CHAPTER 34 Practice Quiz — Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: CHAPTER 34
What does Pip realize about the effect of his expectations on himself and others at the start of Chapter 34?
Pip recognizes that his expectations have not been good for his character, have troubled his conscience regarding Joe and Biddy, and have corrupted Herbert by leading him into expenses he cannot afford.
What is the Finches of the Grove and who suggests Pip and Herbert join?
It is a gentlemen's club whose members dine expensively, quarrel after dinner, and cause waiters to get drunk. Startop suggests they join.
Who is the first Finch Pip sees when he joins the Grove?
Bentley Drummle, who is described floundering about town in his own cab and doing great damage to street-corner posts.
What is Herbert's daily routine in the City?
Herbert goes to a dark back-room office each morning to "look about him" for a business opening, visits Lloyd's each afternoon, but never seems to accomplish anything concrete.
What ritual do Pip and Herbert periodically perform regarding their finances?
They order a special dinner, lay out pens, ink, and stationery, and each writes a memorandum of his debts. They organize receipts into symmetrical bundles, giving them a temporary sense of control.
What is Pip's system of "leaving a Margin"?
Pip rounds debts upward to a higher figure (e.g., 164 pounds becomes 200). However, they immediately spend up to the new amount, making the system an "expensive device" that increases their debt.
What news arrives at the end of Chapter 34?
A letter with a heavy black seal from Trabb & Co. informs Pip that Mrs. Joe Gargery has died and that his attendance is requested at the funeral.
How has Pip's lifestyle negatively affected Herbert?
Pip's lavish habits have led Herbert into unaffordable expenses, corrupted the simplicity of his life, and disturbed his peace with anxieties and regrets.
What does Herbert fantasize about doing when he becomes deeply despondent about money?
Around two o'clock in the morning, Herbert talks of buying a rifle and going to America to compel buffaloes to make his fortune.
How does Pip treat the Avenger in a moment of financial stress?
When threatened with legal proceedings over a jewellery bill, Pip seizes the Avenger by his blue collar and shakes him off his feet for presuming they wanted a bread roll.
What are Mr. and Mrs. Pocket doing during this period?
Mr. Pocket grows greyer and tries to lift himself out of perplexities by his hair, while Mrs. Pocket trips up the family with her footstool, reads her book of dignities, and tells everyone about her grandpapa.
How does Herbert respond to Pip's debt-organizing abilities?
Herbert praises Pip with genuine admiration, calling him "a fellow of resource" and saying his "business powers are very remarkable," though the entire exercise is futile.
What theme does the Finches of the Grove illustrate?
The club illustrates the emptiness of gentlemanly pretension — its members spend lavishly, quarrel pointlessly, and accomplish nothing of value, satirizing idle upper-class life.
How does Chapter 34 explore the theme of self-deception?
Pip and Herbert mistake the ritual of cataloging debts for actually managing them. The elaborate stationery, symmetrical bundles, and "Margin" system create an illusion of financial control while debts continue to grow.
What does Pip's reflection on the forge fire versus his London life reveal thematically?
It reveals the theme of lost innocence and misplaced values. Pip admits there was "no fire like the forge fire and the kitchen fire at home," recognizing that his pursuit of gentility has cost him genuine happiness.
What is the narrative effect of the tonal shift at the end of Chapter 34?
The abrupt shift from the comic debt-cataloging scene to the somber news of Mrs. Joe's death creates dramatic contrast, underscoring how death shatters Pip's carefully maintained illusions about his London life.
How does Dickens use dramatic irony in Chapter 34?
The older narrator Pip critiques his younger self's foolishness with self-aware wit, allowing readers to see the absurdity of the debt rituals even as young Pip takes pride in them.
Identify two similes Dickens uses for comic effect in Chapter 34.
Drummle tumbles from his cab "like coals," and Pip lifts the Avenger into the air "like a booted Cupid" — both deflate pretension through absurd physical imagery.
What does "insensibly" mean in the context of "I had insensibly begun to notice their effect"?
It means gradually and without conscious awareness — Pip did not realize at first how much his expectations were changing him and those around him.
What does "docketed" mean when Pip says he "docketed each on the back"?
It means to label or endorse a document with a summary of its contents. Pip writes identifying information on the back of each folded bill.
Who says "I find the truth to be, Handel, that an opening won't come to one, but one must go to it" and what does it reveal?
Herbert says this after visiting the 'Change. It reveals both his earnest optimism and his naivety — he states a sound principle but has no practical means of following through.
What does Pip mean when he says "there was no fire like the forge fire and the kitchen fire at home"?
He is expressing nostalgic regret, recognizing that the warmth and authenticity of his childhood at the forge surpassed anything his wealthy London life could offer.
What is the significance of the club toast: "Gentlemen, may the present promotion of good feeling ever reign predominant among the Finches of the Grove"?
It is deeply ironic. The toast calls for "good feeling" among members who invariably quarrel after every dinner, exposing the gap between the club's pretensions and its reality.