Who Is Joe Gargery Essay

The happiness and absolute bliss Pip feels tell the reader that the innocent, kind, Pip from the beginning of the novel is still somewhere within the new Pip, and seems to be making a comeback. As Pip thinks about Joe, he sadly proclaims, “But, [the] sharpest and deepest pain of all… [was when] I sat thinking that I had deserted Joe” (349). As Pip’s fortune dwindles, Pip looks back in retrospect and sees the horror of the cruelty with which he treated his loved ones. Pip’s passions begin to be outweighed by his responsibilities as Pip matures into an adult, showing the growth Pip experienced as a person. Pip’s fortune, which once fueled his passions, faded, and, almost like a lifting fog, revealed to Pip the error of his ways and path to personal redemption.

2. -Throughout the novel, Pip faces a plethora of challenges, however, Joe was always the one person he can trust, love, and respect.

Pip's dad is very pressuring, making it hard for Pip to find his identity, he wants Pip to be a great sportsman, but Pip is not enjoying soccer because he hadn't found his identity yet. Pip goes to every soccer game, knowing his dad is going to be there, criticising his every move, and he had never stood up to his father, until that one day when the bubble burst. ‘Dad…’ A sideways whaley smile. Dad… I wish… You know at soccer? The game? I wish…’ ‘Wish what son?’ ‘I wish I could be more like the other kids. You… that you’d be…’ ‘More like other parents?’ The smile was still there. The wrinkles were deeper. It was going to be OK. ’We’re all different, son.’ ‘Yeah, but dad- you know how you always stand apart… they.... they always stand apart… from you?

Joe Gargery, the fatherly figure and best friend of Pip in his childhood, has emotions and perceptions of the world that are child-like in some respects and mature in others. Like a child, he is simple, innocent, and sometimes unaware of the consequences of his actions. Yet, his maturity is manifested by his acceptance of his place in the society and his wisdom to understand things and reasonably analyze the circumstances.

1) Pip’s development from a young and innocent boy to a wise and seasoned adult is the major plot element of the saga of Great Expectations. His development starts with the innocence and naïveté of his young childhood evidenced by his guilt over doing minor wrongs, such as stealing the file and food from the house or lying about his first visit to Satis house. In this stage Joe’s kindness is his major influence, as he is trying to shield Pip from Mrs. Joe’s fury and is his sole friend. After he is first invited to Satis House, he becomes enamored with the idea of Estella and the idea of being a gentleman. Miss Havisham’s encouragement and Pip’s unrealistic and overly optimistic expectations causes this unhealthy obsession. This affliction causes him to be nasty to Joe and Biddy and eventually drives him to despair, debt, and depression.

In novels, character development, If not always, relies upon the doings and variations of other characters they interact with. In the infamous novel, "Great Expectations", Pip’s brother-in-law, Joe, is considered to be one of the most dependable and loyal characters to Pip, despite having adverse personalities. For example, where Pip is known to be zealous and eager to move forward with things at almost any cost, Joe is more of a steady, content man who would much rather stay in the comfortable quarters living of his own home. As a result, Joe is one of the most bona fide and pleasant characters to the reader in “Great Expectations”. As Pip grows all through the novel, he develops and matures from an ingenuous, young boy to a man of high morality throughout his life. The role of Pip is developed through the positive and negative influences of Joe, because the genuine circumstances and attempts at friendship.

As an orphan living with his sister and her husband, the town blacksmith, Pip is shown as someone of a lower class. Even through the death of his parents, being beat by his sister on a regular basis, and the negative reinforcement he constantly receives from his relative: Pip is still portrayed as a child full of innocence. Joe is introduced as one, if not the only, positive thing in Pip’s life. In the story, Pip states, “Young as I was, I believe that I dated a new admiration of Joe from that night. We were equals afterwards, as we had been before; but, afterwards at quiet times when I sat looking at Joe and thinking about him, I had a new sensation of feeling conscious that I was looking up to Joe in my heart,” (Dickens 61).

Pip’s journey mainly starts when he becomes attached to the upper class living style after his tenure with Miss Havisham. He begins to develop a mindset that common people are living a horrific life and the rich live lavishly with no problems whatsoever. Before he develops this mindset, he cares and loves Joe and hopes to be his apprentice. Pip states, “I took the opportunity of being alone in the courtyard to look at my coarse hands and common boots” (Dickens 63). He begins to be ashamed of Joe and his common environment and yearns to spend every moment with Estella. This mindset continues to develop into an infatuation with upper class living when a benefactor expresses great expectations for him and wants him to become a gentleman. Realizing he is now rich, he begins to display arrogance to Joe and Biddy, who is Mrs. Joe’s caretaker. This arrogance continues throughout the novel due to his lavish lifestyle, which propels him into troubling amounts of debts. At the peak of his confidence, he receives

Pip’s relationship with Joe is complicated and is governed by Pip trying to become a gentleman, which, for most of the novel, a result of Pip’s interaction with Ms.

The relationship between Pip and Mrs.Joe Gargery is not like a typical brother-sister bond. Mrs.Joe is very hateful towards Pip, she doesn’t appreciate him, Pip is a burden to her; an extra mouth to feed. On page 9, “If it warn’t for me you’d have been to the churchyard long ago and stayed there.” Mrs.Joe continues to say “I’d never do it again! I know that I’ve never had this apron of mine off since you were born. It’s bad enough to be a blacksmith’s wife without being your mother too.” Mrs. Joe makes very snide comments to Pip, such as on page 25, “ If you bring the boy back with his head blown to his bits by a musket, don’t expect me to put it together again.” Pip is scared of Mrs.Joe because of her “hard and heavy hand.” On page 8, Joe tells Pip about how Mrs.Joe went out with her tickler, “Tickler was a stick, worn smooth from hitting my tickled body.” Mrs.Joe was very brutal towards Pip and using the tickler frightened him. Mrs. Joe makes very snide comments to Pip, such as on page 25, “ If you bring the boy back with his head blown to his bits by a musket, don’t expect me to put it together again.

Pip learns from his life experiences, growing both emotionally and intellectually, while Fyodor, besides learning that money does not make life better, remains a static character. Pip states that “‘...it was clear that Biddy was immeasurably better than Estella, and that the plain honest working life to which I was born, had nothing in it to be ashamed of, but offered me sufficient means of self-respect and happiness’” (Dickens 148).Pip is learning to value things besides wealth and social status-such as simplicity and familiarity-which is an important step in his maturing process. Alongside with learning these valuable lessons, Pip attempts to mend his relationships. One of the people he tries to reconcile with is Joe, who says to Pip: “‘Which dear old Pip, old chap,’ said Joe, ‘you and me was ever friends.

Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations is a tale of ambition and self improvement. With the help of a then unknown benefactor who promises to provide Pip with the training and wealth, Pip’s wish to become a gentleman comes true. The two passages demonstrate advancement in money and standing does not correspond with betterment in morals. Pip’s dissatisfaction of his current state is apparent from the first passage.

Pip feels emotionally and geographically isolated upon his arrival in London. Jaggers’ isolation is his deliberate rejection of human involvement; he substitutes these with the mechanical process of law. Jaggers uses the legal system to avoid personal responsibility for the fate of his fellow man. This profession has imprisoned his better instincts, leaving him isolated within the system. Magwitch, however, is isolated by the system; he uses Pip as his agent of revenge. Magwitchs' motives are not only revenge, but also gratitude for the food Pip gave him in his hour of need. He develops a fatherly affection towards Pip, who in the end returns his affection. It is Magwitch who has the best reasons for disbelieving in human companionship, which supported it the most. Love in the context of human relationships is best shown through Pip. The relationship between Pip and Joe changed as Pip grew up. As a child, Pip regarded Joe as an equal, though he

Pip is controlled by the women in his life. In Mrs. Joe’s house, you play by Mrs. Joe’s rules. Both of Pip’s parents are dead. Unfortunately for Pip, Mrs. Joe took him in. She is just about the worst big sister you could ever imagine. Mrs. Joe is proud to say that she has brought Pip up “by hand”. “By hand” is a phrase describing how Mrs. Joe beat Pip up when he disobeyed. She even has her own torture device, known as the Tickler, which is used to hit Pip when Mrs. Joe is upset with him (which is pretty much all the time). Even after all this, other adults tell Pip he should be more grateful for all that his sister has done for him (or to him, for that matter). The Satis House is where Miss Havisham resides. Miss Havisham is an "immensely

In one respect the novel is a story of patronizing. The kindly Joe favors throughout the inexperienced Pip. As the narrator states: "he always aided and comforted me when he