Analysis of Great Expectations

Pastrana, Christine D. October 14, 2013
III-13 BSE English English Literature
The Great Expectations
Charles Dickens
Synopsis:
The Great Expectations takes its readers to an extraordinary journey of an innocent common boy, Pip, who later becomes an ambitious young man whose dreams and desires extend far beyond his reach. His “expectations” are fueled by his love for a rich beautiful lady and are ignited by the chance given to him by a mysterious benefactor. The story begins as Pip and his young mind visits a village churchyard where his parents, along with his five siblings, lay buried. The peaceful atmosphere created by the mist breaks when Pip encountered a limping convict who terrifies him. This life-changing encounter commands the boy to steal food and file for the convict, an act that would make his young mind be in unrest. The next, the convict is caught by officers and is sent back to jail with another prisoner. Pip’s life almost returns to the usual- he stays in the forge and bonds with Joe Gargery, a humble blacksmith and the husband of Pip’s sister. He is constantly demeaned by Mrs. Gargery who “brought him up by hand”. Pip remains simple and contented—unconscious of the harsh reality. Pip’s life in the forge could have gone forever without him complaining about the simplicity and commonness of his ways had not he met Miss Havisham, an old lady who owns a vast estate, and Estella, a young girl whose beauty makes a love-slave out of Pip. In Miss Havisham’s Satis House, Pip’s contentment is shaken by Estella’s insults on Pip’s status and commonness—her words hit Pip so gravely that he started to want to become “uncommon” by being a gentleman. Later on, when Pip has stated his apprenticeship to Joe, Mr. Jaggers comes to announce that a benefactor wants to make Pip a gentleman in the condition that his identity shall remain unknown. And so, Pip moves in to London to learn how to be a gentleman. For years, he lives a life of a merry society—spending much and thinking little. In the midst of this lifestyle, he remembers Joe but he no longer values and adores him the way he used to. Pip’s carefree life ends when his benefactor introduces himself. He is someone familiar to Pip’s young mind—the convict, Magwitch. Knowing that his fortunes come from the convict, Pip decides that he shall no longer use the money and convinces Magwitch to move out of London to be safe. On their escape, Pip’s convict is caught by officials and is severely injured. By this time, Pip has grown close to the man. He takes care of Magwitch until the convict dies. After this tragedy, Pip becomes sick for weeks. His debtors constantly ask for payment. Unfortunately, he has already lost all his money and is now poor. The humble Joe comes to aid him and pay his debts. Pip realizes his mistakes and works hard to make himself worthy of forgiveness. When Pip has become quite an old bachelor, he returns to the Satis House and finds Estella, who has also been humbled by her misfortunes and misdoings in life. They go out of the place hand-in-hand.

Analysis: The Great Expectations captures the evident social stratification as it affects an individual’s appreciation of himself and his society. Dickens has successfully illustrated how an individual struggles to get on a higher social class to escape from the hardships of a proletariat class. As this process goes on, the individual and his roots changes and starts to be more like the elite. At first, the young Pip is unconscious of social divisions; if conscious, at least he is not so concerned with it. This is the case until someone from a higher class, Estella, imposed to Pip’s mind his lowly status by being common. This incident drains Pip’s contentment so he begins to desire to be a member of the elite to escape “commonness”, which was the very foundation of the insults that he got, and thus to be at par with Estella in terms of class. In these lines, the individual, who belongs to a lower class, is being demeaned: “With this boy! Why, he is a common laboring boy!... And what course hands he has! and what thick boots!” Worse, the individual suffers from dehumanization: “She put the mug down on the stones of the yard and gave me the bread without looking at me, as insolently as if I was a dog in disgrace. I was so humiliated, hurt, spurned, offended, angry, sorry…” “generally, that I was in a low-lived bad way.” Since then, Pip looks down on himself but dreams to remove himself from his situation. He is convinced that being in his state is such a bad thing because people would always find way to step on him. This is where his Great Expectations begin. When, Mr.Jaggers comes to inform him of the fortune that is offered by a benefactor, Pip becomes so happy that his “heart was beating so fast, and there’s such singing in his ears.” This event opens a door for Pip to move through social barriers that excludes the working class from the elite. It gives him the chance to make establish a “better self”. What keeps a person from being a part of a higher social class? In this case, money and manner have to be acquired. The first requirement is already granted by the benefactor. As for the second one, Pip is to go to London to observe, study, and learn how gentlemen live, how they move, and how they speak. While Pip studies and enjoys the life of a gentleman, his love for his old self, which may be reflected by his value for Joe, is being eliminated. Pip starts to move away from his old lifestyle and thinking-- his humble and simple-minded self gone. Pip begins to think very lowly of his own relations: “Not with pleasure, though I was bound to him by so many ties; no, with considerable disturbance, some mortification, and a keen sense of incongruity. If I could have kept him away by paying money, I certainly would have paid money”. These lines prove that Pip has now adopted the proud mentality of the elite. He no longer pities himself; rather, he now pities Joe for not having the same fortunes that he has. Worse, he devalues Joe as he forgets how Joe has been his companion and his “equal”. When Pip’s fortune is reversed, with his money lost and his manner gone, he is again unwelcomed in the elite’s society: “I was in debt and had scarcely any money, and began to be seriously alarmed by the state of my affairs.” And so, he goes back to his original society. It is as if he is brought down to earth to face his real identity. He returns to his old self—the young Pip who is always grateful to Joe’s company and presence. His realizes his place and its better value. Pip, then, asks for Joe’s forgiveness and it is readily granted by Joe. In this reconciliation, Pip is again welcomed to his original society. The story ends with Pip and Estella walking hand-in-hand away from the ruins of Satis House, the place where both of their goals in life had sprouted. These two, now that they are both evicted from and humbled by the elite’s circle, can be together. The Great Expectations reveals how the society’s structure influences an individual’s perspective in his life.