Social Class Influence on the Individual

Soon after the incident in the graveyard, Pip is introduced to a class of people deemed superior to his own only by virtue of their wealth. From them, Pip learns to judge others, and himself, by the quantity and quality of their material possessions, rather than the quantity and quality of their humanity. Thus blinded by the tangible, or material, Pip adopts the values of this better class and goes off in blind pursuit of such possessions as will make him an acceptable member of their numbers.

It is very easy for a person to become obsessed with their social status. This is obvious throughout Charles Dickens’ book Great Expectations. The book is about a young boy who loses and gains many friends of different social standings. Although he starts out poor, he is given a great deal of money and power. This is shown by two characters, Pip and Joe Gargery, throughout the entire novel. Pip expresses that no matter how high one's social status is, it does not mean that they have a good and honest character and Joe proves that even though one might not have a lot of fame and fortune, one’s character can still be pure. Throughout Charles Dickens’ book, Great Expectations, Pip and Joe show how the quality and purity of one’s character and

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

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.

The difference in class structures of Victorian England was dependent on the lifestyles and jobs of individuals. The Victorian era of England lasted from 1837 to 1901. The Victorian England hierarchy was divided into three different classes; the upper, middle, and lower class and was reliant of occupational differences. The hierarchy was very rigid and there was little social mobility, because of the fact that normally a person was born into their class and even their future career. In Great Expectations, Charles Dickens displays the model of class structure through the character Pip Pirrup. Pip struggles to find his place within the hierarchy. Throughout the novel, Dickens writes about the different classes in England. Pip belongs the working class due to his family and is set to be a blacksmith, but finds himself in the societal shift that occurred in England in the nineteenth century. Pip wants to achieve his great expectations and change the path that his life was going on. He wants create a better life for himself than what he would have had if he followed in the footsteps of his family. Dickens also creates various characters in the different classes to expose the relationship between each class. An individual’s class was a dominant factor in creating an identity. People of the upper classes thought very little of the people “below” them. Throughout his journey, Pip reveals information about how the different social classes lived and how members of each

This shows that Pip unconsciously understands that wealth does not bring happiness to a person. It can make someone a better person if one chooses to be generous and kind towards others. Pip contributed to a poor person’s happiness. He is not happy with his sister’s behavior and his tasks, but he rejoices after seeing the excitement on the convicts

“Sometimes we expect more from others because we would be willing to do that for them.” This quote summarizes Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. In this book, Pip, the protagonist faces rejection at every turn with the death of his parents, and his low class in society. But soon, his entire world begins to change. He meets a rich girl, who he falls in love with, and begins to dream of rising beyond what his social class will allow.

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.

Pip's expectations were to become a gentleman wealthy in love and riches. In a way, he both failed and succeeded. He succeeded in becoming a gentleman of status but not one of heart, therefore he ultimately failed to be a gentleman because of the true meaning of such a word. In failing, he wised up and realized his errors and expanded his capacity for feeling; he matured as a person after all his blundering. In the last chapter, Pip compares how he's treated as an upper class man and a lower class man.

In Dicken’s novel Great Expectations, which is set in the Victorian era, Dickens uses the social classes to reveal that change is often driven by societal expectations and can often cause sacrifices to be made which often lead to an unhappy life. In this era status was important. Those who were in lower classes strived to move up, and those in higher classes lived lavish lives of elegance. Dickens reveals these ideas though the actions of other characters as Pip receives his expectations. Uncle Pumblechook, who wanted nothing to do with Pip before he had received his expectations, says, “To think, that I

In novels and plays, characters are usually depicted as being trapped in a cultural collision which often causes them to question their identity. The cultural collisions that are involved are institutional, ethnic, religious, regional, and national. In the Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations, Pip, the protagonist and narrator, finds himself questioning his identity after being caught up in the regional cultural collision of his low class society background and the background of individuals in the upper class society. Pip’s response to this cultural collision is that he abandons his old lifestyle, rarely speaking to anyone from his past, such as Joe and Biddy. However, in the end, Pip begins to regret pushing his old acquaintances aside.

Pip lived among common people with very little money until an anonymous benefactor provided him with the funds to become a gentleman. He comes to expect that his new fortune came from Miss Havisham. However, after learning that Magwitch

Class is one of the many issues we face in this world, and often some of the worst traits are found in people of high social class. Now, some believe that this is how they were brought up, others believe it is their personalities, or a combination of the two. In Great Expectations, Pip is often made out to be not the kindest or most caring of people. Some attribute this to his social class, however, this is not the case. Pip pushed his old friends out of his life because of his lack of empathy and maturity in regards to his position in life, not solely because his new social standing pushed him towards these conditions

In Great Expectations, Charles Dickens rejects conventional Victorian class stratification, using Pip 's Bildungsroman to demonstrate that social mobility can be achieved through moral education, experience and personal development, rather than the simple acquisition of wealth. The compassion Pip learns from Joe leads him to assist Magwitch, which ultimately results in Pip becoming a gentleman. The secondary characters in Pip’s Bildungsroman help him to find a place within society where he can finally feel happy and fulfilled. Although Pip receives wealth from Magwitch, Dickens demonstrates that his success in migrating from the poorer working class to the newly developed middle class is actually the result of his more educated view of the

The ones who seem to be most affected by society’s beliefs about class and social order are Pip, his family, and his friends, who would definitely fall under the “lower” part of the socio-economic ladder. Throughout the novel, the “lower” characters have a heightened and even a bit unhealthy obsession with