CHAPTER 11

Summary
Pip makes a second visit to Miss Havishams house. He sees some
other people who wait on her, most of them cousins and various
other relations. He is taken into a room where a table is decorated
with a wedding cake that has long since rotted and is now full of
insects. Miss Havisham tells Pip that when she dies, they will put
her body on the table. Then Pip plays cards with Estella. On his way
back, he comes across a thin, pale boy who dares him to fight. Pip
knocks the boy down and Estella grants him the reward of kissing
her cheek.

Notes
Pips second visit proves to be an important one, though the
significance is for now unrealized. He meets two people with whom
he will have a long association: Mr. Jaggers, a lawyer, and the boy
with whom he fights. The boy will become his most trusted friend in
a few years.

The room with the wedding cake is yet another symbol in the novel
to mark the house that has been forgotten by time. The cake and
Miss Havishams dress are eerie monuments to the unfulfilled past--
monuments that have rotted and yellowed with age, but that still
stand.

Estellas reward is only a temporary victory for Pip; it does not

mean he has become less common, at least to her.

CHAPTERS 12 - 14

Summary
Pip is now expected to be at Miss Havishams every afternoon. This
arrangement continues for ten months. Estellas behavior during
this time alternates between indifference and friendliness, confusing
Pip and stringing him along.

Miss Havisham knows that when Pip is old enough, he will be

apprenticed to Joe. One day, she asks the young boy to bring his
mentor along. A few days later, when the visit takes place, Joes
behavior embarrasses Pip. Miss Havisham rewards Pip with a
generous sum of twenty-five guineas and reminds him that he is
now a servant of Joe. The apprenticeship will sever his ties with
Satis House.

Once Pip had looked forward to working with Joe. After all, the two
were as close as brothers. But now the work seems like drudgery;
Pip is constantly aware of the common-ness of it all. He often
wonders what Estella would think if she saw him working as a
blacksmith. His discontent grows daily.

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Notes
Joes common behavior at Miss Havishams is the first in a long
series of things that Pip becomes ashamed of as a result of his time
with Estella. He watches Estella smile at Joe and imagines she is
laughing at his base ways and lowly mannerisms, and Pip is
embarrassed.

Ultimately, Pips apprenticeship takes him away from Satis House

and the taste of uncommon-ness he had enjoyed there. He
becomes preoccupied with thoughts of Estella and Miss Havisham,
and his dissatisfaction with his old life grows steadily. He becomes
more ashamed of home, and of Joe. Both are constant reminders
that his station in life will never meet Estellas standards and this
troubles him greatly.

CHAPTERS 15 AND 16

Summary
Against Joes better wishes, Pip takes half a day off from work to
visit Miss Havisham. Orlick, Joes employee, is jealous and requests
half a day off as well. When Joe grants it, Mrs. Joe interrupts and
this leads to a quarrel between her and Orlick, and subsequently
between Orlick and Mrs. Joe. Pip goes to Miss Havishams only to
discover Estella is away in France, being educated as a lady.

Upon arrival at his home, Pip discovers that someone has broken in
and injured Mrs. Joe. A leg-iron that was long ago filed away lies on
the ground next to her, and she is permanently brain-damaged. She
is bed-ridden, hearing-impaired, and unable to speak. Biddy moves
in to be her nurse and look after Joe and Pip.

Notes
The story takes an unprecedented turn with the near-fatal wounding
of Mrs. Joe. Her incapacity to do work and impaired senses create a
lot of stress in the household until Biddy comes to stay. Then she
becomes an invaluable member of the family. Joe finds a consoler in
her and Pip finds a close entrusted friend. Biddy also takes up the
responsibility of taking care of Mrs. Joe. One good thing about the
accident is that it makes Mrs. Joe a much nicer person. She is
suddenly patient and bearable. She even apologizes to Orlick and
becomes kind and gentle at heart.

The perpetrator of the evil deed is not found, but to his own horror,
Pip suspects the convict he long ago freed. He is glad that Biddy has
joined them and he admires the way she conducts herself about the
house and helps in his learning.