Great Expectations

Throughout the course of the novel Great Expectations, Pip grows from a small, innocent boy with great expectations into a man. In the beginning, Pip is young and naive; going through life one day at a time. He and Joe were fellow sufferers, helping each other endure the seemingly never-ending wrath of Mrs. Joe Gargery. Pip shows us an example of their comradery at the dinner table at Christmas stating "he always aided and comforted me when he could, and he always did so at dinner time by giving me gravy"(25).During the first phase of the book, Pip suddenly becomes aware of his common life and starts to resent it, wishing to, one day, become a gentleman. After meeting Estella, the proud, scornful, beautiful girl, Pip begins to dislike his common life. Pip states that "After that, when we went in to supper, the place and the meal would have a more homely look than ever, and I would feel more ashamed of home than ever, in my own ungracious breast" showing how Estella had made him unhappy with his life because of his common background (114). Pip grows up during the first phase of the novel, changing from an innocent, loving boy to an ungrateful boy who wished more from his life.

During the second phase of Great Expectations, Pip continues to grow into a gentleman, but toward the end, because of a drastic turn of events, he finds himself wishing to be the humble blacksmith he once was. Pip's great expectations of being a gentleman lead him to become even more ashamed of his blacksmith background, causing him to avoid Joe and other people from his humble past. When Joe comes to visit him in London, Pip feels ashamed of his common friend and dreads seeing him, for Joe was not the type of company a person of Pip's status would normally keep. Later on, when Pip visits Estella, he says that " In my conscience, I doubt very much whether I had any lingering intention left of going to see Joe, but if I had, this observation put it to flight" when Estella observes that, with his change of position, he has also had changed his companions (250). It is toward the end of his second phase, when he learns that his convict is his benefactor, that Pip's attitude once again changes. The news puts him into a state of shock, for he had believed Miss Havisham to be his benefactor, and now his dreams of marrying Estella seem to be impossible. He wishes that, "he [his convict] had never come! That he had left me in the forge - far from contented, yet by comparison, happy" for he had forsaken his friends in order to pursue becoming a gentleman(342). The realization of the convict being his benefactor changes Pip's attitude, causing him to wish he was no longer a gentleman, but back with Joe and his common friends where he could be genuinely happy.

The third stage of Great Expectations continues Pip's journey of becoming more humbled and conscious mistakes he had made in the past. Joe is always on Pip's mind and it becomes more and more obvious that he knows he had treated Joe wrongly. His attitude toward Joe haunts Pip everywhere he goes, reminding him of the awful way he had acted before. Pip's regret is shown when he sees Joe again and pleads, "Look angry at me, Joe. Strike me, Joe. Tell me of my ingratitude. Don't be so good to me" (493)! Pip further more shows us his new, humbled, self through staying with Provis after he is caught, and doing everything in his power to help him. He stays by Provis's side as much as possible for he has finally realized that Provis had only wanted to create a good life for him in return for the kindness he had expressed when he was just a little boy. Pip promises Provis, "I will never stir from your side...when I am suffered tp be near you. Please God, I will be as true to you as you have been to me"(475)! The third part of Great Expectations shows Pip becoming more of a man, and finally realizing that his great expectations should never have gotten in the way of his friends and family.

Sources:
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens