The Motif Of Redemption In Great Expectations By Charles Dickens

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On The Motif Of Redemption In Great Expectations The novel Great Expectations, written by Charles Dickens, is as relevant today as it was 150 years ago. The coming of age story was representative of the redemption of the main characters in the novel. Writers may spend their entire lives finding ways to express their views of society and life. Great Expectations, which is considered one of the greatest novels of all time was based on a simple motif, the redemption sought out and given to people. In his story Great Expectations he takes the reader through Pip’s life as he is coming of age and experiencing multiple things he has never encountered before, which help develop him into a highly mature young man. All throughout this process multiple characters he meets are trying to make up for previous wrongdoings. There are three main characters that exemplify the motif of redemption; these characters are Miss Havisham, Magwitch, and Pip. The first one on the list, Miss Havisham, was desperate to be redeemed for what …show more content…

A smile crossed his face then, and he turned his eyes on me with a trustful look, as if he were confident that I had seen some small redeeming touch in him, even so long ago as when I was a little child. As to all the rest, he was humble and contrite, and I never knew him to complain. (Great Expectations Page 438)
In other words the convict felt as if he had been redeemed and that Pip realized this. The convict felt he was redeemed because he spent many years of his life doing difficult labor in order to raise Pip as a gentleman, went to see how Pip was coming along, and saw that he had turned Pip into a fine young gentleman. He also believed that all of his past wrongs were done and paid for, which probably meant that he paid for them not with monetary means, but by helping a young boy grow up and

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