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Other Character's Influence on Pip in Great Expectations Essay

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In the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens there is a boy called Pip who goes through a dramatic change. Pip goes from being an unselfish, common boy who had no problem with his lifestyle to a wealthy, selfish man who thinks only of himself Pip goes from being unselfish to selfish due to Estella, Miss Havisham and Magwitch.

Pip has a benefactor who gives him money and through the money under goes a change. Joe, Pips brother-in-law, and Pip are "fellow sufferers" of Mrs. Joe's tyranny,(5). Pip love for Joe changes as Pip is to be whisked away into the life of a gentleman of a secret benefactor, Magwitch. Being selfish is not the key to being a gentleman. Pip shows this to Joe by becoming impatient of him and out of temper with him; in which condition he heaped coals of fire on [his] head.(174) when he comes to visit him in his new gentleman lifestyle. Pip feels he can not care about anyone else when [he] has [his] own problems to consider. (236). Pip change into being selfish comes also due to Estella and her beauty.

Estella made a remarkable change in Pip by making him hate his lifestyle and think of only bettering himself disregarding others. Estella makes Pip want to change his common boy life for her so Miss Havisham can get her delight of making men suffer. Pip was common boy who met Estella and became ashamed of his future of being a blacksmith after realizing Estellas beauty and grace. Pip dreads Estella looking in at one of the wooden windows of the forge and find him doing the coarsest of [his] work(83) and would take pride over him and despise him. Pip wants to change for the better and begins to feel ashamed of home, (84), but he does not know it is for the worst and he changes into a selfish gentleman. His selfishness over whelms him when They spent as much money as we could, and got as little for it as people.

Miss Havisham made Estella make Pip want her through her beauty. Miss Havisham is a man- hater because she was left at the alter by her fianc. She takes her revenge on men through Pip by making Estella break his heart. Pip can tell Estella is mean but beautiful as he talks to Miss Havisham,I think [Estella] is very insulting, says Pip, as Miss Havisham was looking at [him] with supreme aversion, and I think she is very pretty. (46 and 47). Miss Havisham begins to realize that Estella needs to live her own life and not her life. Miss Havisham sort of apologizes to Pip by drawing an arm around [his] neck for making Pip miserable by Estella. Miss Havisham lets Pip know that she has done something wrong and explains, As she grew, and promised to be very beautiful, I gradually did worse, and with my praises, and with my jewels, and with my teachings, and with this figure of myself always before her a warning to back and point my lessons, I stole her heart away and put ice in its place.' `Better,' I could not help saying, `to have left her a natural heart, even to be bruised or broken.' (190). It is not only through Miss Havisham, Miss Havisham takes her revenge on but through Estella.

Estella makes pip want to change his common boy life for her so Miss Havisham can get her delight of making men suffer. Pip was common boys who meet Estella and became ashamed of his life. [He] should never like Joes trade. [He] had liked it once, but once was not now. (82). Pip dreaded Estella looking in at one of the wooden windows of the forge and find [him] doing the coarsest of [his] work and would exult over [him] and despise [him],(83). Pip wants to change for the better and begins to fell ashamed of home, (84). This causes Pip to want to change for the better, but he does not know it is for the worst and he changes into a selfish gentleman. "We spent as much money as we could, and got as little for it as people could make up their minds to give us. We were always more or less miserable, and most of our acquaintances were in the same condition. There was a gay fiction among us that we were constantly enjoying ourselves, and a skeleton truth that we never did. To the best of my belief, our case was in the last aspect a rather common one."

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