How Does Charles Dickens Use Of Money

Some people spend their whole life trying to accomplish a particular something. It might be an achievement or just simply trying to be perfect, but what actually define us as a person and the true value of our lives? How can we possibly know if the life we are living now will be worthy in the end and we will not regret anything when we look back onto it? In Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, he states that life would not be as gratifying if one’s life is filled with manipulation and comparison, instead one must self-seek and enhance himself/herself in every aspect throughout the course of life.

    In Great Expectations, Charles Dickens explores the perception that the value of a man increases with his attainment of material wealth. Dickens probes the truth of such a system of values through Pip's quest for material gain. This quest is the literal pursuit of a better suit of clothing but is conducted without regard for the kind of man wearing the suit. Thus Dickens poses the question: does it profit a man to gain the world at the risk of losing his soul. It is clear, we see, in Great Expectations, that the answer to Dickens's question is no.

Charles Dickens’ aptly titled novel Great Expectations focuses on the journey of the stories chief protagonist, Pip, to fulfill the expectations of his life that have been set for him by external forces. The fusing of the seemingly unattainable aspects of high society and upper class, coupled with Pip’s insatiable desire to reach such status, drives him to realize these expectations that have been prescribed for him. The encompassing desire that he feels stems from his experiences with Mrs. Havisham and the unbridled passion that he feels for Estella. Pip realizes that due to the society-imposed caste system that he is trapped in, he will never be able to acquire

The very essence of money creates an urge in human nature to obtain it and have an excess of it. When people come into wealth and begin rising on the social ladder, they usually become corrupted, and compromise their personal values. In the novels, Great Expectations and The Great Gatsby, the protagonists, Pip and Jay Gatsby respectively, believe their wealth is used for the common good, but in reality many values are being compromised. Pip and Gatsby both utilize their money in an attempt to bring the women they love into their lives. Along the way toward achieving their goal, they violate ethics, which, in turn, change them as people.

In Charles Dicken’s Great Expectations Pip does not appreciate the surprise fulfillment of his dreams and only becomes selfish and condescending toward those not as fortunate as he. Pip’s character deration as a result of his inheritance is evidenced by his desire to serve “a gallon of condescension, upon everybody in the village” (Dickens 151). Dickens uses Pips ungrateful attitude toward his home town to illustrate the corruption of aspirations when one did not have to work for his success. Pips continued under appreciation of his success and subsequent failure allow Dickens to rebuild Pip through hard work to and achieve “happiness “and fulfill his dreams meaningfully (Dickens 487). Dickens informs the reader that meaningless wealth and success is worthless, and that true success comes from hard work and passion.

Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations chronicles Pip’s struggle to improve his status in English society. He is originally taught that his happiness directly correlates to the amount of wealth he accumulates. Two characters he encounters—Joe Gargery and Miss Havisham—help him realize that this notion is an unfortunate misconception, and their experiences show Pip that he not live his life by such norms.

Since the beginning of time, humans tend to develop the common misconception of those who possess wealth and fame posse’s happiness. The average numbers of wealthy people interviewed every year report back describing them as being miserable and never truly happy despite their wealth. This misconception that any common man would believe is due to the fact that one can never know true wealth unless he has it .When people come upon wealth and start climbing the social ladder, they tend to lose their moral ethics and become more corrupt by changing their life style in becoming less humane. Since the discovery of wealth and social power, society has been separated into two classes, the ruler and the ruled, the rich and the poor. Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations and F. Scot Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby contradicts the relation of wealth and happiness in their books because they both show that in order to be truly happy, one must reject superficial things, such as one’s position in the caste system of society, and pursue one’s true desires.

The research question to be discussed in this essay is: How does money affect the characters in The Great Gatsby and Great Expectations. This question will

Great Expectations is a novel by Charles Dickens that thoroughly captures the adventures of growing up. The book details the life of a boy through his many stages of life, until he is finally a grown man, wizened by his previous encounters. Dickens’ emotions in this book are very sincere, because he had a similar experience when his family went to debtor’s prison. Pip starts as a young boy, unaware of social class, who then becomes a snob, overcome by the power of money, and finally grows into a mature, hardworking man, knowing that there is much more to life than money.

Attaining wealth brings with it many benefits. Certainly, wealth allows a person to buy more items and live a certain lifestyle. However, sometimes wealth comes at a cost—wealth can also blind a person to what is truly important in life and can lead a person to make choices that are actually harmful.   In the novel, Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, the author explores the concept of wealth as a means of examining how individuals can lose sight of importance.

Charles Dickens, author of Great Expectations, provides a perfect example of the hope of class mobility. The novel portrays very diverse and varied social classes which spread from a diligent, hardworking peasant (Joe) to a good-natured middle class man (Mr. Wemmick) to a rich, beautiful young girl (Estella). Pip, in particular, elevates in the social pyramid from a common boy to a gentleman with great expectations. With his rise in society, he also alters his attitude, from being a caring child to an apathetic gentleman. During this process, Pip learns how he should act and how to become a real gentleman. Social mobility and wealth, furthermore, carves a disposition and how a character is looked upon.

The novel, “Great Expectations,” by Charles Dickens is a story renowned for it’s vivid descriptive qualities and unexpected plot twists. When Dickens was writing the novel, his view on society was very dark. Dickens felt that money makes people generally more harsh and cruel, while the lower class is more kind .This is shown in Great Expectations with the kindness of Joe, the changes Pip underwent, and the cruelty of Drummle.

Social class differences were a major contributor to the story line and the lasting effect of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations. Social classes has a broad set of criteria that the majority of people think determines class. Dickens uses class differences for various reasons but most importantly, he uses them to show how he felt about those differences. Additionally, the fact that the differences that Dickens displays in the book are similar to today's class variations, makes Great Expectations and its theme of class, influential to this day. Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations perfectly illustrates the Victorian era’s class differences and shows where Dickens compassions laid.

Since it was first published over 150 years ago, Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations has come to be known as a timeless and remarkably moving work of literature. It is considered to be one of Dickens’ most recognizable works, and is celebrated for its meaningful, universally-believed themes. In order for this novel to be properly understood, a thoughtful analysis of its major themes must be given.

For this essay I will be focusing on the opening chapters of Great Expectations, a novel written by Charles Dickens. I am going to consider the Victorian society at the time and dickens’ use of language to express themes, settings and characters.