Friday, September 26, 2008

Pride and Prejudice

Today I read pages 69~97 of Pride and Prejudice. During these chapters a new chracter, Mr. Wickham, comes out. He is an officer, handsome, pleasant, and smart. He is related to Mr. Darcy, the man every despises, because Mr.Darcy's father was Mr.Wickham's godfather. Mr.Wickham, therefore, was suppose to get the profit when his godfather passed away, but Mr.Darcy did not let him and therefore he is now just an officer. How unfortunate! However, on Mr.Darcy's side they think differently and say that Wickham is the bad guy. Elizabeth Bennett chooses to believe Wickham because she already hated Mr.Darcy and had prejudice. She never thought Wickham could be the villain and Darcy the good guy.

Also in these chapters, Elizabeth is given a marriage proposal from the boring Mr.Collins. Elizabeth instantly says no to him against her mother's will but her father is content. A sad news arrives to Jane that Mr.Bingley is leaving town along with everyone else. Even though they liked each other, it confuses Jane because they might never see each other again. Elizabeth is sure that this is an evil plot by one of Mr.Bingley's sisters and reassures Jane.

I think this part of the book shows a part of the title of the book, Pride and Prejudice. Elizabeth is the one who has prejudice against people. Her first impressions of people is what she sees them through. Her first impression of Mr.Darcy was that he was an arrogant man, so keeps on thinking that he could never do one good act. On the other hand, her first impression of Mr.Wickham was that he was handsome and kind, so she is always on his side and favors him. This is not good of Elizabeth because first impressions are usually wrong and you shouldn't stick to the prejudice of it. I think Lizzy will learn in the end that she was wrong and will stop being so narrow minded.

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