong. But by night, his mind wandered back to the dark, dusty rooms of Satis House. There, he learned the story of the stopped clocks. Many years ago, on her wedding day, Miss Havisham had been betrayed by the man she loved. At exactly 20 minutes to 9, a letter arrived, and the groom ran away with her money. From that moment, she stopped every clock, left her wedding feast to rot, and dedicated her life to a bitter revenge. She had adopted Estella for one purpose: to raise her to be so beautiful and heartless that she would break the hearts of men. "Love her, Pip," she would whisper, her eyes burning. "If she tears your heart to pieces, love her." And Pip did, with a blind, desperate devotion, even as Estella grew more cruel. When Estella went to France to be educated, Pip felt…

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