Uncle Pumblechook is Joe Gargery's uncle, and so is not really related to Pip, though he calls him "uncle." Pumblechook is vain and pompous. Dickens describes him as “a large hard-breathing middle-aged slow man, with a mouth like a fish, dull staring eyes, and sandy hair standing upright on his head, so that he looked as if he had just been all but choked.” Pumblechook takes credit for getting Pip his invitation to go to Miss Haversham's, and therefore believes he is responsible for Pip's eventual rise in society. Pip's sister, Mrs Joe, and Pumblechook spend a great deal of time speculating about the mysterious and wealthy Miss Haversham:
Then, he and my sister would pair off in such nonsensical speculations about Miss Havisham, and about what she would do with me and for me, that I used to want—quite painfully—to burst into spiteful tears, fly at Pumblechook, and pummel him all over. In these dialogues, my sister spoke to me as if she were morally wrenching one of my teeth out at every reference; while Pumblechook himself, self-constituted my patron, would sit supervising me with a depreciatory eye, like the architect of my fortunes who thought himself engaged on a very unremunerative job.
In fact, Pumblechook has never seen Miss Haversham in person, nor even been in the house. His pretended familiarity is another example of his self-important behavior.
No comments:
Post a Comment