Fun fact.

When Dickens wrote, his neighbors frequently called the cops. 

Great expectations notes

Pip transforms throughout story from boy to man. 

Pips an orphan so he imagines family because he didn't have his own. Has a very strong sense of being unwanted. 

Believes that family and marriage isn't enough for him but also isn't sure of himself. 

Fills fatherless void by adopting make characters as father figures and mirroring them. 

Magwitch- meets at church and is a prisoner. Acts like an animal and seems to be a selfish brutality about him. A potential for violence. Represents a fear of abandonment for Pip but pip also sees a version of himself

Havesham- witch like figure. Seems like a fairy god mother to Pip but is a symbol of horrible decay. Her house is stuck in a moment of time, hasn't touched anything since she was left at alter 

Begger your neighbor. 

Astella is Ms. Haveshams revenge. Pip falls in love with Astella. 

Characters remind pip of his own inadequacy. 

Siddhartha

1. Siddhartha features substantial activity and narrative action. At the same time, it is about one man’s largely internal spiritual quest. What is the relationship between the internal and exterior worlds of Siddhartha? How does Siddhartha negotiate these worlds?

2. Herman Hesse’s novels before Siddhartha focused on alienated young men who rejected the cultures of their upbringings. However, these other novels did not feature the spiritual elements of Siddhartha. How do the spiritual elements of Siddhartha make it different from any other story of an alienated youth?

3. Most literary scholars agree that Siddhartha was prompted by Herman Hesse’s fixation on Eastern spirituality. Is there a case to be made that Siddhartha is designed to celebrate Eastern religion? Is Hesse’s treatment of spirituality as relevant today as it was when he wrote the novel?

4. Siddhartha concerns the quest for spiritual enlightenment, and by the end of it four characters have achieved this goal: Govinda, Gotama, Vasudeva, and Siddhartha. Is the enlightenment achieved by each of these characters the same? Why or why not? What distinctions and similarities exist between the paths these characters use to reach their final goal?

5. Consider Siddhartha’s relationship with Govinda. How are they similar, and how are they different? What are the narrative functions of Govinda’s reappearance throughout the novel? How does their relationship impact the novel’s ending?

These questions tell me that the test is in depth and covers a wide range of topics and concepts.  

Siddhartha Notes

Finding himself, what he wants to do and where he wants to go

Brahamin is the highest social class in India so it shows how hard it was to leave family and identity behind. 

Central Message: discovering yourself on the way to your destination 

Tone: sorrow, yearning, self discovery

Beginning: self pity. End: panic/realization