Forgiveness. Forgiveness is often an element that is forgotten and unappreciated. Without forgiveness, it is unimaginable the number of friendships and relationships that would be lost, or greatly damaged. Great Expectations is a whirlwind story filled with tears, heartbreak and happiness. Overall this novel can be applied to daily life. In Great Expectations, Pip as a character changes tremendously throughout the novel, after moving to London, he turns snobby and feels as if he is better than everyone else. Then after talking to Biddy and Joe, he changes his ways of thinking and feels guilty about the way he changed and how he has treated Joe and his old friends Pipd actions affect many people. Joe, for example, becomes very sad of …show more content…
Sometimes it can be a very hard actions to pursue depending on the situation. Looking at Great Expectations, Pip forgets his roots and changes entirely for the worse. However, his best friend Joe still finds a way to forgive him. In Great Expectations, Charles Dickens paints a heartwarming scene between Joe and Pip: “He would sit and talk to me in the old confidence, and with the old simplicity, and in the old unassertive protecting way, so that I would half believe that all my life since the days of the old kitchen was one of the mental troubles of the fever that was gone. He did everything for me except the household work, for which he had engaged a very decent woman, after paying off the laundress on his first arrival” (518). Instead of Joe being angry with Pip and leaving him high and dry, he helps and comforts him in his time of need. When given the opportunity to say no and walk away, Joe says yes and offers as much help as he can give. Pip treated Joe Poorly in the past which means that this would be very easy for Joe to show Pip how it helps to be nice to people and teach him a lesson of how to do so. Not only does Joe help Pip, but he goes above and beyond of how well he takes care of him. This scene shows the importance that joe has in the relationship of him and Pip. Joe knew that this would result in something more than a “thank you” and was on the path to …show more content…
Upon returning from London and taking to Biddy, Joe and Pumblechook, Pip admits: “I had never been struck at so keenly, for my thankfulness to Joe, as through the brazen impostor Pumblechook. The falser he, the truer Joe; the meaner he, the nobler Joe” (466). Pip had never been so grateful for Joe before in his life and finally starts to realize how good of a friend Joe was through Pip’s sickness and heartbreak. Joe may not be well educated but he knows but has so much common sense and knows what the results of his doings will be. Similar to Andy Taylor in 1960s classic TV show “The Andy Griffith Show”, Andy Taylor is the Sheriff of Mayberry, a tiny town just outside of Mount Pilot, North Carolina along with his deputy Barney Fife. Barney always wants everything by the book, but Andy likes to reason with people more and uses reverse psychology mixed with his southern hospitality to help all of the citizens throughout Mayberry. Joe also knows the results just like Andy. Joe thinks that if he helps Pip when he needs it then he should be able to rebuild his relationship with Pip and they will be close again.Pip would probably start to feel this way because of how poorly Pip treated Joe and starts to feel guilty about the whole situation Pip clearly remembers how much he loves Joe and becomes ashamed of how he treated joe and
that he will ever have. This innocence that Joe aspires to be. considered a good thing, which aids Pip’s moral development, but it. can also be considered a hindrance to Pip’s personal growth and his. self-esteem. In a way, much of the story comes across with Joe acting more like a. child with Pip than a father. “I always treated him as a larger species of child, and no more than my equal.”
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.
Throughout the novel Great Expectations, Pip's character and personality goes through some transformations. He is somewhat similar at the beginning and end, but very different while growing up. He is influenced by many characters, but two in particular:Estella and Magwitch, the convict from the marshes. Some things that cause strength or growth in a person are responsibility, discipline, and surrounding oneself around people who are challenging and inspiring. He goes through many changes some good and some bad
As a young child living in England’s marshes, Pip was a humble, kind, and gentle character. He lived an impoverished life with his sister, Mrs. Joe, and her husband, Joe Gargery, the neighborhood blacksmith. Pip was grateful for everything he had, including his few possessions and his family’s care. When he was offered the chance to play at The Satis House, the home of the wealthy Miss Havisham, Pip went in order to make his family happy.
Pip and Joe had a close personal relationship, possibly because they were said to be both “Brought up by hand” (Dickens, 6). Pip’s guardians brought him up to know the difference between right and wrong. After doing wrong Pip often feels guilty and shameful which is a trait of Pip’s throughout the novel. Pip first felt shameful after stealing food for Wheatley-3 The escaped convict.
The first example that a theme of redemption is emphasized in Great Expectations is when pip gets an anonymous note to go to the marshes and is ambushed and almost killed. Before this ambush and attack from Orlick, Pip does not realize what is truly important. Pip is caught up in being upper class and a gentleman. He gets too worried about appearances. The attack however, made Pip really think about what was important to him. Pip realized he need to stay alive and redeem himself. He did not need to do this for himself, but to fulfill the obligations he now realized he had to Magwitch and Joe. Pip says "Joe and Biddy would never know how sorry I had been that night"(429). Pip realizes how poorly he treated those who he loves and that love him. Pip now knows he must redeem himself and make up for his poor behavior.
After being forced to face the dark and humble reality of his "great expectations" and his behaviour, Pip is never. the same as the other. From this point onwards, Pip finds freedom in trying to help. Magwitch escapes and, also, begins to grow quite fond of him. The separate voices of the narrator and the leading character in the novel.
...me to visit Pip in London, Pip was embarrassed to know him. If Pip "could have kept him away by paying money, [Pip] certainly would have paid money." After years of Joe's friendship and loving care, Pip thought of paying him not to visit. At the end of the novel, Pip learned what an unappreciative person he had been to Joe and asked his forgiveness. Dickens presented this piece of human nature well enough to create sympathy for Joe and all parents who receive ingratitude from their children.
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.
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.."
On the surface, Great Expectations appears to be simply the story of Pip from his early childhood to his early adulthood, and a recollection of the events and people that Pip encounters throughout his life. In other words, it is a well written story of a young man's life growing up in England in the early nineteenth century. At first glance, it may appear this way, an interesting narrative of youth, love, success and failure, all of which are the makings of an entertaining novel. However, Great Expectations is much more. Pip's story is not simply a recollection of the events of his past. The recollection of his past is important in that it is essential in his development throughout the novel, until the very end. The experiences that Pip has as a young boy are important in his maturation into young adulthood.
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.
Pip lived his entire life without ever knowing his “real” parents. As a result, young Pip was deprived of the most basic key morals and values that life has to offer. Due to Pip's parents being dead, he was raised by his sister Mrs. Joe Gargery and her husband Joe. Mrs. Joe was very abusive to Pip as well as Joe. Dickens reveals this by writing “… knowing her [Mrs. Joe] to have a hard and heavy hand, and to be much in the habit of laying it upon her husband as well as upon me, …”
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.
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.