Whenever money bursts into one's imagination, they will imagine an expensive car, a mansion, or any other costly item that a person wishes to obtain. With the high amount of wishful images he or she ponders about, the negativity of money would be left out. In Great Expectations, Pip, the protagonist of the story, assumes having money leads to a better life. Pip later on finds out that this isn't the case. Not only does he not benefit from prosperity, but he runs into several problematic consequences. By the end of Great Expectations, Pip discovers that money is not always the source of happiness.
When Pip is on the road to becoming a gentleman, many thoughts of negativity towards others are established in him. Pip feels he has more power over people who are in a lower social class than him. When Joe, Pip's brother-in-law, comes over to London to visit Pip, Pip thinks, "I could hardly have imagined dear old Joe looking so unlike himself or so like some extraordinary bird" (100). Joe's appearance and poor manners disgust Pip, which displays how Pip is being domineering over a person t...
somehow absorbed by Pip as Pip portrays a typical childlike quality in which he is easily influenced by those around him. Joe’s influence on Pip can come across as a positive outlook on Pip as well. Pip learns to respect others and their wishes as well as himself, but also not to retaliate and lower himself to someone else’s level if they provoked him to do so. “She says many hard things of you, yet you say nothing of hers to do. What do you think of her?
The first way the reader can see that there is some good in the worst of men is through Pip. When Pip becomes a gentleman he also becomes insolent and snobbish. After he looses all his money he realizes how snobbish he is and first turned to Biddy for forgiveness:
In Great Expectations, during the middle of the book, Pip creates a rather low opinion of himself acting arrogant and conceited to others. For example, When Joe is coming to visit Pip, Pip thinks to himself, "I was looking forward to Joe's coming not with pleasure, thought that I was bound to him... If I could have kept him away by paying money, I would have paid money (pg.841). Evan though Joe protected and assisted Pip throughout his juvenile years, Pip was still embarrassed by him. Pip is an ungrateful person showing Joe no gratitude. In addition, when Pip learned who his benefactor was he replied, "The abhorrence in which I held the man, the dread I had of him, the repugnance with which I shrank from him, could not have been exceeded if he had been some terrible beast (pg.876). Pip is surprised by this intrusion of his mind realizing that Miss Havisham did not raise him to be with Estella. Evan though Pip was not raised to be with Estella he is an vicious human being thinking such vile thoughts against a man that gave him the life of a gentleman. In relation, as Provis lays down to sleep Pip reflects on meeting him, "Then came the reflection that I had seen him with my childish eyes to be a desperate violent man:" (pg.879). Pip can only think of what horrible things Provis performed. Pip is an unforgiving person, still thinking of Provis as a convict after all he did for him. Pip displays himself as a heartless feign, believing himself to be of upper society and forgetting people who helped him through his journey of life.
Now, just because Pip is a gentleman, he realizes that his materialistic hope of being a gentleman does not make him happy. In this quote, Victorian era values become evident, as money, which is desired and thought to make happiness, changes Pip’s feeling from happy to dissatisfied. Now, the reader realizes that Dickens believes that money has nothing to do with being happy, but, what a society values. Finally, Pip realizes Estella’s adversity when she declares “suffering has been stronger than all other teaching[s]" (515). Through this quote, Pip finally realizes that, even though Estella was brought up with money, it does not help her any more than being raised without money.
The famous American comedian, Groucho Marx once said, “While money cannot buy happiness, it certainly lets you choose your own form of misery.” Marx believes that money will be the downfall of society because it is corrupt and creates individuals’ own different forms of misery. Throughout the book Great Expectations, Dickens repeatedly shows characters not pleased with their life because money has taken over them and has ‘chosen’ their own misery. Furthermore, Dickens uses Miss Havisham, Pip, and Joe Gargery to show how he develops his characters to define what a true gentleman is which proves how wealth that one inherits oftentimes leads to corruption and discontent in life.
This progression of Pip’s life tests him many over. He tries again and again with haste to move towards his one true goal borne upon a children’s folly that grows to be his all consuming desire. He resents his current status as mere orphan smithy boy, common in all respects to his eyes, and fails to recognize his own strangeness in rejecting his allotted path in life. His father figure, Joe, advises that his own questioning is uncommon enough but he simply disregards fulfilment in being himself, believing himself to be the one true, harsh, judge of his character, he is simply not one to back down on his ideals.
Pip, through spending time with Estella, quickly picks up the desire for social improvement through games, whether physical or emotional, and it is not until he realizes the difference between fantasy and reality that he truly understands the game of life. Just as Estella uses card games to torment Pip, telling him that he is “a common labouring boy” Pip unknowingly begins to see every human interaction as a competition (Volume I, Chapter 8). His physical fight with Herbert represents Pip’s gradual addiction to always winning, never stopping until others are defeated. Pip takes his early, innocent ambition to improve himself and, without even realizing it himself, turns it into a ruthless fight for revenge. Parkinson argues that he sees “the role of chance” influencing his life, forcing himself to submit to whatever life throws at him (Parkinson, 121). Soon, however, Pip becomes the one who forces others, including Joe and Biddy, to simply accept his desire to become an “uncommon” gentleman through his unfailing faith in the wealthy (Volume I, Chapter 8). The problem is not his “fairy-tale expectations,” but his admiration in the wrong people; though he looks up to Miss...
Lower class citizens in the 1800's were represented as good hearted people who took all they could get and make the best out of what they owned. Joe was described as a man of many words and a person who crafted and was skilled in his work. He worked as a blacksmith and made the best living he could from his small income. He became a victim of Mrs. Joe's abuse and also turned into a long lost friend of Pip's. His status in this particular book was represented as being an unpopular person, but someone who would give the shirt off of his back for the man who was striving to live more than he was. Joe never let Pip down even when Pip erased Joe from his memory. During Mrs. Joe's funeral service Pip came back to a saddened Joe with not a word to be said. Joe was a strong person during this time, but also held his heart in his throat thinking deep down he would never become something to Pip. Pip now being wealthy thought he would surround himself with wealthy humans, but in reality never understood the friendship Joe cherished and he also took for granted what Joe taught him in life. During the time of Pip's debt Joe came to Pip's rescue and nursed him back to stable condition. Pip had no money, but yet was considered upper class. Joe paid off all of Pip's debts out of the goodness of his heart and left Pip with these words on page 439," Not wishing to intrude I have departed fur you are well again dear Pip and will do better without.
makes many new, high-society friends. When Joe Gargery comes to visit Pip in his new way of life, Pip is
Pip encounters all of the influential people in his life during his childhood. The first and most obvious are his family. Mrs. Joe and Joe Gargery, Pip’s sister and brother-in-law, are the only family that Pip has ever known. Mrs. Joe Gargery is Joe’s wife and Pip’s only living relative. She is a very domineering woman who is always punishing Pip for something. Joe is like a father to Pip, who goes to Joe with all of his problems and worries. They are always truthful with each other and protect each other from Mrs. Joe when she is on the rampage. Despite the fact that Joe is an adult, he is also Pip’s only real friend during his childhood. Joe is the most loyal person in Pip’s life.
The main character, Pip, is a gentle character. His traits include humbleness, kindness, and lovingness. These traits are most likely the cause of his childhood poverty. In the beginning of the story, Pip is a mild mannered little boy who goes on with his own humble life. That, though, will change as he meets Magwich, a thief and future benefactor. Pip’s kindness goes out to help the convict, Magwich when he gives food and clothing to him. Magwich tells Pip that he’ll never forget his kindness and will remember Pip always and forever. This is the beginning of Pip’s dynamic change. Throughout the novel, Great Expectations, the character, Pip gradually changes from a kind and humble character to a character that is bitter, then snobbish and finally evolves into the kind and loving character which he was at the beginning of the story.
Not only does Pip treat Joe differently, Joe also treats Pip differently because of their differences in social class. He begins to call Pip "sir" which bothered him because "sir" was the title given to people of higher class. Pip felt that they were still good friends and that they should treat each other as equals. Joe soon leaves and explains his early parting, "Pip, dear old chap, life is made of ever so many partings welded together, as I may say, and one man's a blacksmith, and one's a whitesmith, and one's a goldsmith, and one's a coppersmith. Disciples among such must come.."
Joe's actions are those of a true gentleman. For example, Joe defends Mrs. Joe from Orlick even though he is scared of Orlick himself: "What could the wretched Joe do now...but stand up to his journeyman...so, without so much as pulling off their singed and burnt aprons, they went at one another, like two giants" (773). Joe is intimidated by Orlick and by Joe defending Mrs. Joe from Orlick shows that Joe has courageousness. Joe is a benevolent person by stepping up to Orlick to help Mrs. Joe. In addition, Joe pays off Pip's debts and Pip finds "a receipt for which they had been paid off" (899). Joe paying off Pip's debts shows he is a helpful and caring person. Joe is being considerate by helping Pip become debt-free. It is ironic that Joe helps Pip because Pip hasn't been a considerate person to Joe but he helps Pip regardless.
...ig snob who thinks that he is a great gentleman. Pip dreads Joe's visit because he looks down on him, but Pip is then is shocked by Joe's humbleness and his simple, quiet dignity. Also, at the end of the movie, Estella and Pip fall in love, and Estella ends up not marrying Drummle, the stuck up London gentleman. Estella favors the original country boy, and on a larger scale, this showed how Dickens thought how the quiet country life was superior to the industrial life.
While living in the Satis Mansion, Pip begins to realize how different he is from the people living inside of it. Pip reflects, "I took the opportunity of being alone in the court-yard to look at my coarse hands and my common boots. My opinion of those accessories was not favourable. They had never troubled me before, but they troubled me now, as vulgar appendages" (102). This quote specifically proves that Pip is ashamed of appearance. He had not once thought about himself as common but looking at himself and seeing his "common boots" impacted him. Pip seems almost angry at himself for the way he dresses. He compares his boots to "vulgar appendages" that he is embarrassed of. Pip 's image does not meet the standards of the higher class. When Pip receives news that Joe, his former best friend, is coming into town he is not excited. As he is becoming accustomed to the high society he is living, Pip only thinks of himself. Pip thinks, “Not with pleasure, though I was bound to him by so many ties; no; with considerable disturbance, some mortification, and a keen sense of incongruity. If I could have kept him away by paying money, I certainly would have paid money” (285). Pip 's thoughts depict how his great expectations made him superficial. Rather than spending time with someone who raised him, Pip worries about Joe 's commonality staining his upperclass image. Pip 's "mortification" of Joe was so strong he "would have paid money" to keep him from coming to London. This verfies that Pip 's social class is more important than family, whom he once loved and cared so deeply for. Towards the end of the novel, Pip 's ambition to be an upperclassmen becomes less important to him when he it is revealed that Magwitch, the convict, is his benefactor. Pip