Examples Of Pip's Insecurities

The abandonment of family, hopeless love, and twenty years of remorse and shame are all side-effects of insecurities. In the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, indirect characterization and dialogue are utilized to display Pip’s insecurities. This is manifested through Pip’s determination to become a gentleman and his constant apprehension of being scorned by others. His insecurities impel him to be ashamed of his common-bearing, displayed through his arrogant attitude towards people of lower status. Pip is employed as a lesson that family should not be disowned despite any ashamed feelings towards them. Initially, Pip’s insecurities encourage him to be easily influenced by the higher class in his decisions to visit his old
“‘...[He wishes Joe had not] taught [him] to call knaves at cards, Jacks, and [he wishes his] boots [were not] so thick nor [his] hands so coarse’’’ (63). This highlights the establishment of Pip’s feelings of humiliation towards his ordinary life as he begins to believe the notion that being a gentleman would leave him more satisfied than Joe or his common-bearing would. This drives Pip to sacrifice his relationship with his family and friends to fulfill his internal demand for wealth and status, oblivious to his true complacency with Joe. Consequently, in exchange for his expectations, Pip forgets the important values of family he once had because of his
“‘This really is a bad side of human nature!’” (255). Pip’s conscience warns him not to desert her or Joe to become a gentleman. He refers to himself as the bad side of human nature, because although he was aware of Joe and Biddy’s value to him, he chose to disregard it and continued persisting in his expectations. He is disappointed in himself rather than Biddy, yet displays his distress by further distancing himself from his loved ones. To brief, Pip’s self-doubt portrays his regret through the conceited behavior he had once expressed towards