Great Expectations

Phillip Pirrip, known throughout the novel as Pip, is the protagonist and narrator of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations. He experiences significant development and growth as the narrative progresses, following his maturation from an innocent, young, orphaned boy to the mature and knowledgeable man who narrates his own coming-of-age journey.  Considered to be a bildungsroman, Dickens’ novel focuses on Pip’s journey towards fulfilment and self-discovery, grappling with the prevalent themes of social class, morality, ambition, and desire in the hierarchical social climate of early 19th century England.

Dickens masterfully distinguishes between the older version of Pip, who narrates the story, and the character of Pip throughout the novel. This allows him to ascribe a more matured perspective to the narrative voice, who has the hindsight of his past experiences, to influence the recounting of his own story, whilst still allowing the younger character of Pip to provide a firsthand perspective to the events that ensue.

Pip’s most prominent character attributes are his ambition and innate moral conscience, with ambition quickly becoming a predominant flaw as the narrative progresses. He continuously aspires for self-improvement after being exposed to the upper-class world which he is initially alienated from in his proletarian upbringing. Subsequently he yearns for social advancement, desiring to escape the shame that he perceives to be associated with the working-class life in the hope of achieving the unattainable prize of Estella’s affection.

After inheriting his handsome fortune and titular “great expectations,” Pip’s previously virtuous moral compass is infected by the capitalistic values of the upper class, prioritising wealth and status over genuine human relation- ships. This results in Pip’s burgeoning arrogance and self-centredness which negatively impacts all of his previously fulfilling relationships, primarily his affectionate companionship with Joe.

Regardless of his evident flaws, Pip both commences and concludes the novel with a sound sense of morality and empathy, fundamentally being portrayed as a generous character with positive intentions. He demonstrates this capacity for sympathy and kindness throughout the story, helping others such as Magwitch and Herbert through their own turmoil and challenges.

Ultimately, Pip’s character development delineates the importance of learning to prioritise kindness, loyalty, and innate morality over superficial desires of idealism.

Multiple revelatory moments occur in Pip’s narrative that uproot his simplistic view of the Victorian social hierarchy, causing him to question his corrupted values and finally discover that true worth can only be measured by moral integrity and not wealth or status.

For example, Pip’s discovers that his benefactor is not the rich, upper-class Miss Havisham but in fact the ex-convict Magwitch. He also unveils Estella’s extremely low-class biological parentage, Magwitch being her father and the housekeeper Molly being her mother. These discoveries cause Pip to re-evaluate his personal values and perceptions that had been skewed by the materialistic ideals of upper-class society. Through these fundamental lessons, Pip concludes his journey as a matured character after having ascended and descended the ultimately arbitrary hierarchy of 19th century society.