Identity Crisis: On Names

This is a response to an earlier post.

"To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man" - Hamlet. (Yes, I am a pretentious quote abuser).


Throughout Great Expectations, Pip's many names signal the both the many personas he wears and the many ways others see him. As a child, he is often referred to as "boy" or "you" by his aunt and Mr. Pumblchook, who use those names to label him as a unnecessarily aggravating burden on Mrs. Joe. When he is Pip, he is himself: to both Magwitch and Joe, "Pip" connotes the kind, agreeable boy he was before becoming rich. Moreover, "Pip" is also a homage to Pip's father, Phillip, and thus connects him to his past. To Herbert, "Handel" represents his friendship with Pip: chosen because it of Handel's "Harmonious Blacksmith," it is a name that both acknowledges Pip's former role and the new role he plays as friend to Handel. As to "Sir," Pip is called this by people who see his wealth; it is an acknowledgement of Magwitch's gift and often represents the awe people feel in the newly gentrified Pip's presence. Throughout the novel, the usage of these many names symbolizes Pip's struggle with many connotations: is he merely a rich parvenu to be addressed as "Sir"? Is he, as his aunt suggests, merely a burden to her and society? 

Eventually, though, Pip manages to choose the "right" names: Pip and Handel. Not only do both names represent the softer parts of Pip's personality - kindness and friendship - they also connect him to his past, thus giving Pip the reconciliation with past he seeks in the first chapter at the graveyard. Additionally, these names are also representative of Pip's most fruitful relationships, ones in which he is neither under the power of others or the wielder of power over others but instead is an equal. Through names, then, Dickens provides Pip a reconciliation with the past, a proper sense of identity, and a knowledge of the relationships truly worth pursuing.