Question

Read this excerpt from Charles Dickens's novel Great Expectations: The most prominent object was a long table with a tablecloth spread on it. . . . An épergne or centre-piece of some kind was in the middle of this cloth; it was so heavily overhung with cobwebs that its form was quite undistinguishable. . . . "What do you think that is?" she asked me, again pointing with her stick; "that, where those cobwebs are?" . . . "It's a great cake. A bride-cake. Mine!" What does the cake most likely symbolize?

A. Letting go of bad memories
B. Thinking about the future
C. Holding on to the past
D. Remembering happy occasions

Answer 1

What the cake most likely symbolizes is Holding on to the past

Step-by-step explanation:

This excerpt from Charles Dickens's novel Great Expectations shows part of the scene when Pip sees this room where Miss Havisham keeps some of her precious memories about her youth, memories that she can not let go, and tries too hard to keep alive in her twisted mind, it is a way to avoid the reality of the present by holding the past.

Answer 2

The cake symbolizes holding on to the past. Miss Havisham has refused to let go of her past and that is why she has kept her wedding dress and wedding cake. Although the cake is rotten, she refuses to throw it away. The cake is not longer edible, therefore, it is a symbol that lets the reader know how holding on to the past can rotten one's life.