Great Expectations Chapter 24 Summary
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Pip and Mr. Pocket discuss Pip's education, which is supposed to cover just enough to get by in life.
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Mr. Pocket is good people. He's smart, honest, and kind, and he gives the okay for Herbert and Pip to live together—which means it's time to head to the nearest Ikea!
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But first, it's off to visit Mr. Jaggers for some money. After a rousing conversation involving multiplication and other math guessing games, he says Pip can have twenty pounds. Sweet.
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After Wemmick gives Pip the money, he takes him on a tour of the office. Pip asks Wemmick the story behind scary casts/sculpture-thingies. Here's the deal:
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The casts portray two criminals who were sentenced to death: one for murder and the other for forging wills. Immediately after the men were killed, the casts were made of their faces. So basically, Jaggers has fine artwork in his office portraying of two faces frozen in the agony of their death. How delightful!
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Wemmick shows Pip the jewels that these criminals gave him on the eve of their deaths. Apparently, the criminals in London really like to suck up to Wemmick and to give him all kinds of cool trinkets.
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Wemmick is an advocate of "portable property" (24.41), that is, stuff that you can carry around with you or that you can easily grab when moving to Switzerland on a moment's notice.
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So, no 54" inch TVs for this guy—it's all microchips and minidisk players.
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Wemmick tells Pip he's welcome to come have dinner at his house whenever. He warns Pip that Jaggers will be inviting him to his place soon too. While Jaggers will provide delicious wine, his maid, Molly, is a little strange—so keep an eye on her.
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Finally, the two boys head over to the courthouse to see Mr. Jaggers in action. Everyone in court is scared stiff. He's a powerful man.
Great Expectations Chapter 25 Summary
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Pip goes to dinner at Wemmick's house and it is better than Disney World. Seriously. It puts Cinderella's chateau to shame.
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See, Wemmick has built his own castle in a part of town called Walworth. The "castle" is the size of a little house, except with a flagpole, a moat, and a drawbridge. What more could anyone want (besides a rooftop Jacuzzi and a whole box of popsicles)?
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Wemmick asks Pip if he wouldn't mind meeting the Aged. Pip wonders if he's referring to a particularly stinky form of cheese.
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Nope. It's Wemmick's father, a very energetic though completely deaf man.
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The Aged loves to be nodded at, so Wemmick and Pip spend a good half hour nodding their heads at the Aged.
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Apparently, Wemmick at home is very different from the Wemmick at the office, almost a completely different person.
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They have a great time in the castle.
Great Expectations Chapter 26 Summary
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The boys dine at Jaggers'.
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Jaggers has an ability to bring out the worst in those around him (fun!), so the boys start quarreling among themselves.
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Pip accuses Drummle of never having repaid Startop for money he had lent him, and Jaggers tell Pip to steer clear of Drummle in the future. He christens Drummle, "the spider," and actually really likes this butthead. Go figure. Only Jaggers.
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Per instructions, Pip pays close attention to Molly. She's very weird, not to mention quiet.
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At one point, Jaggers grabs her by the arm to show his dinner guests how strong her scarred hands and arms are……Weird.
Great Expectations Chapter 27 Summary
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Pip receives a letter from Biddy telling him that Joe would like to come visit him in London. Biddy tells Pip that his sister is still sick, but that they talk about Pip every night and wonder what he's doing and what he's saying.
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Awww. Biddy adds a PS saying that Joe insists on sending a very particular message: "what larks."
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Biddy hopes that Pip, now a high falutin' gentleman, won't mind seeing Joe, a poor blacksmith, but she's wrong. Pip is not excited to see Joe. Oh, Pip. Pip is suddenly embarrassed of Joe, and kind of glad that his brother-in-law isn't visiting at the Pockets' house where Bentley Drummle might see him.
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Pip has redecorated his London apartment a little bit, and he's hired a young boy to be his servant. Problem: after getting the boy a nice uniform, he realizes that he doesn't really have anything for the boy to do.
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He calls the boy the Avenged Phantom (the Avenger for short), because he always hangs around like a ghost, and because he doesn't really have a purpose.
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Joe arrives the next day and is thrilled to see Pip, though he's really uncomfortable in Pip's apartment amid all of the finery.
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Joe won't shake Herbert's hand because he's too much of a gentleman. Instead he bows a little bit to Herbert in deference to him.
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Joe notices the Avenger, but doesn't quite know what to make of him. This is kind of a theme: he also doesn't know what to do with his hat, so he hangs it on the side of a fireplace—where it keeps falling down.
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Pip is not really helping this whole situation, and he's relieved when Herbert has to leave.
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Joe tells Pip that Mr. Wopsle has left the church to become an actor in London. He and Mr. Wopsle went to go check out a blacking factory the day before, and Joe didn't think it was nearly as cool as the pictures made it look.
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Pip is totally unresponsive, but at the same time he can't understand why Joe keeps calling him "sir."
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Apparently, Mr. Pumblechook is taking credit all over town for Pip's fortune and is telling everyone that he and Pip were and are the best of friends. Gross.
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Finally, Joe tells Pip the reason for his visit: Miss Havisham asked Joe to tell Pip that Estella wants to see him.
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Pip suddenly feels much, much better, and he wishes he had known that this was the reason for Joe's visit all along.
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With this message passed along, Joe gets ready to leave. In the middle of breakfast. What?
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Life has taken them in two different directions, says Joe, and that's just the way it goes.
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What a depressing chapter—for us and for Pip.
Great Expectations Chapter 28 Summary
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Pip is off immediately, but he decides to stay at the village inn rather than Joe's house because you just know that Joe is going to tell him that his high school curfew is in effect and he has to do his chores.
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The journey home is pretty much the carriage ride from hell. There are two convicts who accompany the carriage riders, and—what do you know?—one of the convicts is the very same man who gave him the two pound note all those years ago at the Three Jolly Bargemen.
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Pip has to sit right in front of this convict, and, as he's a heavy breather, Pip feels his convict-breath on him the whole ride home.
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The convict tells his compadre the story of giving a two pound note to a little boy in marsh country many years ago, and Pip realizes that he's relating the exact same story.
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He's freaked out that the convict is going to recognize him, even though that's highly unlikely, Pip jumps ship (or carriage, rather) at the first possible stop.
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When he gets to the Blue Boar, everyone there recognizes him as the young man for whom Pumblechook is responsible. We say again: gross.
Great Expectations Chapter 29 Summary
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Pip is totally excited that he gets to see Estella today. He decides to go for a walk before he visits Miss Havisham. On the walk, it's all "Estella, Estella, Estella." He loves her with all of his being and against his better judgment. He knows she's tough, moody, and cold but he can't help but be totally drawn to her.
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He's not deluded about who she is as a person, but he sure is swimming in de Nile about his destiny.
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You see, Pip believes that he and Estella are meant to be. End of story. Get the pumpkin carriage ready so that they can ride off into the sunset. He thinks that Miss Havisham wants to throw the two lovebirds together so that they will bring warmth and light to her dreary, scary house.
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We have to say, we think Pip has really misread her character.
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Pip knocks at Miss Havisham's gate, and who should appear but Orlick, the bully who used to work in the forge. Orlick is the new gatekeeper.
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Pip and Orlick snarl at each other a little, and then Pip finds Miss Havisham sitting her living room watching a lady.
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It is Estella! All grown up and lady-like and real pretty!
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And just like that, Pip feels like an awkward little boy again and resolves to reject his family all over again.
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Estella and Pip go for a walk in the garden outside, but it doesn't go so well for Pip. Estella can't remember any of the stories he tells her about their encounters when they were little.
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Basically, Pip worships the hem of her skirt, and Estella couldn't care less: she doesn't have a heart, and she doesn't feel anything for anyone.
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Poppycock, says Pip. Someone so beautiful can't be heartless.
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Estella rolls her eyes at the dumb boy, and then the two of them see a ghost in the brewery. It's a strange moment, and we're not quite sure what to make of it.
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Pip tries to pretend he's not scared by saying he doesn't believe Estella is heartless, and she tells him that he's a silly boy.
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Pip is totally convinced that he's meant to marry Estella.
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They go back inside, Estella leaves to get ready for dinner, and Miss Havisham demands that Pip love Estella. Seriously, demands: she says, "love her!" over and over and over again (29.84).
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She tells Pip that she built Estella to be loved and to break hearts.
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And then Jaggers shows up. It's a real party now!
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Dinner is as awkward as you'd expect, and afterwards Jaggers, Estella, and Pip play cards, while Miss Havisham puts jewels in Estella's hair.
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Miss Havisham asks Pip to escort Estella from London to Richmond when she comes to town in the next few weeks, which he's thrilled to do.
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Pip goes to bed professing his love to an imaginary Estella.
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He realizes that he can never go back to Joe now. He really believes that he and Estella are meant to be.
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He's kind of dumb. Sorry, but it's true.
Great Expectations Chapter 30 Summary
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The next morning, Pip tells Jaggers that Orlick is one rotten cookie, and Jaggers promises to have Orlick fired at once.
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Pip's a little worried that this might stir up some bad blood with Orlick, but Jaggers is not a man to be wishy-washy.
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As he's getting ready to leave town, Pip is followed by and mocked by Trabb's boy, the smart aleck smarty pants who makes fun of Pip for being too good for his fellow townspeople—which, well, he's got a point.
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Trabb's boy is relentless, and Pip feels totally slimy and dejected.
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When Pip gets home, the first thing he does is tell Herbert about Estella and about how much he loves her. Um, duh, says Herbert.
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Herbert tries to reassure Pip, but he also tells him that he doesn't think that Estella is destined for Pip after all, and that Miss Havisham doesn't plan to hook them up.
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This completely derails Pip.
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Herbert tells Pip that he's in love with a girl named Clara and that he will marry her. She lives by the sea and he father has something to do with shipping, so Herbert thinks it's a great career move. (The girl's nice, too.)
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Momma Pocket isn't too pleased, but we can't win 'em all.
Great Expectations Chapter 31 Summary
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Pip and Herbert go to the theater! Mr. Wopsle is playing Hamlet in Shakespeare's Hamlet, a play about a Danish prince who has a serious identity crisis after his mother marries his dead dad's murderer. Check it out.
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We would give anything to see this production. The actor who plays the ghost of Hamlet's dead father has a really bad cough, and he also can't remember his lines to save his life. He has to carry his script with him wherever he goes.
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Hamlet's mother looks like a punk rocker wearing head gear, because her chin is attached to a tiara on her head by a chain.
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Ophelia is so annoying that people cheer when she begins to do herself in.
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Mr. Wopsle is grossed out by the skeleton he has to touch.
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And the audience is replying to EVERYTHING the actors say. When Hamlet asks, "To be, or not to be," the audience shouts their opinions. It's basically a round table discussion.
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Overall, it's pretty much the best play ever.
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Pip and Herbert try to give Mr. Wopsle a standing ovation, but they stop when they realize that it's a lost cause. They spend most of the play trying to stifle their laughter.
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The boys attempt to sneak out before Mr. Wopsle sees them, but a man corners them before they can escape and takes them to Mr. Wopsle's dressing room.
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There Mr. Wopsle (who goes by Mr. Waldengarver now) is having his stockings pulled off of him. It's a big deal. He asks the boys what they thought of the production, and Herbert automatically responds, "Capitally!" (31.21) and Pip, speechless, mimics Herbert's reply. The boys are about to bust up laughing, but they manage to compliment Mr. Wopsle.
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They invite Mr. Wopsle to dinner, and the man stays until 2 am talking about his road to stardom. Pip goes to bed miserable, thinking about Estella (as usual), and he has some seriously twisted dreams that night.
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He dreams he proposes to Clara, that he plays the role of Hamlet in front of 20,000 people, and that he forgets his lines. Oh, and Miss Havisham takes the form of Hamlet's mother.
Great Expectations Chapter 32 Summary
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Estella is coming to town! Yeehaw! Pip gets a note that has neither a greeting nor a signature. It just says, basically, "Pip, come pick me up day after tomorrow. Noonish."
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There's not enough time to order new clothes, which is a bummer. Also, Pip can't sleep or eat. He spends his time hanging around the carriage house for fear that Estella arrives early.
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On the day of her arrival, he shows up at the carriage house five hours early. Does this man have a day job, or what?
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Fortunately, he runs into Wemmick who invites Pip to accompany him on a short visit to Newgate prison. Fun!
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When in the prison, Pip notices how Wemmick is like Elvis to the prison guards and to the prisoners themselves. They adore him, and they see him as their ticket to freedom and greatness.
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Wemmick introduces Pip to a colonel who is a little loco. Wemmick tells the man that he doesn't think his trial is going to turn out very well. The colonel thanks Wemmick and shakes his hand. Oh, but could the crazy man get him some pigeons? Sure? Great! Wemmick is going to be a pigeon-owner!
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The prison guards ask Wemmick lots of questions about Jaggers' various cases, but Wemmick dusts them off. He and Pip leave the prison, and Wemmick discusses how feared and magnanimous Jaggers is to the criminals of London and to London itself. The boys say goodbye to each other.
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Pip feels weird. He thinks about how Estella is the antithesis of Newgate prison. He wonders why criminals always find their way into his life, ever since he was a little boy. He wishes he had never gone to the prison, and feels like he smells like a prison instead of Polo Sport.
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But at least all this has made time go by. Pretty soon, Estella is waving at him from the carriage window.
Great Expectations Chapter 33 Summary
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Estella comes to town dressed head to toe in fur, and Pip is totally entranced. If Estella told him to jump off a bridge, he would do it. If Estella told him to eat a lit firecracker, he would do it.
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She lays down the rules: they'll ride in a carriage to her new home and she will pay for everything: tea, horses, tips, manis/pedis—everything.
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Estella wants to take a little snack break in London before traveling to her new home, where they pay an arm and a leg for an itty-bitty muffin and an urn full of twiggy tea. They sit at a dining table with thirty chairs around it, and there's a half-burnt book in the fire.
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Thank you, Charles Dickens, once again, for the detail.
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Apparently, the Pockets write mean, incriminating letters about Pip to Miss Havisham, but Miss Havisham loves that he makes them jealous. There's nothing anyone can say in the world that would taint Miss Havisham's opinion of him.
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Estella rants a little bit about how un-fun it was to grow up in a household with nasty, selfish, jealous relatives and with a mother who only is peaceful at weird hours of the night.
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Pip fully realizes that Estella has had a messed up childhood. Duh.
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(Kids, cover your eyes, because the next part is a little steamy, and we don't know if you can handle it.)
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Pip kisses Estella's hand, and then kisses her cheek. She's about as moved as a statue, and when he's finished, she goes back to business as usual.
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They get on the carriage and embark upon their journey. Estella tells Pip that Miss Havisham is paying a rich friend to take care of Estella and to introduce her to "society."
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Estella tells Pip he's expected to come visit as often as is "proper." "So, like, every hour, on the hour, right?" thinks Pip.
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They say goodbye on her new doorstep, and Estella is enveloped by the rich house and by her new maids.
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Pip is heartbroken when he leaves her. He's even more heartbroken when he arrives home at the Pockets'.
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He sees Jane Pocket strolling around with her boyfriend, and he's totally jealous.
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When he enters the Pocket household, he finds Mrs. Pocket ranting about the fact that baby Pocket has swallowed some needles. (So not safe or funny, you guys.) She's sent baby to bed as a remedy.
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Mr. Pocket is out lecturing, and Pip is in desperate need of a friend and confidante. No such luck, Pip old chap.
Great Expectations Chapter 34 Summary
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Pip can't stop thinking about Estella. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What's new? He also feels pretty bad about the way he's been treating Joe, neglecting him and all.
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He even wishes he'd never met Miss Havisham so he could be working in the forge with Joe this very minute, without all these anxieties and worries.
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Pip is living the life of a London playboy, meaning that he's spending money that he doesn't have (yet). The debts are piling high, and, what's worse is that he's had a negative influence on Herbert, his best friend in the world.
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We all know Herbert is pretty awesome. If he weren't Pip's friend, he wouldn't be drawn to the high life and he wouldn't be spending so much money.
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How are the boys spending so much money? On booze, jewelry, food, and the Finches.
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Oh yes, the Finches. The Finches eat dinner every two weeks and get really, really drunk. They're a society of men, kind of like a fraternity but not associated with college. When Pip first encounters them, guess who he sees? Bentley "the spider" Drummle, who likes to get so drunk that he runs into streetlamps. He's a charmer.
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Pip and Herbert start having to eat less and less, and, while Herbert keeps a positive attitude about his career, things just aren't looking good.
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So the boys resort to the age-old stand by that always makes them feel better: they calculate their debts.
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Herbert's not so good at staying on task, but Pip helps him. They order a delicious dinner and a good bottle of wine, and they add up all of their debts. Afterwards, Pip arranges the bills in neat little piles, and he feels really good about himself. He feels like he's accomplished something, he feels smart, and he feels like he's helped his good friend.
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Suddenly, a note is slipped through the door. Pip opens it and discovers that his sister, Mrs. Joe, has died and that her funeral will be on Monday. Guilt-city, here we come.
Great Expectations Chapter 35 Summary
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Pip is rocked by his sister's death. It's the first death that he's encountered in his grown-up life, and he can't stop thinking about Mrs. Joe in her rocking chair by the fire.
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She may have been a mean old snake, but he still feels like he should hunt down Orlick, who he believes is the cause of her death.
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The funeral turns out to be a big, old spectacle. Joe is very sad. Trabb is arranging the funeral, and makes the pall bearers (Pip included), carry Mrs. Joe's casket across town. Trabb throws a black sheath over the casket, and it covers the pall bearers' heads so they look like a giant, many-legged monster-bug.
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Mr. Pumblechook is being uber annoying, as usual. He keeps drinking all the alcohol, preening Pip, and taking credit for Pip's rise to fame and fortune.
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After the funeral, Joe and Pip chat about old times. At night, it's time for Pip and Biddy to do the same thing.
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When he asks what she'll do with her life now. Biddy sassily responds that she's going to be a schoolmistress and will be just fine, thank you very much.
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Biddy says that one day around tea-time, Mrs. Joe asked for Joe. Joe came to her and she simply said, "Joe," "Pardon," and "Pip." And then she just died.
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Also, Orlick has been hanging around Biddy, watching her, and being up to no good. Pip is enraged. He wants to hunt Orlick down, but Biddy tells him to simmer down.
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Then the conversation turns a bit awkward as Pip promises Biddy he will come home often to take care of Joe. Biddy just doesn't believe him, and she conveys this through silence.
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Pip is annoyed, heartbroken, and altogether sad that Biddy would think that, even though, come on, she's totally right.
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Pip sleeps in his old room that night and is proud of himself for doing so rather than sleeping at the fancier Blue Boar inn. Good job, Pip. Gold star for you.
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The next morning, he watches Joe in the window of the forge. Joe looks young, strong, and sunshiny.
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Biddy gives Pip milk and bread for the road and tells him she's sorry if she hurt his feelings.
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Pip leaves the forge, promising to return soon.
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Guess what? The mists are rising. We know—shocking.
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The mists are like Pip's crystal ball and, in them, on this particular day, he sees that he will not be coming home soon at all. Liar, liar, pants on fire.
Great Expectations Chapter 36 Summary
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Pip and Herbert have been spending money faster than they can make it. But fortunately, it's Pip's 21st birthday!
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Mr. Jaggers invites Pip into his office and, after grilling him for a while, tells Pip that he's getting a gigantic birthday present. From now on, Pip will receive an allowance of 500 pounds a year. That's a lot of money. Pip is psyched, but he really wants to know who his benefactor is.
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Mr. Jaggers isn't talking. But he does invite himself over for dinner at Pip and Herbert's.
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While he's there, Pip asks Wemmick for some advice. Pip has the crazy idea that he'd like to invest some of his new allowance in a certain friend who is interested in the merchant and shipping business.
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Wemmick advises Pip never to lend anyone some money.
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Pip asks Wemmick whether he's speaking as businessman or as friend, and Wemmick confirms he's speaking as a businessman. If he wants to know what Wemmick thinks as a friend, he'll have to come to Wemmick's house in Walworth.
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