Essay on Great Expectations Great Expectations Essay Great Expectations

1. Essay on Great Expectations
In Charles Dickens' novel, Great Expectations, the main character named Pip suffers through a
conflict of confusing good and bad people. He repeatedly disregards the people that love and care
for him and instead chooses to care for people who do not care for him. When making these
choices, Pip senses that he is making the wrong decisions and therefore confuses good and bad and
also confuses himself. After Pip first meets Estella, he begins to dislike everything he has ever
known. He is uncomfortable feeling common in front of Estella and takes out his frustration on Joe,
the one who brought him up to be common. "I determined to ask Joe why he had ever taught me to
call those picture–cards, Jacks, which ought to be called knaves. I wished...show more content...
"I wanted to make Joe less ignorant and common, that he might be worthier of my society and
less open to Estella's reproach" (111). This quote shows how Pip's need for Estella's approval and
affection outweighs his love for the man that raised him. The reader begins to understand from
Pip's statements that Pip has a skewed perception of which people are good to him and which are
bad to him. Joe never hurts Pip in any way and Estella thrives on Pip's pain. Yet, Pip chooses Estella
over Joe. He does the same concerning Biddy. "Biddy was never insulting, or capricious, or Biddy
to–day and somebody else to–morrow; she would have derived only pain, and no pleasure, from
giving me pain; she would far rather have wounded her own breast than mine" (130). Even though
Pip knows this about Biddy, he still yells at her, saying how envious she is of his fortune and rise
in status (148). Biddy allows Pip to yell at her and even tells him that she will not let his hurtful
words affect her view of him. Biddy really cares for Pip. Being away from Joe and Biddy just
helped Pip forget about them more easily. The only time that the two of them even crossed his
mind is when they would contact him. When Biddy writes a letter to Pip saying that Joe will be in
town, she even reinforces how much she is sure that the gentleman Pip is not too prestigious for an
old friend. Pip's reaction says something else though. "Not with pleasure, though I was bound to him
by so many
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2. Great Expectations Essay
The Feeling of Home
Home in today's society can be described in many ways, but is ultimately expressed as more of a
feeling of safety and love. Sonsyrea Tate claims "You can leave home all you want, but home will
never leave you." In essence, the feeling of home is a part of the character and who he/she will
become. In Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, Pip examines the true meaning of home and how
the subjective opinion of home can reflect who a person becomes. He illustrates this idea using
recurring appearances of home–like symbols, the way Pip's definition of home changes throughout
the novel, and how he shows Pip's acquired feelings after moving into higher society.
Throughout the novel Pip experiences many obstacles and in...show more content...
Also when Pip returns home a few times he feels upset and guilty because he knows leaving was
the wrong thing to do. At these times Pip tries to reconnect with the loved ones he deserted, such as
Biddy and Joe, but over all his attempts still do not amount to the missing sense of home Pip has. All
of these reminders; the marshes, repeating thoughts, and guilty feelings all represent to Pip of
symbols that remind him of home.
As Pip is growing into a young man, home is more of a place than an emotion. Pip never really
feels completely welcome in the place where he is brought up. Mrs. Joe's constant and repeating
reminder of how Pip is more of a burden to her is made known as she says "I didn't bring you up
by hand to bagger peoples lives out. It would be a blame on to me, and not praise, if I had.", than
a reward to her is evidence to Pip that to her he is somewhat worthless. (12) Pip doesn't know of
any other home besides the one with Mrs. Joe. Every person image of home has its differences,
and the one Pip has at the moment isn't a real pleasant one. Which in the long run could be a
factor contributing to why Pip did not really know what home felt like to begin with. In the
beginning of the novel, Pips definition of home is very unwelcoming and dark considering who
he is surrounded by. Pip explains how Mrs. Joe is abusive to him "My sister made a dive at me
and fished me up by the hair saying nothing more than awful words" and how her appearance isn't
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3. Great Expectations
"A loving heart is the truest wisdom" says Charles Dickens. Having a heart that is able to love
portrays the most wisdom and is relevant to modern day and Great Expectations. In Great
Expectations by Charles Dickens, the readers are introduced to a boy named Pip that goes to
London because a benefactor funds his journey to become a gentleman. Pip later finds out this
benefactor is a convict who he met several years before. Pip is in love with a girl named Estella who
he met as a young boy at Miss Havisham's, Estella's mother, house. Pip has confessed his love to
Estella multiple times, but she continues to say that she does not love him back. Pip thinks of her in
everything he does but, eventually admits that he no longer loves her. Dickens...show more content...
Estella indirectly apologizes to Pip which helps to redress their relationship and make this ending
realistic because in real life, someone who has always tortured someone else would usually
eventually apologize and ask for forgiveness. The readers learn that Estella and Pip become friends
and resolve their past. Lastly, Pip completes his coming–of–age or bildungsroman genre by admitting
and showing that he no longer loves Estella. Do you think Pip should have forgiven Estella for all
the years of torture she put him
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