Topic C
April 24th, 2015
Within the first 23 chapters, Joe and Pip's
relationship goes through a significant change. In the very beginning of the
novel, Joe is the person Pip goes to for everything. Joe is one of the only
people Pip has a good relationship with. Topic C says to address “conflicts or
growth” of significant character relationships. The relationship between the
two has not grown in a good way, the two have grown apart from each other and
their relationship has weakened.
In the discussion, we all agreed that Joe and Pip’s
relationship was weakening, most likely at the fault of Pip’s desire for a
different lifestyle. This desire for change becomes very evident when Miss
Havisham requests to meet Joe and they have a less than perfect encounter. Pip
is confused and embarrassed as to why Havisham wants to see Joe. Pip considers
Joe “ignorant and common” and claims he doesn’t fit in with “his lifestyle”
that he has since acquired from Miss Havisham and Estella (105). Pip’s
embarrassment of Joe’s ways and lifestyle is something that is a major change
from the first few chapters.
As we also discussed, Pip is trying so hard to
impress Estella because he thinks he has a chance with her; this is another
major reason for Pip and Joe’s relationship regression. Because Pip believes
that he now lives a formal and elegant lifestyle, Joe’s common ways (which are
technically still his too) are something he wants to hide from Estella. This
embarrassment is not only extremely degrading to Joe, but also shows how Pip
has become very snobby because of this “new” lifestyle that he doesn’t even
truly have.
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