Great Expectations: Pip's Unrealistic Expectations

Pip's Unrealistic Expectations

One of the most important and common tools that authors use to illustrate the themes of their works is a character that undergoes several major changes throughout the story. In Great Expectations, Charles Dickens introduces the reader to many intriguing and memorable characters, including the eccentric recluse, Miss Havisham, the shrewd and careful lawyer, Mr. Jaggers, and the benevolent convict, Abel Magwitch. However, Great Expectations is the story of Pip and his initial dreams and resulting disappointments that eventually lead to him becoming a genuinely good person. The significant changes in Pip's character are very important to one of the novel's many themes. Dickens uses Pip's deterioration from an innocent boy into an arrogant gentleman and his redemption as a good-natured person to illustrate the idea that unrealistic hopes and expectations can lead to undesirable traits.

In the beginning of the novel, Pip is characterized as a harmless, caring boy, who draws much sympathy from the reader even though he is at that point content with his common life. The reader most likely develops warm and sympathetic feelings toward Pip after only the first two pages of the novel, which introduce the fact that Pip's parents are "dead and buried" and that the orphan has never seen "any likeness of either of them" (Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, New York, Penguin Putnam, Inc., 1998, p. 1). Pip's confrontation with the convict presents his harmless, innocent nature. As Magwitch first seizes the young boy, Pip simply responds, "Oh! Don't cut my throat, sir, Ö Pray don't do it sir" (p. 2). Then, Pip is forced into submitting to the convict's demands, mainly due to his naive fear ...

... middle of paper ...

... as he is physically able. At the forge, Pip no longer shows any feelings of shame or arrogance because he is now content and cheerful in his old surroundings. In fact, he even requests, "Now let me go up and look at my old room Ö And then when I have eaten and drunk with you, go with me as far as the finger post, dear Joe and Biddy, before we say good-bye" (p. 484).

At the conclusion of Great Expectations, the reader most likely finds Pip's fate acceptable and enjoyable. Earlier in his life, he had changed from an innocent, caring boy into an arrogant young man as a result of his unrealistic hopes and expectations. However, when those expectations come to an end, so do his undesirable traits, as he is shown to be a truly good-natured person. Therefore, it is fitting that, in both of Dickens' final episodes, Pip is happy and content with his life.