Great Expectations:
PIP'S PERSONALITY CHANGE
Most people would assume that through age and maturation, a boy with
a wonderful heart and personality would further develop into a kind hearted,
considerate gentleman. In Great Expectations, Charles Dickens provides his
readers with an example of a boy who regresses in certain aspects of his
personality rather than progressing as one would expect. Pip, a person who
had loved and revered his uncle Joe as a child, while maturing, finds that his
perspective on life has shifted. This boy, beginning life with a caring,
generous heart, regresses becoming a superficial, ungrateful man who is
ashamed of what he had once been.
Pip and Biddy had become the best of friends and felt very strongly
towards each other. However, once Pip had been introduced to Estella, he
was overcome by her beauty, and would never again be able to look at Biddy,
without feeling critical towards her.
English: Miss Havisham, Pip, and Estella, in art f...
English: Miss Havisham and Pip, in an illustration...
English: "We sat down on a bench that was near" by...Slowly, after coming into contact with
Estella, Pip was becoming superficial, as he was only interested in a girl's
appearance. Thinking of Biddy, Pip thought to himself, 'She was not
beautiful--She was common and could not be like Estella...' (p 600) Estella's
beauty had made Pip blind as to what was really important in a person. No
matter how coldly Pip was treated by Estella, he went on loving her only
because of her astounding beauty.
As Pip progressed in life, he became increasingly ungrateful to the
people that had raised and cared for him as a child. His disrespect was most
strongly shown towards Joe. Having not seen Joe for a number of years, Pip
shows that he would rather have continued his now prosperous life without
having anything to do with Joe, when he thinks, 'Let me confess with...