OLIVIA RITCHIE

Essay Blog

Click here to access my essay blog.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Visiting an Innocent Man

After observing Wemmick during his visit with Pip I thought of how strange it is that some people have to put on an act each day at work. When Wemmick is at home is a loose, caring, friendly man who sees pleasure in the simplest of things. Where as when he is working it's as though his face doesn't move and his mind is overcome by the idea of money and business. How can someone be such different people only from a change of setting? Although when Wemmick comes home day after day he enters into a world of fantasy and fairytales. His house resembles a castle, he has a bridge leading up to his door, and he also has a flagpole. The flagpole is obviously something Wemmick is very proud of. He mentions many times of how he hoists the flag into the air at a certain time and how he lowers it at a certain time. By making conversation of this with Pip, pride is evident. Though so simple, the flagpole holds great meaning in his homelife. This innocence of a grown man isn't something you see very often, but when you do it is quite refreshing. All the tragedy of the world doesn't affect him here; this is the place he can escape to that will clear his mind. Work, on the other hand, is only a burden of which he must carry around. Everyone must work if they strive to be succesful in the world, even if at times it can feel like torture. Seeing these traits in Wemmick can only make me think though he loves his work and does it well, his homelife is a mirror image of his true self. The things he really cares about are among the small piece of land he owns. He could take pride in his work by bragging about it to Pip when he comes, but instead he chooses to show him the things he made with his very own hands; longing for someone to appreciate them just as much as he does. Wemmick contributes greatly to the theme with his unique values. Many of the other charactors have adapted to the "world's" ways and don't see that finding happiness in yourself and what's in your own home can be the most important thing. You don't want to loose yourself by trying to follow the crowd. Wemmick is a great example to all of us. It is important to be focused with your work but you must never loose sight of those things that really matter. Clearly, Wemmick shows he has a love of being successful but he also shows love of happiness and family. He is a well-rounded man.

6 comments:

  1. Liv,
    This was a great response. You took this in a totally different way than I saw it and that is really cool. I liked how you thouroughly expressed your ideas, and had a lot of text evidence. One thing you might want to work on is just breaking your writing into paragraphs. Otherwise, awesome job!
    -KC

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks so much KC.. I will deffinitely work on spreading my ideas in that way. I guess I just got excited and didn't think to split it into paragraphs. Honestly, this did get a little longer than I thought it was going to be:D

    ReplyDelete
  3. Don't worry, sometimes I get really caught up in my ideas too, and I don't even think about stuff like paragraphing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is a great unique concept-the innocence of an older person. I really like how you take a different view than the general consensus of the rest of the class. You may attempt incorporating more varying and expanded vocabulary. Go out on a limb and try something new.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your message I couldn't agree with more. The writing, especially in the beginning, is not your best. Go back, please, and check the sentences you laid out here. The need for revision and edit is pretty strong. Again, the ideas are so good, and I couldn't agree more. I never could understand how a person could be so schizo to be completely separate from work and home, but the part of me, ironically enough, that is your English teacher, has to also call the writing quality to your attention.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow, this was a really good. I liked how you explained all of the symbolism Dickens wrote because it really helps to understand Wemmick's character. I agree with Karen, you could have made it into separate paragraphs since it got really long but I understand, I do the same thing. Otherwise, great job!

    ReplyDelete