CHAPTER 15 Practice Quiz — Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: CHAPTER 15
Why does Pip want to visit Miss Havisham during his apprenticeship?
Pip feels he should thank Miss Havisham since he has never contacted her or asked after her since being bound as an apprentice.
What does Orlick demand when Pip is given a half-holiday?
Orlick demands that he be given a half-holiday too, arguing that Joe should not favor only one of them.
What triggers the physical fight between Joe and Orlick?
Orlick insults Mrs. Joe, calling her a "foul shrew" and threatening that if she were his wife he would hold her under the pump and choke it out of her. Joe then stands up to defend his wife.
Who greets Pip at Satis House instead of Estella?
Miss Sarah Pocket comes to the gate and reluctantly lets Pip in after deliberating whether to send him away.
What does Miss Havisham tell Pip about Estella?
She reveals that Estella is abroad being "educated for a lady," that she is "far out of reach" and "prettier than ever, admired by all who see her."
What does Mr. Wopsle do with Pip on the evening of the half-holiday?
Wopsle drags Pip to Pumblechook's parlour for a dramatic reading of The Tragedy of George Barnwell, which lasts until half-past nine.
What shocking discovery ends Chapter 15?
Pip returns home to find Mrs. Joe lying unconscious on the kitchen floor, struck down by a tremendous blow to the back of the head by an unknown attacker.
How is Dolge Orlick physically described?
He is described as a "broad-shouldered loose-limbed swarthy fellow of great strength" who always slouches and is compared to Cain and the Wandering Jew.
What is Joe's attitude toward Pip visiting Miss Havisham?
Joe is cautious and shrewd, warning that Miss Havisham might think Pip "wanted something" and stipulating that if Pip is not received with cordiality, the visit should have no successor.
How does Mrs. Joe react to Orlick getting a half-holiday?
She erupts in rage, calling Joe a fool for "giving holidays to great idle hulkers" and working herself into a screaming frenzy through deliberate, calculated stages.
What is Miss Havisham's emotional state when she asks Pip if he has "lost" Estella?
She displays "malignant enjoyment" and breaks into a disagreeable laugh, taking cruel pleasure in Pip's pain over Estella's absence.
What philosophical observation does Joe make after the fight with Orlick?
Joe tells Pip: "On the Rampage, Pip, and off the Rampage, Pip -- such is Life!"
What does Pip's motive for educating Joe reveal about his character?
Pip admits he wants to make Joe "less ignorant and common" so Joe will be "worthier of my society and less open to Estella's reproach," revealing that class shame, not generosity, drives him.
How does the chapter explore the theme of violence and domesticity?
The Gargery household erupts when Orlick insults Mrs. Joe, Joe fights Orlick, and Mrs. Joe works herself into a calculated frenzy -- and the chapter ends with Mrs. Joe's brutal attack, showing that domestic life in the novel is never safe from violence.
How does Pip's visit to Satis House reinforce the theme of dissatisfaction?
Miss Havisham's cold reception and news of Estella's absence leave Pip "more than ever dissatisfied with my home and with my trade and with everything," deepening his restless longing for a different life.
How does the motif of imprisonment appear in this chapter?
Guns fire from the Hulks signaling escaped convicts, Orlick remarks it is "a good night for cutting off in," and Pip feels trapped in his apprenticeship -- all echoing the novel's recurring motif of confinement and escape.
How does the reading of George Barnwell function as foreshadowing?
The play about an apprentice who murders his uncle parallels Pip's situation and prefigures the violence that closes the chapter with Mrs. Joe's attack, creating dramatic irony since the real danger comes from someone other than Pip.
What is the effect of the pathetic fallacy at the end of Chapter 15?
The "very dark night" with heavy, wet mist creates an atmosphere of danger and foreboding that mirrors the emotional darkness of the chapter's violent conclusion.
How does Dickens use dramatic irony with Pumblechook and the George Barnwell reading?
Pumblechook stares at Pip and warns him to "take warning, boy" as if Pip were planning murder, while the real threat to the household comes from an entirely different direction.
What biblical allusions does Dickens use to characterize Orlick?
Orlick is compared to Cain (the first murderer in Genesis) and the Wandering Jew (a figure cursed to roam the earth), both suggesting exile, violence, and moral darkness.
What does "journeyman" mean as used to describe Orlick?
A journeyman is a trained worker who has completed an apprenticeship and works for daily or weekly wages under a master craftsman, rather than running his own business.
What does "sagacious" mean when Pip says Joe smoked with "a far more sagacious air"?
Sagacious means having keen mental discernment and good judgment. The humor is that Joe only appears wise while smoking during lessons but retains nothing.
Who says "On the Rampage, Pip, and off the Rampage, Pip -- such is Life" and what does it mean?
Joe says this after fighting Orlick and calming Mrs. Joe. It is his simple, philosophical summary that life alternates between turmoil and peace, and one must accept both.
What does Miss Havisham mean when she says "Do you feel that you have lost her?"
She is cruelly asking Pip whether he feels Estella is gone from his life forever. Dickens notes she says it with "malignant enjoyment," revealing her desire to use Estella to inflict heartbreak on men.