Great Expectations:The influential characters on Pip's Journey

"Never blame anyone in your life. Good people give you happiness. Bad people give you experience. Worst people give you a lesson. Best people give you memoirs" is a quote that I encounters many times in social media. This is exactly true for Pip, the main protagonist, of the legendary novel "Great Expectations." Pip's life is influenced by many characters either in a positive or negative way, and they molds Pip's heroic journey to become a gentleman at heart. From the kind and mysterious father figures and faithful friends to the cruel and cold female counterparts, Pip will not have the most important lesson at the end of the story.

The first volume of the novel is about the beginning of Pip's journey to call to adventure stages of heroic journey and the main characters Pip is influenced in this stage is Joe, his convict, Mrs. Joe Gargery, Ms.Havisham, Estella, and Biddy. The first person that we are introduced in the story apart from Pip is the convict, though later named as Abel Magwitch. It shows how much Pip was going to be influenced by this man. He introduced Pip to the sense of guilt and the lowest level of social class in the story. He also let Pip's discover his inner kindness as Pip kept his promise to help him instead of being scared and informing Joe or the police. It is evident in the text where Pip's reaction was shown, "Pitying his desolation, and watching him as he gradually settled down upon the pie, I made bold to say, I am glad you enjoy it" (Great Expectations, pg.30). Pip's convict appearance is the foreshadowing of Pip's achievement. The incident with the convict renders Pip to feel immense guilt and dishonesty, his emphasis on his moral shortcomings motivates Pip to act morally.The second character we met after Pip's convict, is Pip's kind-hearted brother-in-law Joe. In fact, Joe is the only person that gives Pip love and kindness quite contrary to his sister. Joe helps enormously in Pip's moral improvement as he replies to Pip's confession, "…lies is lies. Howsoever they come, they didn't ought to come, and they come from the father of lies, and work round to the same. Don't you tell no more of ‘em, Pip. That ain't the way to get out of being common, old chap…If you can't get to be uncommon through going straight, you'll never get to do it through going crooked." Pip's sister Mrs.Joe and Mr. Pumblechook, however, emphasize on his social improvement. The contrast of the middle class Mr. Pumblechook to the commoner Joe emphasize the real self-improvement stems from honesty, empathy and kindness and not form social advancement or even education, the best example Joe gives him in the very early pages of the story. Pip was called to adventure when he was told by Mr.Pumblechook that Ms. Havisham would like to have him play at her house. In this stage, Pip meets the many bad people. Ms. Havisham is evil and rude, although unknown by Pip as he was already in the realm of dreams of social improvement. His infatuation with Estella gives him unsatisfactory contrasts with his life. He starts to aspire to become a gentleman, which is to this stage have reached an alarming stage as Pip no longer feel happy in his ordinary world. Estella's remarks on him and the grandeur of Ms.Havisham house changed his innocent outlook on life. He claims, "…my young mind was in that disturbed and unthankful state that I thought long after I laid me down, how common Estella would consider Joe, a mere blacksmith: how thick his boots, and how coarse his hands. I thought how Joe and my sister were then sitting in the kitchen, and how Miss Havisham and Estella never sat in a kitchen, but were far above the level of such common things." (Great Expectations, Chapter 9) As the story progresses, Pip meets another bad character Orlick who was evil, a complete contrast of kind and good-nature Joe, who eventually attacks Pip's sister. Pip starts to confide his aspirations to Biddy instead of Joe and Biddy lets him see the stark differences between herself and Estella. However, Biddy was a great friend to Pip, who helps Pip with his educational improvement. However, the news of Pip's great expectations makes Pip a snobbish person and it is also crucial for him to become a better person at the end.

In the second volume of the book, Pip crosses the threshold and he is now in a special world where he meets new father-figure Mr. Jaggers, his friend Herbert Pocket, Mr.Jagger's clerk Wemmick. Although Jaggers was straightforward with Pip, Pip regards him as his guardian. Herbert Pocket, on the other hand, helps Pip with his quest to become the gentleman and he was his ultimate friend-in-deed and he contrasts Pip in many ways such as Herbert's practical dream to become a merchant and marry his girlfriend to Pip's irrational rise in status and Ms.Havisham's wish for him to marry off with Estella. His encounter with Wemmick let Pip learn how a person can have an inner goodness beneath callous exterior. As Pip grows to become a gentleman, he becomes more snobbish and he starts to treat Joe badly and his minds and thoughts are only for Estella. Therefore, Estella, the bad character, in this stage, makes Pip forgets his roots and cause more strains on his life. Mrs. Joe death is one of the trial Pip went through and it makes Pip towards adulthood.

The third volume of the story is how Pip facing the supreme ordeal, and getting the reward and returning home safely. Pip is also greatly improved in this stage also by Pip's convict and benefactor Abel Magwitch. He was the secret benefactor of Pip, someone who is of lower class to Pip. Pip realization at this stage was huge. Magwitch wakes him up from a fairy tale and also let him see the true face of being a gentleman. In fact, Pip's view on the social status was all thrown upside down. Magwitch's example of how he was put into gravest troubles by a gentleman shocks Pip's earlier beliefs in the social status. I would like to point out that Magwitch is the biggest mentor in Pip's life as he appears in his most needed time of his attitudes towards life. Ms.Havisham last lesson Pip was her realization of her mistake towards Pip and that revenging does not let her have peace she acquires to have. Another character which shows him light towards the end of his story is Joe with his unrequited love and care at times Pip needs most. 

In conclusion, all the characters in Great Expectations Pip encounter helps Pip to achieve his main task, yet disguised greatly under the name "Great Expectations." Pip finally achieved the most important lesson which is "loyalty, love, and human affection are more important than social class and material grandeur, and are the only goals worth striving for." 

Works Cited

Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1942. Print. 

SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on Great Expectations.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2007. Web. 26 May 2016.