Pumblechook

A Character Study

In the novel, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (1936) we meet a character named Pumblechook. Pumblechook is Pip?s cousin. He likes to brag that he is the one responsible for Pip?s job at the local hardware store, when in fact, Pip himself was responsible for getting the job. The main characteristics of Pumblechook are his hatred for cookies, his attachment to cheap whiskey, and his love of running over stop signs.

Pumblechook dislikes cookies, in fact, he hates them. Some people look at this characteristic as odd, but pumblechook thinks it to be quite normal. ?His hatred for the small round pastries was far from me ? Pip said(67). Pumblechook on the other hand says ? Me granny choked on one o? the bloody things so?s I always hated ?um?(98). This puts Pumblechook?s hatred into a very different light.

Pumblechook is mildly addicted to a cheap whisky he calls ?spraggin?s drop?(23). A description of his dependancy is seen when ?... he noticed that the bottle was empty and lashed out into a fit of rage. He smashed the bottle and yelled ?and to hell with Queen Mary too. All ya bloody bums? ?(101). ?He went to the Blue Ox Tavern and slammed his fist on the bar yelling ? gimme a spraggin?s drop now? he received the bottle and guzzled it down quite rapidly as a dog would tend to eating his food?(23). We can see from these scenes that his dependancy was quite a laughing matter and provides comic relief even in a story that?s tone is generally happy and upbeat.

Pumblechook loves to run over stop signs. One scene shows ?... and as his eye caught glimpse of a stop sign, he turned to it with a gleam in his eye and jammed the accelerator down. He was heading for the sign at full speed as if a madman hellbent on destruction. We hit with a ?smack? as we rode over the sign. Pumblechook throough his head back with glee.?(127). In another scene we are introduced to Joe, the only American in the book and he describes Pumblechook as ? a wide eyed fool loving to over-run mailboxes and such? (135).

In conclusion we see Pumblechook as your average english redneck that loves drinking, hating cookies, and running over stop signs.