In Defense of the Original Ending of Great Expectations Essay

Joe bitterlessly, ungrudgingly, assesses his true character and place in life, as “I’m wrong in these clothes… out of the forge, the kitchen or off th’meshes” (Dickens 154). He can able to accept his lot as is, and can part with Pip if Pip wishes so. “It ain’t that I am proud, but that I want to be right,” shows Joe admitting what Pip can not admit: that they no longer can be together and preserve Pip’s image. The fact that Joe also recognizes and accepts the importance of Pip’s pride shows how highly he views Pip, despite the ungratefulness. Joe also shows his wisdom, reasoning that “Diwisions among such must come, and they must be met as they come” (Dickens 153).

The evidence that Pip is an insecure, impressionable young boy is that Estella opinions in his coarse hands and thick boots made him break down and cry. He blames his sister for his insecurities because of his sisters’ bringing him up had made him sensitive.

Pip is content at the forge until pompous Uncle Pumblechook, Joe's uncle, takes him to visit to Satis House, for the first time, where he makes the acquaintance of Miss Havisham and Estella. Satis House is dismal and devoid of life with the exception of Estella, in Pip's eyes. Estella is a pretty, proud, and emotionless girl with who treats Pip badly yet still causes Pip to become completely infatuated with her. The forge now makes Pip ashamed and embarrassed because a coarse, common man could never spend an eternity with such a beauty. Pip is so confused about Estella's insults intertwined with her flirting that all he really knows is that he is ashamed of his social standing. Pip's love for Joe was shadowed by this embarrassment. "…I was ashamed of the dear good fellow—I know I was ashamed of

Pip expresses that he "...loved Joe perhaps for no better reason than because the dear fellow let me love him" implying that Pip may have a problem expressing the way he feels about those in his life (Dickens 41). This lack of expression remains present in Pip’s character throughout the novel, especially with frustration for the way he feels about Estella. Pip earning his expectations put a strain on the already limited relationship that he had with Joe, once Pip began to realize that Joe’s occupation was meager and unfit for someone with Pip’s means.

The first time the audience sees Pip battle with himself is his first encounter with Estella. The moment he sees her, he realizes he has to win her heart. However, he soon finds out that winning over her heart will be a difficult challenge that he will have to workout himself. Estella’s guardian, Miss Havisham, introduces the two and instantly Estella rejected

Pip’s life was affected in that he moved to London to learn to become a gentleman, and his entire worldview shifted, though not in a positive way. This ultimately leads to his fall and accumulation of debts. However, once Pip loses his wealth, his old worldview is restored and he moves back to the countryside, inspired by Magwitch, and becomes a somewhat successful businessman. Estella was not so lucky. She was raised to never love, and so, she never could. It takes abuse and tragedy to get Estella to finally soften and begin to care. It was once she felt physically the paint that she had inflicted upon Pip emotionally that she began to regret her actions and see a future that was not quite as

With a beautiful angelic face and a cold-heart Estella serves an important role as Pip’s love interest in the story. Although she is everything that Pip should never want in a friend, that doesn’t stop him from loving her. In the novel, Estella is an important character in both the literal and figurative

Pip then goes on to address the reader directly and explains that “[t]hat was a memorable day to [him], for it made great changes in [him],” (Dickens 70). After meeting with Estella several times and becoming extremely fond of her, despite her bipolar attitudes towards him, Ms. Havisham suddenly decides to recompense Pip for his time and then tells him that he no longer has to come back to the Satis House. Everyday after this, Pip continuously thinks of Estella and of how he must become a gentleman in order to be at the same level as Estella and eventually marry her. Another character Biddy (whose relationship to Pip is somewhat complicated) begins acting as Pip’s teacher and Pip says “[w]hatever [he] acquired, [he] tried to impart to Joe,” because “[he] wanted to make Joe less ignorant and common.” Pip’s plans to become a well-mannered gentleman to be worthy of high-society and to be worthy of Estella’s affection are two goals or “great expectations” that Pip sets for himself that ultimately carry the plot of the novel along.

There are salient junctures in Pip’s upbringing that make him who the person he was; this is a tale that in which Pip was soliciting for awareness of himself, as well he realized that his life had major elements of obscurity; due to the fact, he was presented clearly, two radical different lifestyle choices; one, involving a life as a blacksmith and the other; involving the path as life as am affluent prosperous gentleman. Dickens carefully wrote in the periods of Pip’s life and how those set of circumstances; affected by choice, as well affected Pip’s later choices he had made. The temptation of class and wealth perverted the actions of Pip and other people around him; Pip is therefore contemplating on how he was saved by reminiscence of the stages of his life. In the first stage; Pip encounters Magwitch; by accident, this affects the outcome of later events of his life; Pip is than introduced to Miss Havishism and Estella, he fell in love with Estella, and was dramatically persuaded by the promises he made to himself, from his encounters with Miss Havhishism and Estella. Dramatically; Pip than learned the truth about his wealth and that Magwitch was Estella 's father; this collapsed Pip’s vision of reality and forced him to alter his exceptions concerning the truth; Pip than had to save himself from his own selfishness, as well as his malice actions, to the ones who were faithful to him; finally, at the end Pip is a full grown adult and had gain

The theme of family is shown mainly through Pip’s relationship with his brother-in-law, Joe Gargery. In the beginning of the novel, Pip makes it obvious that he dislikes his sister, and takes more of a liking to her husband Joe because Pip is able to sympathize with him (Dickens 40). Joe becomes his confidant, a fact that becomes apparent when Pip comes home to face a harsh interrogation by Mrs. Joe and Uncle Pumblechook after his first visit to Miss Havisham’s. Pip lies to the both of them about his experience, but feels guilty about doing the same to Joe and confesses his wrongdoing. Joe shows understanding towards Pip, and instead of sternly rebuking him for lying, he simply but seriously Pip about the dangers of lying, saying “if you can’t get to be oncommon (uncommon) through going straight, you’ll never get to do it through going crooked” (Dickens 100). While Pip’s relationship with Joe is being tested by his desire to gain a higher social standing, Pip shows significant guilt over his mistreatment of Joe ( Dickens 296), proving that deep down, Pip never loses his deep love for Joe. It can be safely assumed that the point that Dickens wants to make through Pip and Joe’s relationship is that family is not necessarily determined by biological connections, but by who a person is closest to and feels most comfortable sharing their life with through the best and worst times.

Through the years, a number of individuals have argued that this is the best way for the novel to conclude. These people tend to believe that this ending is more true to the overall tone of the novel than the revised finale. Great Expectations never exists as a typically happy story. Its plot is marked by constant disappointment and suffering, which would therefore make the application of a happy, romantic ending seem rather unnatural. By the end of the story, Pip has learned a great deal about himself and reached a new level of maturity. He has come to recognize the mistakes that he had made as a young man and is able to appreciate the importance of family. No longer is he consumed by a selfish desire for wealth and social status. Pip’s primary motivation for attaining such a gentlemanly status had been his desire to marry Estella. By the end of the novel, however, Pip’s character has been redeemed. He has progressed beyond the point in his life that was represented by his love for Estella. This deliverance would then seem to make it impossible for Pip to continue loving Estella. She was a part of his youth; Pip, however, has become a man.

Estella also is a victim to her guardian in the novel. She too is never given the chance to be her own person and live life to its fullest. Estella is conditioned by her guardian, Miss Havisham, to make men suffer, and in return it is Estella who will be made to suffer for her guardian's actions. Miss Havisham is a severely disturbed old woman who has adopted Estella. Miss Havisham was abandoned on her wedding day and as a result she forever maintains hatred toward men. Thus for her dirty work, Miss Havisham uses Estella to meet this purpose. Pip concludes that Miss Havisham "had done a grievous thing in taking an impressionable child (Estella) and had manipulated into the form that her wild resentment, spurned affection, and wounded pride, found vengeance in". Miss Havisham makes Estella have a fear of men being close to her and not to allow herself to become attached to them emotionally. Dickens’ made Estella an almost identical copy of Frankenstein: trained to perform specific tasks for the pleasure of their guardian. However someday, they crack and see the illness in their lives. Estella was Miss Havisham’s toy. Estella never

Mickey Spillane once said, “The most important part of a story is the ending. No one reads a book to get to the middle.” Despite the fact that the beginning and middle of story play an important role, the resolution is what tends to stick with the reader the most. From the instant the audience meets Pip to the final chapter where Pip and Estella bump into each other after such a long time, Great Expectations is, all the way through, a complete classic. Yet, there is some debate on the most important part of the story - the ending. The ending that Dickens published in his book was actually different from the one he had first written. After hearing some advice from his friend Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, Dickens decided to change the final part of his novel. A huge debate has been created as a result of the fixes Dickens made: which of the two endings that Dickens wrote was better - the original or the published one? After examining both Dickens’ original ending and published ending, it’s clear that Dickens’ original ending is the conclusion that overall fits Great Expectations better because of its good thematic expression and plausibility.

“I wanted to make Joe less ignorant and common, that he might be worthier of my society and less open to Estella’s reproach” (111). This quote shows how Pip’s need for Estella’s approval and affection outweighs his love for the man that raised him. The reader begins to understand from Pip’s statements that Pip has a skewed perception of which people are good to him and which are bad to him. Joe never hurts Pip in any way and Estella thrives on Pip’s pain. Yet, Pip chooses Estella over Joe. He does the same concerning Biddy. “Biddy was never insulting, or capricious, or Biddy to-day and somebody else to-morrow; she would have derived only pain, and no pleasure, from giving me pain; she would far rather have wounded her own breast than mine” (130). Even though Pip knows this about Biddy, he still yells at her, saying how envious she is of his fortune and rise in status (148). Biddy allows Pip to yell at her and even tells him that she will not let his hurtful words affect her view of him. Biddy really cares for Pip. Being away from Joe and Biddy just helped Pip forget about them more easily. The only time that the two of them even crossed his mind is when they would contact him. When Biddy writes a letter to Pip saying that Joe will be in town, she even reinforces how much she is sure that the gentleman Pip is not too prestigious for an old friend. Pip’s reaction says something else though. “Not with pleasure, though I was bound to him by so many

The class system becomes a focal point in young Pip's life. Pip first began to think about his place in society when he was sent to visit the wealthy, old lady, Miss Havisham at her mansion. Through these visits Pip becomes socially conscious and begins to dislike his commonality. Almost instantly he wants to become uncommon. The adopted daughter of Miss Havisham, Estella, becomes a focal point and goal for Pip to obtain. Any morality Pip used to have slips away with each visit. Pip walks in circles in a barely lit room with Miss Havisam holding onto his shoulder and in doing so, Pip is somehow leaving behind all the values he was raised with. Miss Havisham and Estella end up corrupting Pip with the rich life. Greed, beauty and hubris are Pips downward spiral into an immoral life. Pip finds Estella very attractive, but Estella calls him common and this does not sit well with Pip. All of Pip's expectations of becoming a rich gentleman are due to this love of Estella.