Abstract
This paper deals with the narrative order of time in Charles Dickens’s novel Great Expectations. Time is crucial in narratological structure as it establishes a logical relation for events in the narrative. Besides, a narrative develops its point of view through the voices in the narrative. This point of view is called focalization. This paper assumes that the sequence of events in Dickens’s Great Expectations does not follow a linear order and consequently, the point of focalization changes throughout the narrative. Accordingly, the current paper intends to investigate the order of narration in the novel. It intends to explore the ultimate thematic concern of the novel as well. The discussion will be in the light of Gerard Genette’s narratological structure and will be applied on Dickens’s Great Expectations. It is the 13th novel in his independent literary works. It has been published unillustrated in 36 weekly instalments in All the Year Round from 1860 through 1861. Then, it has been published in three volumes by Chapman & Hall in1861. The narrative voice has a great impact on the story’s timeline and on the readers because it is narrated in the first-person voice by the protagonist, Philip Pirrip. (Davis, 2007: P 126) The analysis is based on Genette’s theorization of time order in telling a story and communicating a broader point of view that the author intends to make throughout the whole narrative structure.
Highlights
The Industrial Revolution established an almost impenetrable foundation for the colossal development of industrialization, trade and economy prior to Queen Victoria’s accession
The development of London neighboring towns in the United Kingdom launched a new phase of overall transformation in expectation for a better future and massive shift from a lifestyle established on agriculture to a new style of living based on industrialisation. (Carter & Mcrae, 2017: 243-244)
Great Expectations as a narrative recounts two times and is basically oriented to a broader point of view regarding the negative impact of capitalism on the individual
Summary
The Industrial Revolution established an almost impenetrable foundation for the colossal development of industrialization, trade and economy prior to Queen Victoria’s accession. The first-person narrator touches upon other secondary stories that disrupt the narrative structure but at the same time enforces the central thematic concern of the novel. By applying Genette’s chronological order of time, an in-depth investigation reveals that all characters share one common challenge under the impact of materialistic philosophy in which money was the driving force behind the major characters’ atrocity and isolation.
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