Pip's Unrealistic Expectations in Dickens' Great Expectations

written by warren

One of the most important and common tools that authors use to
illustrate the themes of their works is a character that undergoes
several major changes throughout the story. In Great Expectations,
Charles Dickens introduces the reader to many intriguing and
memorable characters, including the eccentric recluse, Miss
Havisham, the shrewd and careful lawyer, Mr. Jaggers, and the
benevolent convict, Abel Magwitch. However, without a doubt, Great
Expectations is the story of Pip and his initial dreams and
resulting disappointments that eventually lead to him becoming a
genuinely good man. The significant changes that Pip's character
goes through are very important to one of the novel's many themes.
Dickens uses Pip's deterioration from an innocent boy into an
arrogant gentleman and his redemption as a good-natured person to
illustrate the idea that unrealistic hopes and expectations can
lead to undesirable traits.
In the beginning of the novel, Pip is characterized as a harmless,
caring boy, who draws much sympathy from the reader even though he
is at that point content with his common life. The reader most
likely develops warm and sympathetic feelings toward Pip after
only the first two pages of the novel, which introduce the fact
that Pip's parents are "dead and buried" and that the orphan has
never seen "any likeness of either of them" (Charles Dickens,
Great Expectations, New York, Penguin Putnam, Inc., 1998, p. 1).
Pip's confrontation with the convict presents his harmless,
innocent nature. As Magwitch first seizes the young boy, Pip
simply responds, "Oh! Don't cut my throat, sir, ?Pray don't do it
sir" (p. 2). Then, Pip is forced into submitting to the convict's
demands, mainly due to his naive fear of Magwitch's fictitious
companion who "has a secret way pecooliar to himself of getting at
a boy, and at his heart, and at his liver" (p. 4). Even though he
aids the convict, the reader's sympathy for Pip soon increases, as
his robbery of his own home weighs greatly on his conscience. For
example, when Mrs. Joe leaves the Sunday dinner to retrieve the
"savoury pork pie," which Magwitch had enjoyed heartily, Pip is
tortured by the thought of his actions, while his mind screams,
"Must they! Let them not hope to taste it!" (p. 27). He seems to
sincerely regret his actions and the fact that he "had been too
cowardly to avoid doing what I knew to be wrong" (p. 40).
Approximately one year after his encounter with the convict, Pip
is still shown to be an innocent, caring boy. One night, when Pip
and Joe are alone at the forge, Joe explains his various reasons
for enduring Mrs. Joe's constant abuse. After their conversation,
Pip realizes that he cares deeply for Joe and appreciates
everything that the blacksmith does for him. Also, he develops "a
new admiration of Joe from that night" and "a new sensation of
feeling conscious that I was looking up to Joe in my heart" (p.
48). Unfortunately, as Pip develops unrealistic hopes and
expectations for his life, these positive characteristics are
replaced by undesirable ones.

At the conclusion of Great Expectations, the reader most likely
finds Pip's fate acceptable and enjoyable. Earlier in his life, he
had changed from an innocent, caring boy into an arrogant young
man as a result of his nonrealistic hopes and expectations.
However, when those expectations come to an end, so do his
undesirable traits, as he is shown to be a truly good-natured
person. Therefore, it is fitting that, in both of Dickens' final
episodes, Pip is happy and content with his life.

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