Babies that fall on their faces

I enjoyed the first bit of reading for a few reasons. I think the biggest reason is because of the Italian related content in it. I have Italian heritage and am really interested in Italian stuff, and have always wanted to go there. Reading this makes me want to visit there even more. I also thought the characters' phrases and sayings were pretty funny. Its these that make the reading very enjoyable for me. I like reading at home and reading at school both because it makes things easier for me. For one, doing annotating at school takes a huge burden off, and reading it twice and having the teacher tell us what it really means helps too. It leaves me time to read A Tale of Two Cities as well. It also helps me understand things in the book that the side notes can't. It does nothing more than improve my reading experience and make the connection to the book with me stronger, which I appreciate very much.                                                            
                                                                                      

Wrapping up Great Expectations

Dicken's main message in the book is obvious. The characters in the book believed money was the only way they could be happy. Whether it was to win someone over, gain status, or just buy everything they wanted, there was always something better than money. Money may have given the characters material wealth, but money did not save Pip or Mrs.Joe, from Orlick or mend them back to health when they were injured, it did not give Pip Estella's hand in marraige, or any of these things. Dickens is trying to say that friends and family are much better resources than portable property and that people should be valued more over money. Money wasn't the thing that made Pip sucsessful, it was Magwitch, the donor of the money. People have more of an influence than money does, good, or bad. Take Compeyson for instance. Not even all of Havisham's posessions could make her feel any better. She wasted her life away after she was jilted and money could not fix her. But when Pip makes her realize her flaws, she instantly breaks down and even though she dies soon after, I bet she would have lead a fuller life after that if she had not been burned. It just goes to show you what people can do that money can't. The message Dickens put in this book as the central one is probably the most valuable one he could have used.