Great Expectations

describe pips spending habits. what do pip and herbert do when their spending seem out of control? explain "leaving a margin". hoe helpful is this practice

chpt 34 around pages 346-348

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Here is Pip's own description of his spending habits;

"We spent as much money as we could, and got as little for it as people could make up their minds to give us. We were always more or less miserable, and most of our acquaintance were in the same condition. There was a gay fiction among us that we were constantly enjoying ourselves, and a skeleton truth that we never did. To the best of my belief, our case was in the last aspect a rather common one."

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Great Expectations

When Pip and Herbert find their debts escalating and out of control, Pip realizes that he is pulling the normally careful Herbert down to his level. Pip becomes so enchanted with their predicament that he is abusive to those who try to help him. He allows Estella to pay their way and beats his servany Avenger when the boy tries to share his food (they have none).

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Great Expectations

"Herbert's life has been particularly complicated by his friendship with Pip. The two encourage each other to live far beyond their means--they still employ the little servant (the Avenger), and indulge in extravagances like a club called Finches of the Grove--a group of boys who go out and have long, foolish talks over extravagantly expensive meals. Herbert and Pip have found one solace in this financial turmoil--the ritual of "looking into their affairs." When they get badly in debt, the two sit at the table and write out an elaborate report of their various debts, and then calculate their total debt. This highly organized process, plus their ritual of rounding their debt up (what they call "leaving a margin"), is oddly satisfying. It's a sort of busy-work that keeps their minds off of the reality that they're both falling into a dangerous financial state."

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http://www.bookrags.com/notes/gex/PART34.html