A New
Perspective
~Blog Post
#2~
Topic B
April 24,
2015
By Debra
Dunham
In Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens, Pip begins as an orphaned boy content with his life and
future. He loves Joe and cares about him, yet after he visits Miss Havisham, he
begins to “feel ashamed of home,” (112). Instead of following Joe in being
content with all he has, Pip begins to morph into the mindset of Mrs. Joe who
always complains how she is a blacksmith’s wife.
When Pip visits Miss Havisham, he gets his first idea of how
the wealthy live, and is called “a common labouring-boy” by Estella, whom he
seems to fall in love with (63). After meeting her, Pip attempts to change his
life from his own education, to the manners of his beloved Joe. In fact, he
asks Biddy if she would help Joe with his manners as the way he acts “would not
do him justice” in a higher social class (157). Pip expects and desires a
luxurious life for himself with the opportunity he was handed.
He begins to think more like his sister as he spends more
time with Miss Havisham and Estella. Pip finds himself looking down on
everything in his life and believes his life to be to common. Mrs. Joe is
discontent with her simple life just as Pip grows to desire an uncommon lifestyle.
There is little information on Mrs. Joe’s early life, so it is a mystery as to
how she acted when she was younger. She may even be more like Pip than first
expected. Pip grew up contently and poor, but after encountering Miss Havisham
he longs for a more lavish life. Similarly, Mrs. Joe longs to be wealthier, but
is not given the chance. Perhaps she was influenced by someone comparable to
Miss Havisham when she was Pip’s age.
Pip goes from an innocent young boy to a brat after he meets
the depressed and insane Miss Havisham. Though his journey is not yet complete,
it seems as though his life may not turn back around.
Debra, I completely agree with you. Pip had a peachy lifestyle before he encountered Miss Havisham and Estella. After meeting them, he expectations developed into luxurious thoughts and he decides that what he has is not quite good enough. He feels that only Estella is acceptable although Biddy is perfectly acceptable. Biddy is constantly compared to Estella by Pip, and he even states that Biddy “could not be like Estella” (121). His head only gets larger when he receives the invitation to become the apprentice to Mr. Pocket and study law, which he got because of his “’Great Expectations’” (133). While Pip’s dreams were taken care of, he became more arrogant, stuck-up, and greedy, therefore, ruining his previous carefree self.
ReplyDeleteI completely and totally agree with both of you. Pip develops some “great expectations” for his life once meeting Miss Havisham. I’m not a fan of the evolution of Pip’s character because he has completely changed for the worst. As you said Elyse, Pip used to be carefree but now his ego has gotten the best of him and he is not the same Pip we were introduced to at the beginning of the book. Though it’s obvious why Pip wants this better lifestyle, it’s not like his life was completely terrible before. He had a good father figure in his life and he was a humble kid. Now, Pip’s relationship with Joe has weakened because of his selfishness and greed for more out of his life. As you said Debra, Pip’s journey and development is not complete so it’s possible for Pip to come to his senses about him being a snob; however, by the looks of it right now, Pip seems to be headed for trouble with his “new lifestyle”.
ReplyDeletePeer review:
ReplyDeleteDebra, I enjoy your blog post. You turned it in on time and wove your quotes in well. However, I am not sure which question you are attempting to answer. It summarizes the relationship between Pip and Mrs Joe and Miss Havisham, but I am not quite positive of what you are trying to anaylyze. Your grammar is fine and the writing is well done. I would give you a B+ just because I was not sure if you were just summarizing.