To put it bluntly: What's her problem? Her only biological relative is Pip, but she's terrible to him. I'm surprised Dickens didn't make her into the archetype step-sister, but maybe he wished to show that blood relatives can be just as bad. She really irritates me; I find her thoughts to be petty and shallow. I think what cinches the nature of the sibling relationship is the fact that Pip thinks of her as "Mrs. Joe Gargery." It shows how much he fears her, and it also annoys me that the woman automatically assumes the name (and possibly the identity, though not in this case) of her husband. Anyway, everything about Mrs. Joe Gargery rubs me the wrong way. Bleh!
I'm really not fond of Pip's sister either, Shruthi. She is an absolutely terrible person, not to mention how mean she is to Pip himself. If I was in her situation, I would try my best to give my little brother everything I possibly could. Instead, she yells and abuses him. I just don't get how someone could be so cruel to their own blood.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think that your point of how maybe Dickens wanted to show that blood realives can be just as bad as step-relatives is really interesting.
I wonder if she might be bitter to Pip because of something with their parents. Maybe she is mad that she couldn't have a life of her own witout having to take care of her brother. She probably was forced to grow to fast. Maybe she wanted her own kids but couldn't afford them because of Pip. I don't like her either but I wanted to give a different perspective.
ReplyDeleteThat's true. She certainly incurs some problems by having to raise another person with a small income. At the same time, I think that she is also shallow in some ways. In our Section 2 reading, she gets really upset when she isn't invited to Miss Havisham. She seems likes one of those aspiring social climbers, and places too much value on appearances.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the consensus that she is really mean, but maybe that's just who she is. I mean, her anger isn't just directed at Pip, she's snappy towards Joe too. She might just be one of those people who isn't truly happy unless their frustrated at someone. I know it's kind of a sad point of view, but there are people out there who are like that...
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