Pip in Charles Dickens' Great Expectations
"Great Expectations", written by Charles Dickens and set in mid-late
Victorian era; is about a boy named Philip Pirrip, better known as Pip
and his "great expectations". As a child he lived with his sister and
brother in-law Joe. Luck brings him to the aid of a convict, and to
the house of a wealthy society lady. After many encounters with her in
"Satis house", he seeks a life as a gentleman.
A Victorian society gentleman is a man of high social status, and is
expected to be wealthy, well educated, come from a wealthy background,
and have enough money not to work. This is all Pip's perception of
what the precepts of being a gentleman are. Drummle sets a good
example of this for him; he was born into wealth, well educated and
doesn't work for a living. Although Drummle has these qualities, he
embraces an unpleasant personality; he is described, by Pip, as
"sulky", "Heavy in figure, movement and comprehension", "sluggish",
"idle, proud, niggardly, reserved, and suspicious, and has a "large
awkward tongue"." Bentley Drummle doesn't seem very pleasant to Pip,
the only word Pip uses, that maybe a positive quality, is "proud", it
maybe good, but Drummle may only be proud of his wealth and social
status. Drummle is very wealthy, but yet he is very particular with
it, "I wouldn't lend one of you a sixpence. I wouldn't lend anybody a
sixpence." His speech indicates how he treats people and his money; it
implies that he cares more for his money than to have friends, it also
shows how unhelpful and uncaring he is. Drummle gives Pip a negative
impression of high social society.
A moral gentleman would be hard working, you would expect him to have
friends, not be afra...
... middle of paper ...
...life "our
worst weaknesses are usually committed for the sake of the people whom
we most despise." So to not look bad in front of others you hide
things, Pip realises what he has done or thought wrong in the past.
In the end Pip is a moral gentleman, he appreciates other people and
their moral. Pip isn't afraid to admit things "it is a miserable thing
to feel ashamed of home"; throughout the book he has demonstrated
this, the way he describes and explains is more against his image than
for it. Pip never was a society gentleman, he lacked a wealthy
background, and he was trying to be something he isn't. Pip has
reached the expectations of a moral gentleman; he is respected and
respectful, hard working, not afraid to admit his wrongs, and he has
friend.
Works Cited:
Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations. Ed. Janice Carlisle. Boston: Bedford, 1996.
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.
The Analysis of Friendship Between Pip and Joe in 'Great Expectations' by Charles Dickens Charles Dickens wrote ‘Great Expectations’ in 1861. It was first published in a magazine called ‘All Year Round’, in serialized form. Every week he would leave the readers wanting to buy the next weeks copy by finishing with a cliff – hanger ending. The story plots the development of Pip, an orphan, from a young boy to adulthood. It begins with his life with his cruel sister and her kind husband Joe, the Blacksmith.
The settings of Great Expectations are Pip’s homes, one home that he lives in during his childhood in Kent, England, and the other that he lives in when he is grown in London, England. Social status was a big deal in the mid-nineteenth century. The rich were highly respected and liked by all, and the poor were treated unkindly and were sometimes made fun of. The rich could have any job that they liked, but the poor would almost always take over the job that their father had. The narrator of Great Expectations is Pip. If the novel were narrated from any other point of view, it would not have the same effect as it does now.
From this we can tell that Pip is childish in a sense as he doesn’t
does so she can break his heart and the pain will be even worse. This
Living in a world where much about a person’s character is measured by wealth, it has become increasingly important to maintain a separation between material characteristics and intangible moral values. Pip, in Dickens’ Great Expectations, must learn from his series of disappointments and realize the importance of self-reliance over acceptance to social norms. Through his unwavering faith in wealthy “ideals,” such as Miss Havisham and Estella, Pip develops both emotionally and morally, learning that surface appearances never reveal the truth in a person’s heart.
In the novel, Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens the principal character, Pip, undergoes a tremendous change in character. I would like to explore with you the major incidents in Pip’s childhood that contribute to his change from an innocent child to someone consumed by false values and snobbery.
As a bildungsroman, Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations presents the growth and development of Philip Pirrip, better known as Pip. Pip is both the main character in the story and the narrator, telling his tale many years after the events take place. Pip goes from being a young boy living in poverty in the marsh country of Kent, to being a gentleman of high status in London. Pip’s growth and maturation in Great Expectations lead him to realize that social status is in no way related to one’s real character.
In his numerous literary works, Dickens strong sense of right and wrong, and his recognition of the many injustices present in Victorian Society are clearly displayed. There is no better an example of these strong set of ideals then those portrayed in his novel, Great Expectations, which tells the story of Pip, a young boy who is initially fooled into believing that material wealth is a substitute for the real moral values a gentleman should posses. However, through the many trials and tribulations he is forced to go through, he is finally able to identify what it means to be a "true gentleman", one that has acquired true wealth and value. It is only then that he is able to see the real meaning behind Matthew Pocket’s wise words, that:
London represents Pip’s fear, hopes, pride, and shame. As Pip discovers, London is a filthy place with a morbid mood, and is infested with greed, with characters such as the heartless Jaggers and the cruel Drummle. He has many great expectations, such as Estella, his benefactor, his future, and his fortune, along with many fears, such as his fear of himself failing to achieve his expectations. In London, Pip becomes prideful, and becomes embarrassed of his childhood, including his best friend Joe. He becomes ashamed at himself later for his betrayals of his loved ones, along with many of his other past actions.
he is the one who is telling the story. "I called myself Pip." It is
At the start of the novel, Pip is a poor uneducated orphan boy unaware of social classes, or even the existence of such things. As a result, he is content with what he has and who he knows. Moving on in life, he comes across new people from all spectrums of social classes, and his content turns to shame and greed, as he longs to be “better”. All of a sudden Pip becomes ashamed of both his family and his social class. As Pip begins to understand the true meaning of life, his childish attitude does however change. “Pip learns as he grows older, however, that having money and power and being of a higher social class is not necessarily better than having true friends that care about him - even if they are of a lower social class” (Bloom, “Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations” 236). As the aforementioned quote suggests, in the final stages of the story Pip’s mindset changes for the better and Pip is able to give up having the “money and the power” and focuses ...
As Pip grows throughout the novel, he develops and matures from a naive, young boy to a moral gentleman by the three main stages that take place throughout his 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
The most important theme throughout the book can be said to be ambition and self-improvement. Pip at heart is an idealist; whenever he is convinced that something is superior to what he has, he immediately desires to obtain that improvement. This is best illustrated when he sees Satis house, which puts him into a state of mind of desiring to be a wealthy gentleman. In this novel, Pip’s ambition and self-improvement takes three forms: moral, social, and educational. Firstly, he desires moral self-improvement and is very hard on himself when he feels that he acts immorally, by trying to act better in the future. This can be noticed when Pip leaves for London and is disappointed with his behavior towards Biddy and Joe. Secondly he desires social self-improvement, after having fallen in love with Estella, who demands Pip to act according to high society. His fantasies of becoming a gentleman are further fueled by Mrs. Joe and Pumblechook. These fantasies prove to be very significant throughout the plot, since the author uses these ideas of social class to explore the class system of his period. Thirdly, Pip desires educational improvement, which is deeply connected to his social ambition and dream of marrying Estella. Ultimately, through the examples of Joe, Biddy and Magwitch, Pip learns that social and educational improvement are irrelevant to one’s real worth and that conscience and affection are to be valued above social ranking.