What are some similarities between Oliver Twist and Pip (from Great Expectations)?

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The protagonists of Great Expectations (Pip) and Oliver Twist (Oliver) have several similarities. The most obvious is that both are orphans. Chapter one of Great Expectations explains that

"I [Pip] never saw my father or my mother, and never saw any likeness of either of them . . . "

Pip was orphaned very young and has no memory of his parents's appearances. At the start of the story, he is living with his sister and brother-in-law. Unfortunately, his sister is not known for being a kind woman:

"My sister, Mrs. Joe Gargery, was more than twenty years older than I, and had established a great reputation with herself and the neighbors because she had brought me up “by hand.” . . . knowing her to have a hard and heavy hand, and to be much in the habit of laying it upon her husband as well as upon me, I supposed that Joe Gargery and I were both brought up by hand" (ch. 2).

Pip's older sister is known for her "heavy hand," or the physical punishments that she uses to motivate (or perhaps abuse)...

(The entire section contains 1063 words.)

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