Conscience as It Relates to Great Expectations
Conscience is truly a dreadful thing. It judges us more heavily than any court and is
inescapable. Mahatma Gandhi once said that, "There is a higher court than courts of justice and
that is the court of conscience. It supersedes all other courts." Conscience affects all of us. It is
no wonder that Mark Twain had a desire for the simple life. He once said that, "Good friends,
good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life." One of the greatest examples of
Conscience and how it affects a boy named Pip is found in Great Expectations by Charles
Dickens.
What would you do if you were forced to do something that conflicted everything you
believed in? In the story, Pip is confronted with a similar scenario in which he has to steal food
for an escaped convict who threatened to kill him. While in the process of stealing he is
tormented by his conscience. In he state his mistakes the squeaks of the floorboards as the
floorboards screaming and warning his family of his theft. Pip, while taking the food to the
convict, thinks the gates and the dikes are yelling at him, and that everything in the marsh was
running at him instead of him running at it. In the act of stealing, Pip gets away clean, although
his conscience is truly the punishment for his actions. Pip is overwhelmed by the guilt that he
stole and contemplates telling someone, yet regardless of his aching conscience he decides
against it.
Mistakes always seem to have a way of coming back to hurt you. Pip almost experiences
this at the family Christmas party, when unbeknownst to him, soldiers are searching for the very
same fugitive that Pip helped. Pip’s initial reaction was that the soldiers were there to arrest him,
although as the issue developed he determined that they were only there to fix a pair of
handcuffs. When the soldiers there offered to let some of the men of the family go to watch the
apprehension of the fugitive, the men of
inescapable. Mahatma Gandhi once said that, "There is a higher court than courts of justice and
that is the court of conscience. It supersedes all other courts." Conscience affects all of us. It is
no wonder that Mark Twain had a desire for the simple life. He once said that, "Good friends,
good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life." One of the greatest examples of
Conscience and how it affects a boy named Pip is found in Great Expectations by Charles
Dickens.
What would you do if you were forced to do something that conflicted everything you
believed in? In the story, Pip is confronted with a similar scenario in which he has to steal food
for an escaped convict who threatened to kill him. While in the process of stealing he is
tormented by his conscience. In he state his mistakes the squeaks of the floorboards as the
floorboards screaming and warning his family of his theft. Pip, while taking the food to the
convict, thinks the gates and the dikes are yelling at him, and that everything in the marsh was
running at him instead of him running at it. In the act of stealing, Pip gets away clean, although
his conscience is truly the punishment for his actions. Pip is overwhelmed by the guilt that he
stole and contemplates telling someone, yet regardless of his aching conscience he decides
against it.
Mistakes always seem to have a way of coming back to hurt you. Pip almost experiences
this at the family Christmas party, when unbeknownst to him, soldiers are searching for the very
same fugitive that Pip helped. Pip’s initial reaction was that the soldiers were there to arrest him,
although as the issue developed he determined that they were only there to fix a pair of
handcuffs. When the soldiers there offered to let some of the men of the family go to watch the
apprehension of the fugitive, the men of