Great Expectation: Thesis Paper
In the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, a young boy named Pip must overcome the many struggles in his life to fulfill his dreams of getting a great education and becoming a gentleman, even if it means leaving the ones he loves the most behind. Pip gives up a lot when his secret benefactor Magwitch decides to give Pip the opportunity to achieve the great education he has always dreamed of by supplying him with the money he needs to be taught in London. Although Pip believes that by accepting his secret benefactor's offer and striving to fulfill his Great Expectations will bring great fortune to his life, it seems as if Pip’s life would have been more fulfilled if he had chosen to be Joe’s apprentice instead of leaving his loved ones to go and be educated in London.
“Pip dear old chap, life is made of ever so many partings welded together, as I may say, and one mans a blacksmith, and ones a whitesmith, and ones a goldsmith, and ones a coppersmith” (Dickens 223) This quote said by Joe shows how Joe feels that because Pip is now living this great life in London, they should no longer continue to be friends because they are part of different social classes. This greatly affects Pip's life because Joe clearly loves him the most which is shown when he comes back at the end of the novel to help Pip when he is ill.
Another reason Pip would have been better off not going to be educated in London is because he spent many years of his life trying to become a gentlemen to impress Estella, but every time Pip expresses how much he loves her, she always breaks his heart by never saying she loves him back. If he had stayed with Joe to become his apprentice, he would have had a better relationship with Biddy, who seemed to love and respect Pip more than Estella ever did. Another quote said by a debt officer that visits Pip is "Well sir, returned one of them, bending down and touching me on the shoulder, this is a matter you'll soon arrange, I dare say, but your arrested." (Dickens 467) This quote shows how because Pip was given his great fortune from Magwitch instead of earning it himself, he does not know how to manage his money responsibly, causing him to almost get arrested which led to his great illness.
“I saw in this that Estella was set to wreak Ms. Havisham’s revenge on men, and she was not to be given to me until she had gratified it as a term." (Dickens 304) This quote said by Pip shows how Mrs. Havisham helped steer Pips life in the wrong direction by getting him to love Estella just so she can break Pip's heart. Another way Estella contributed in Pip's choice of leaving Joe and his loved ones is how she introduced Pip to status discrimination by always looking down on him. This made Pip feel that in order to be respected by people like Estella, he must go to London to become a gentleman. Magwitch also contributed in Pip going to London because if he never supplied Pip with the money he needed to be educated and become a gentlemen, he would have became Joe's mentor and lived a more fulfilled life.
Throughout the book, Pip believes that if he became better educated and a gentleman, he would become of a higher class and live a better life, but Pip's life doesn't go exactly how he hopes. Many of the things he thought would help bring happiness into his life ended up steering him further away from the ones who really cared about him such as Biddy and Joe. Although Pip believes that by accepting his secret benefactor's offer and striving to fulfill his Great Expectations will bring great fortune to his life, it seems as if Pip’s life would have been more fulfilled if he had chosen to be Joe’s apprentice instead of leaving his loved ones to go and be educated in London. Many characters in the story helped influence Pip's choices in his life such as Mrs. Havisham and Magwitch which lead Pip to a broken heart, loss of his friend ship with Joe and Biddy, and the loss of his great fortune.