Great Expectations book club questions

The reading plan

Meeting 1: Chapters 1 to 19

1. How much blame should Pip bear for stealing when he acts out of fear?
2. How might the fugitive's decision to take responsibility for the food change Pip's view of him?
3. What makes insults about Pip's background powerful enough to change how he sees himself?
4. What might Pip want from Joe when he confesses his inventions but remains troubled by social standing?
5. Is Pip's misery about his apprenticeship more about the work or about how he expects others to judge him?

Meeting 2: Chapters 20 to 39

6. What does household pride seem worth when it overrides practical care?
7. Does Wemmick's separation of home and work seem wise, troubling, or both?
8. How much responsibility does Pip bear for the awkwardness of Joe's visit?
9. Why might Pip treat painful encouragement as destiny rather than take Estella's warning seriously?
10. What does mistaking bookkeeping for progress suggest about how Pip and Herbert handle uncomfortable truths?

Meeting 3: Chapters 40 to 59

11. What does Pip owe a patron he rejects when breaking away could put that patron in danger?
12. How should poverty and punishment shape our judgment of Magwitch without deciding that judgment for us?
13. How should Miss Havisham's remorse affect Pip's judgment of her?
14. When might keeping Estella's parents secret protect her, and what could that protection cost?
15. What does the failed escape reveal about loyalty when Pip remains determined to stay?

Themes to talk about

Tips for the host

1. Open each meeting with one question everyone can answer, then go deeper.
2. Anyone who fell behind can catch up with the 15-minute summary.