write a note on humour in Dickens
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HOMEWORK HELP > GREAT EXPECTATIONS
How does Dickens use humour and pathos in his Great Expectations? Please give a detailed explanation.
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MWESTWOOD | CERTIFIED EDUCATOR
In his bildungsroman, Great Expectations, Charles Dickens employs humor and comic relief through the use of ridiculous and silly characters to whom he gives typically ridiculous names. And, he evokes pathos from characters who are the unfortunate victims of poverty and the social "prison" of English society.
HUMOR
The earliest example of such a character is the pompous Uncle Pumblechook, "the basest of swindlers," as Pip terms him. He is a sycophant, who fawns before rich people. When Miss Havisham asks him to find a boy with whom Estella can play, he assumes an importance because he believes himself an emissary of hers. While Pip is poor, Pumblechook berateS him; but once Pip has a benefactor, Pumblechook becomes fawning.Another humorous character is Wemmick, whose "post office" mouth merely takes in information and emits it with no personal touch added. However, after Pip goes to Wemmick's home, he finds that the little man has much personality and is attentive to his father, whom he fondly calls "Aged P." With an odd house and landscape, Wemmick fires a canon each night for his deaf father to enjoy. Certainly, the relaxation of spending an evening with Wemmick is comic relief for Pip. In addition, Wemmick's quirky character comes out in the scene in which he visits the prisoners and talks to the plants as he makes his way to the cells in Newgate.