Charles Dickens 'Great Expectations'

Name
AP English
12-3-12
The Time Line of a Snob The novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens is told in first person by the protagonist. The protagonist, Phillip Pirrip, is known as "Pip" for short. The novel is a detailed story of Pip 's life and how he changes throughout the novel. He begins the novel at age seven, although nice and morally correct, he is a very naive little child. Dickens portrays the people in Pip 's environment, to emphasize the danger of having a child, naive person, around so many different adults. From lower class to upper class, Pip a seven year old child absorbs everything in his environment and it is what makes him who he is very early in his life. Early in his life, Pip is introduced to Miss
This causes him to play the role as a Victorian era snob and show love and appreciation for the wealthy, while he shows disgust and pity without compassion to ,his origin, lower class civilians. Pip is too busy being wealthy that he is not experiencing the value of family and friendship in life. He is so focused on playing society 's role of being wealthy, that he begins to feel pity against his own family, who are all poor. Mr. Pumblechook is similar to Pip, because he used to be very rude and condescending to Pip. He was rude because Pip was younger, poor, and naive. However, Pumblechook quickly respects everything about Pip, due to his new found wealth. This is shown when Pumblechook says, "No, my dear friend,..May I, as an old friend and well wisher, may I?"(Pg.125 lines 15-16). This shows the sudden change in Pumblechook 's feeling to Pip. Pumblechooks relationship to Pip is a foil of Matthew 's relationship to Mis. Havisham. The novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens displays the lapse of the personal development of the protagonist, Phillip Pirrip, Pip who is very naive and has easily evolved into a "snob." His inner craving for improving his moral, financial, and love life is a catalyst to why Pip is the epitome of a snob, one