What is the First sentence of Great Expectations?

/Mrs. Hubble: minor characters. Mr. Hubble is a wheelwright who does not like children.

5

6 A Teacher's Guide to the Signet Classics Edition of Charles Dickens's Great Expectations

CHAPTER 5, PAGES 29-39

PLOT DEVELOPMENT: The soldiers have come not to arrest Pip but because they need Joe to

fix a pair of broken handcuffs. They are searching for a pair of escaped convicts, and Joe, Pip, and

Wopsle agree to join the manhunt (while Pumblechook, the Hubbles, and the sergeant stay home

and drink with Mrs. Joe). They find the two convicts (the ones Pip has met) fighting with one

another. Pip fears that his convict will think he betrayed him, but instead the convict looks at him

with gratitude. The convict tells the police that he stole the food and file from the blacksmith.

NEW CHARACTERS & PLACES:

• The soldiers: though pursuing escaped felons, the soldiers appear to be more like Keystone

Cops than serious police.

• The convicts: the men found by the party are indeed the two convicts that Pip encountered

in Chapter 3 (Magwitch and Compeyson).

• The Hulks: old ships used to house prison inmates.