Photo Post

One of the most important concepts that occurs in the first two stages of Great Expectations is Pip becoming a gentleman. This picture illistrates one thing slowly evolving into another thing completely different (which is what happened to Pip). The poor boy Pip, living by the marshes,slowly turned into an aristocrat living in London. This photo is not to be seen for its background or theory behind it, that is a different story. This simply illustrates how one thing can evolve into another which can be seen in the first two stages of the book. Even though one changes, its not always for the better. Pip slowly becomes more and more snobbish as he furthers his "gentleman career". From this, him and Joe grow farther apart and continue to do so even though they try and mend things back together. Pip's feelings about Joe's arrival were "Not with pleasure....I had the shapest senstiveness to his being seen by Drummle" (p.203). Here, Pip is ashamed of Joe because he is from the lower class. Not only that, but Joe treats Pip differently by calling him "sir". From these changes that occured, Joe explains that he needs to leave by saying"Pip, dear old chap, life is made of ever so many partings welded together, as I may say, and one man's a blacksmith, and one's a whitesmith, and one's a goldsmith, and one's a coppersmith. Diwisions among such must come...." (p. 209) This is just one aspect of Pip's life that changed because he changed. So many other changes happened in his life dealing with Estella, Miss Havisham, Jaggers, various convicts and more. I could have explained each, but I think Joe is the most important change being that he is truely close in Pip's heart and that will never change.

Making Connections

While reading Great Expectations, I couldn't help but notice that the book reminded me of  J.K Rowling's series Harry Potter.  Both Harry and Pip had bad childhoods and had parents that died while they were at a very young age. A striking similarity I found was the way the family members treat each boy. Pip is told he should be grateful that he should be alive, and Harry is told that he is lucky he gets what he has (which was very little). So in a sense, they both are treated like they aren't worth anything. I also found another connection dealing with their home life. Pip sleeps in a small room with a small bed, and Harry sleeps in a small room (almost closet-like). After leaving home, both seem to not like the memories of these rooms, it's a part of their past they wish to not revisit.

 Pip and Harry in their younger years.










Just as they were connected in their younger years, they are connected in another way as they get older. For instance, Pip and Harry both come into fortune which changes their lives completely. Harry moved away from his horrid home and moved to Hogwarts where he was educated in becoming a wizard. Pip moved to London, became educated, and learned to be a gentleman. During this time, Harry and Pip both had a good friend to help them out. Pip had Herbert and Harry had Ron (with the exception of Hermione). Herbert showed Pip the ropes of becoming a gentleman while Ron showed Harry the ropes of the wizard world.

 Pip and Harry as they become older, have come into fortune, and moved away.










Pip and Harry both have  lady troubles as well. I find that there are certain similarities in Estella and Hermione. Both are described as very pretty, but they are condescending as well. Estella criticizes Pip on his commonness and his lack of education. Hermione also does this with Harry (and Ron) by treating them like they are silly children who know nothing. Both seem to think they are better than Pip/Harry.

Hopefully this helps you connect Great Expectations to something more modern or just something relevant to you.

The Second Stage

An exceedingly important event which occurred in the second stage was Pip's arrival in London. Once Pip heard the news of traveling to London, he was excited and was looking  forward to his journey. Not being what he thought it what would be, he was disappointed. He came to find that it was over crowded, dirty, and gloomy. The only really blissful thing that came out of the situation was being reunited with Herbert (the pale young gentleman). When having arrived in London, Pip narrates "While I was scared by the immensity of London, I think I might have had some faint doubts whether it was not rather ugly, crooked, narrow, and dirty" (pg.161). It becomes clear that becoming a gentleman in London isn't always perfect, let alone alluring. Dickens obviously didn't have "high expectations" of London or the upper class life and inferred that it would lead you to a life of dismal unhappiness.


Traveling and arriving in London all has to do with the central idea of Pip becoming a gentleman. At first when Pip was going to become a blacksmith like Joe, he saw it as a respectable job. As Pip grew older, he started to want more for himself and became ashamed of himself and his family's commonness. Now having the opportunity and fortune to fulfill his dream, of course he will do anything to pursue it. Hopefully, Pip will realize that "becoming a gentleman" is causing a negative effect on his personality and his life. Being a part of the upper class may have its ups, but it definitely has its downs.

Pip's quote

   At this point, Pip has had his first day at Ms. Havisham's house. He has met the odd ball (Ms. Havisham) along with young Estella. Estella costantly critisized Pip and made remarks about how common he was, how filthy he was, and how unknowladgable he was. From that, Pip realizes that there is a better life with the upper class. This thought alone makes Pip look at Joe differently. He feels dissapointed of Joe and who he is and wants to refrain from becoming similar to him in any way. This change in Pip, in my opinion, is not a postive one. The majority loves Joe, so you could see why most would be unfavorable of this change in Pip. This quote is undoubtedly the turning point for Pip, he wants more for himself. and overall wants to be a part of the upper class. This is just the beginnig of the chain for Pip, and the life he aims for.


The day that began my "chain" would probably be the day I moved to Japan. Not knowing anyone, let alone their language, was an obvious struggle of mine. I learned to make friends and also learned about their culture. From there I was respectful of the things they did even though I didn't quite fully understand it. I think that learning about other cultures and respecting them is important in one's character. This has shaped me into the person I am today, and I'm so grateful for being able to see other perspectives rather than my own.