25 June 2011
Pip's Expectations: Deserved or No?
As I'm reading this book, I find myself growing increasingly frustrated with Pip's character. In the beginning, Pip does nothing but dream of being a gentleman. He gets his wish, then is completely ungrateful for it! He's dissatisfied with London, because it's not the pristine, beautiful town he dreamed of. He's frustrated because he does not know the name of his benefactor, when he should have just been patient and thankful for this blessing. When he does learn of his benefactor, Magwitch, he's repulsed and abhorred by him and angry that he was wrong; Havisham was not the one who made him a gentleman and Estella is not meant for him. It seems to me that when you get something you've dreamed of your entire life, you should be grateful for it, no matter who provided it. Pip has yet to learn that life is never what you expect and I believe his expectations are undeserved.
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4 comments:
Dickens highlights throughout the novel this idea that what one wants is not necessarily what is good for them or what will make them happy. It can be seen in Pip's bitter love of Estella, in Mrs Pocket's consuming obsession with titles, or even in Mr Wopsle's disastrous attempt at performing. That being said, it could be argued that Pip very much deserves his fortune, as it is the punishment he received for daring to dabble in dreams.
There is a passage in the novel that controdicts what you're saying about Pip's dream of becoming a gentleman for his entire life.
He was discussing his disappointment with being a blacksmith's apprentice with Biddy and states that he would have been perfectly content with being a blacksmith if he hadn't been told (by Estella) that he was course and common as a child.
This explains some of Pip's angry and disappointment. His entire life was centered around winning Estella's affections and I can't even imagine the amount of betrayal Pip must have felt when he learned his fortune would never help him win Estella's heart. Pip was ignorant to think that Havisham would ever assist him with his love life when she wanted to destroy it from the start. He believed that Havisham might have a bit of good within her. There's no question that he was wrong but I don't think that makes him undeserving of great expectations.
I must confess that I, too found it annoying that Pip could not simply be happy! He could've just been content with his life and we could've ended the book rather quickly. However, Pip only found contentment at the end of the novel, when he took up a job with Herbert. To me, this suggests that he could not be happy because he wasn't doing anything valuable to society. All he had done previously was waste his money on luxuries, rather than focus on trying to make money of his own or find some skill he could offer. Maybe Pip, as Danielle suggested, was undeserving of his expectations (or at least thought so) and could not find joy in his gentleman status until he had done something to earn it.
I also agree with Danielle and believe the expectations were wasted on Pip. He was so ungrateful and unhappy that I found it hard to like him as a character in the book. His search for happiness was dragged on in the novel for too long, like Julie said.
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