"I'll have your heart and liver"

Great Expectations, by literary master Charles Dickens, starts when we are introduced to the protagonist of the novel, Pip. The first scene of the novel is when Pip goes to the graveyard to see the tombstones of his deceased parents. He is interrupted when he sees a frightening man who demands a file, a drink, and some food from Pip and threatens to eat Pip's heart and liver. Also, the man, who is convict, threatens that there is another man, also a convict, who is younger and much meaner than he is and will get Pip if Pip doesn't bring what he wants. Pip is terrified and although he feels very guilty about stealing from Mrs. Joe, this guilt is overcome by his fear of the convict. Pip brings all of the items that the convict wants and the convict is satisfied. However, when Pip finds out the police are after the convict, Pip fears for the convict's safety and does not want the convict to be caught. But, in the end, the convict is caught with the police getting help from Joe, Pip's fatherly figure, and Pip witnesses the convicts getting arrested after fighting with each other. At this point in the novel, Pip is a young boy who, although poor, has very strong morals of kindness and compassion for others, which he displays in his encounter with the convict. Although it does not seem like it until a while later in the book, this scene is one of the most important in the entire novel as the convict will come back later to become a major character in the book. Furthermore, Pip's character is established by Dickens as an innocent child who does not know too much about the world yet and will believe anything that he is told. This important because later on in the novel, his character will drastically change and will be corrupted by the evils of society.