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How Does Pip Change Throughout The Novel

Decent Essays

Written in the 1800s, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens addresses the status of England during the social period of the Industrial Revolution and colonialism. Dickens uses the perspective of Pip, the narrator, and his character development throughout the novel to express the wide gap in the social ladder. Although Pip’s account is given from one later point in his life, the tone and language gives the reader a feel for Pip’s changing qualities of maturity, morals, values, and social standing. One pivotal moment within Pip’s transition into a mature gentleman is the carriage ride home from London to the Blue Boar in hopes of apologizing to Joe, a warm-hearted father figure from childhood now neglected, and seeing Estella, an expectation of true love. Pip’s self-reflection during this time reveals inner thoughts of …show more content…

Dickens first establishes Pip’s childhood as one with unreasonable moral judgement. Although his surprise meeting with the convict in the marshes next to his home instilled fear, Pip reacted with compassion by following through with the convict’s order of some food and a file. From this arises the guilt that Pip lives with until much later down the road when it is revealed that the convict, Abel Magwitch, is Pip’s true benefactor and that the origin of Pip’s mysterious fortune originated from that simple action of helpfulness. The carriage ride is the moment when this guilt haunts him the most, as he rides with close proximity to two identifiable convicts. Tense pressure

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