England's Class System in Charles Dickens' Great Expectations

Dickens' personal experiences growing up obviously play a large part in his novel Great Expectations. Seeing his own father sent to debtor's prison and witnessing firsthand his loss of status clearly sharpened his own sense of the differences in class in England. His novel exemplifies the Victorian desire for upward mobility and their fantasy that anyone can rise to higher social status if only they can receive some secret wealth. In the novel, those who work hard and are good at heart end up with situations much improved by the end of the novel (Joe, Wemmick, Herbert, Matthew Pocket, etc...). Conversely, those who are wicked or take advantage of others tend to experience negative consequences, up to and including death (Compeyson, Drummle, Orlick, etc...). The possibility for redemption exists, but a character has to realize the error of their ways before it can be granted (Estella, Miss Havisham, and Pip himself).

Pip's personal journey of realization forms the center of the novel. Throughout the story, Pip is exposed to all levels of the class spectrum. His journey takes him from poor blacksmith's apprentice, to the aristocratic realm of Miss Havisham, into the world of a middle-class London gentleman, back to his humble beginnings, and finally to a prosperous life abroad. Along his journey, he learns a valuable lesson about his own prejudices and harsh judgments of those close to him. While Pip clearly comes to realize the folly of his own prejudice, there is no indication in the novel that he learns a lesson about the injustices of the class system as a whole. Pip seems completely absorbed in the microcosm of his own companions, and never expands his new-found awareness to the larger level.

In the beginning, Pip is a caring, thoughtful boy who is largely ignorant of the larger world of class in which he lives. In his innocence, he honestly wishes to help the starving convict he finds in the marshes despite threats against his life. He feels bad for robbing his own house and for the necessity of lying to his sister despite her tyranny over him. It's only when he's introduced to Estella that his sense of class distinction begins to develop. In his naiveté he takes every word she says as fact. He is depressed by the realization that he is "common" and "coarse" and that all those he loves apparently unknowingly possess the same faults. Pip begins to believe that higher status, manners, and wealth are synonymous with one's value as a person. When news of his "expectations" arrives, his ego swells considerably almost immediately. He's sure that his "selection" is a sign of his great personal worth and it makes all the "common" people with which he's always associated seem beneath him. The change in attitude of those in the town toward him only reinforce this, and by the time he's ready to leave his village he wishes to walk to the coach without Joe because he's afraid of the stark contrast between them. While his attitude has definitely changed because of his awareness of class difference, he never seems to expand this belief beyond the circle of people he's already familiar with. He believes he's better than those in his village, but he never extrapolates that belief into a larger context.

When he arrives in London, Pip is promptly reunited with Herbert Pocket. Herbert serves as his major role model of a gentleman, and consequently Pip strives to emulate him. Herbert and his father seem to be genuinely good people. Herbert passes on his father's philosophy of gentility which includes refinement of emotion and a good heart. Pip believes that by simply emulating Herbert's behavior he can become a "good" person like him. He initially fails to learn the larger lesson of Herbert's words and instead concentrates on learning manners and increasing his education, thinking that simply acting like a gentleman is all it takes to be a decent person.

Pip is an incredibly selfish figure throughout most of the novel. His priorities are clearly misaligned. He wants to learn to be a gentleman because being a gentleman makes him a good person, but he fails to capitalize on seemingly-obvious opportunities to help out those close to him. Pip finds himself in London in a greatly-improved financial situation, he seeks ways to improve his own personal decency through manners and refinement, yet he never spares a thought for the good he could do for his afflicted sister with just a small portion of his income. Just a few pounds would seem a fortune to his sister and Joe, and he never gives them a second thought, concentrating only on himself and those he sees as being more worthwhile. It's as if the residents of his village no longer exist to him. It's this fierce selfishness that never allows him to awaken to the larger problems of class in which he's immersed.

It's only when the true source of Pip's upward mobility is revealed that he begins to question his perceptions. When Magwitch is revealed as Pip's benefactor, all his preconceptions about his "selection" and his destiny with Estella are shattered. Instead of having been recognized by an upper-class individual as a truly worthy person, he's been the instrument of a convict's retribution against society. That night, after he's able to ponder his situation, he finally begins to realize the horrible way he's treated Joe. It's only then that he can begin to realign his idea of what makes a person valuable. However, he again spares no thought for the countless other members of the lower class who have undoubtedly been wronged by others just as he has wronged Joe.

Eventually, Pip is able to forgive Miss Havisham for her deceptions and his own misfortune. He refuses her offer to financially compensate him and instead suggests she support Herbert's business endeavors. This generous deed comes back to save him by the end of the novel, when he ends up working for the firm his and Miss Havisham's money helped support.

Further loosening of his false beliefs in class determining personal worth is evident in his treatment of Magwitch. Initially he views Magwitch as little more than an uncivilized animal. Eventually Pip's feelings toward Magwitch soften to a kind of loving gratitude. He begins to see that a man can be essentially good despite a rough exterior. Pip puts himself through great personal risk and inconvenience in his quest to save Magwitch. Though he fails to get him out of the city, Pip's care of and devotion to Magwitch up until his eventual death is unwavering, even after Pip learns that he will no longer be receiving any of Magwitch's money.

The true measure of Pip's journey is the fact that by the end of the novel he can actually feel affection for the convict he viewed as little more than an animal for much of the story. However, despite the fact that he's realized the folly of his own misconceptions regarding those close to him, we never see him view this knowledge as belonging in a larger context. He learns the value of hard work and spiritual earnestness, and his good deeds bring him positive returns, but his realizations do not seem to lead him to an understanding of the fullest impact of class prejudice.

Allegorically, Dickens does seem to intend that the reader discern something about the larger context in which Pip's story takes place. The characters within the novel clearly represent the different social levels of England's class society and their actions exemplify the ways in which those classes interact. Pip as a character, however, never comes to see his own experience as indicative of problems on a larger scale.