Monday, April 19, 2010

Pip's Continual Change

We discussed Pip’s initial change a while back. But since then, he’s changed a lot, perhaps more subtly. How has Pip changed?

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

In Great Expectations, Pip starts out to be a loving, kind boy, who just wants to follow in Joe's footsteps. Once he meets Estella, his longing to become uncommon overpowers his kind nature, and turns him into a selfish boy. Now, in the later chapters of the book, Pip is slowly changing back into the loving character that he once was.

Estella was the one who drove Pip into becoming uncommon, which is something that he can never be due to his last name. Once he sees the person that he is trying to impress go off and marry Drummle, Pip begins to change back to his selfless state, and he realizes that his status in society is not everything. Pip also realizes that his new life becoming a gentleman has made him ignore the people that he loves the most.

Watching Estella marry Drummle made Pip see that he can't become uncommon, and he really shouldn't have to change himself for someone else. This makes him realize that Joe is more important to him, and that he should stay with his true friends and family, and be the person that he is.

Celia said...

Pip change throughout Great Expectations is big. He starts out very innocent and does not care at all about what class he is in. Pip is happy and loves Joe, so he does not worry about how he is looked at or thought of. After he meets Estella, Pip starts to think about only wanting to be in the upper class. He starts only wanting to join the upper class, and tries to seperate himself from the lower class parts of his life like Joe. Pip becomes more self-involved and only cares about himself being noncommon so he could be with Estella. This mindset stays untill Estella marries Drummel making Pip finally realize and feel bad about how he treated parts of his old life like Joe. Another thing that makes him feel bad and realize his change is when he finds out that Bagwitch wast the one who gave him money. He finally realizes he is not part of the upper class after all.

shuber said...

When Pip started out as a boy, he was very ignorant and unaware of how things really worked. He loved Joe, and was loyal to him. As he got older, and got money from a mysterious benefactor, he began to get very selfish. He was only about himself and how much money he was getting, and he drifted away from Joe. As time went on, Pip progressed in his attitude, but he was more infatuated with Estella and really only thought about her. However, now that he has received a surprise visit from his convict, Magwitch, and learned about Estella and Drummle he gradually began to mature. Pip has been helping Magwitch keep a low profile and protect him because he feels he owes him, due to providing Pip with the large fortune. Also, he has realized that Estella has been toying around with his emotions this whole time because Miss Havisham wanted her to. Estella really never liked Pip, but fooled him into falling for her, so she could break his heart. Now she is marrying Drummle, and Pip is not happy about it, but as said before, he is maturing and learning how to deal with it.

MMiller said...

In the beginning of the novel, Pip is portrayed as an innocent youth that doesn't know about social standing and being a "gentleman". He is happy where he is and excited to learn Joe's trade of blacksmithing. However, as we discussed in class, Pip starts to become aware of social classes and where he is on that scale. When he goes to Miss Havisham's house, he meets Estella who treats him poorly because of the class that he is in. Because he loves her, he wants to be higher in class so that he can impress her and eventually marry her. Now Pip has changed again. When he got his large sum of money from the mysterious benefactor, he became part of the upper class. Now a gentleman, Pip changed from being a nice to very snobby. He has to live up to his new social class. He starts to ignore Joe and the rest of his family. He spends a lot of money all the time. He is no longer the innocent child that he was at the beginning. Now he has grown up and is trying to fit into the upper class.

jjahnecke said...

In Great Expectations, Pip starts out to be a naïve, kind hearted young boy. This all changes the first time he meets Magwitch or the “Convict”. When Magwitch makes Pip steel food from his home, it demonstrates the first time Pip’s guilt is shown in the novel. This only later leads him into more trouble because Magwitch will eventually become his benefactor for Pip’s good deed. This shows the transition of Pip’s innocence because now throughout the novel Pip lives with guilt. Another change in Pip starts once he meets Estella, as she opens up his eyes to society from a different perspective, and therefore makes him longing to become uncommon which overpowers his kindness, and turns him into a snobbish boy who will do anything to be uncommon. As he changes Pip treats his friends and family horribly; this represents his snobbish attidue.

Once Pip finds out that Magwitch is his true benefactor and that he was never meant to marry Estella he becomes the naïve kind hearted boy again. He realizes that he had treated his friends and family wrong and wants nothing to do with the money anymore.

SBedrosian said...

Early in the book, Pip did not have any goals or expectations. The most he aspired to was to be like Joe. At this point, Pip was young, loving, and pleasant. When he met Estella and Miss Havisham, this slowly began to change. Pip saw that he wanted everything they had and he wanted to be like them and not a "common boy" like Joe. This is where we saw the first shift in Pip's personality. He begins to be selfish and rude as his desires for the upper class and for Estella take over.

When Pip recieves money from an anonymous benefactor and he could them have what he wanted and be educated to be a gentleman, he started to frown upon Joe; the one person he admired and loved. He began to feel embarrassed and ashamed of him as he learned more and saw more of the upper class. Pip became snobby and conceded.

But now, as we reach the end of the novel, we see Pip changing back into the young, naive boy he was before the money. He sees that Joe is the best part of him and he turns to his loving caring side and the embarrassment and shame seem to be going away.

ctino said...

In the beginning of Great Expectations, Pip lives as a common lower class boy. He is very kind and filled with innocence. However, a major shift in his mindset is driven when he first meets with Estella. As a beautiful young girl, she entices him. However, she is extremely cruel to Pip and rejects him because of his common lifestyle. This ignites Pip to become uncommon. It begins with a strive for knowledge but matures into an extreme embarrassment for his lifestyle his childhood hero, Joe.
Once Pip receives great property and wealth from an anonymous benefactor, Pip ditches Joe and Bitty completely only to embrace a life of riches as a gentleman. He attempts to disguise his past and live a completely different life as the upper class. He also lives within the fantasy that he was hand chosen for Estella by Miss Havisham which drives his determination even more to leave behind the lower class life he once lived and everyone in it. However, at certain points within the novel he feels guilt for leaving Joe behind after all he had given him which hints at the loving boy he once was.
When Pip first discovers the identity of his benefactor, Pip is quite shocked. He is almost repulsed by the fact that all of the accumulated money and property has come from a dirty convict. Magwitch, the convict of his childhood, was nothing more than the man Pip experienced years ago. He feels a contempt for Magwitch based on the fact that he was no where near a gentleman. Pip's dreams of being with Estella are also ruined by Magwitch's arrival. This attitude reveals Pip as being obsessed with the upper class and a change from naivety to selfishness.

ecrespo said...

Pip's changes into two different mindsets throughout the book. In the beginning he was a innocent boy who wanted to grow up honest and like his sister's husband. He changes though and becomes obsessed with becoming uncommon. THis was only because he loved Estella, though. When his love gets married to Drummle, and Pip finds out Magwitch, the convict, was his benefactor, he decides that he was mean to Joe and starts to become common again.

mriposta said...

Recently in Great Expectations, Pip has made a positive change. As he has been getting older, he has begun to mature and has changed into a less selfish person. He wants to help Herbert start his business and is doing everything he can to do this. Also, he realizes how much he hurt his family by leaving them and hardly seeing them and he misses Joe very much but realizes he can't undo what he has done. Estella is marrying Drummle and he is very disheartened about it, but not because he wants her for himself. He obviously loves her and would love to be the one to marry her, but he tells her that she should marry anyone else, anyone but Drummle because he doesn't truly love her. Pip just wants to see Estella live happily with someone who loves her as much as she deserves to be loved. When Pip says this, it shows his true change because he wants someone else to be happy other than himself for once.

EYanowitz said...

As a bildungsroman, Pip's change throughout the novel is an inherit part of the story. However, as the novel comes to a close the change becomes more subtle. As a kid, Pip is portrayed as the embodiment of justice and innocence. This contrasts greatly with his change to a snobby teenager that leaves his family and friends behind to try to become a part of the highly coveted higher class. Yet in the end of the novel, you see that Pip actually starts reverting back to his state as a child. His sense of justice starts to grow even more and he starts remembering and caring about those that he left behind such as Joe and Biddy. Also, he realizes that the upper classes is not the key to happiness, and this is made especially true when he realizes that Estella isn't actual part of the upper class. In fact, all of the people that he likes the most are from the lower class.

An even more subtle change is Pip's growing confidence. In the begging of the book he was very shy and he would change his opinion instantly to that of the people around him. However by the end of the book, Pip harbors Magwitch, and comes to his own conclusion that he will stand by the criminal because he believes in his motives. He even stands by these beliefs after Magwitch is convicted and sentenced to death.

galfieri said...

Throughout Great Expectations Pip goes through a series of changes in his life. He changes in the sense that he grows up and his opinions about different things and people changes. He leaves home thinking that the only way to become a gentleman and to make something of himself is to be apart of the upper class and live a life of luxury. He meets Estella and he wants nothing more than to become someone who she would be willing to be with. She really becomes Pip's motivation for leaving his common life behind. Towards the end of the novel Pip begins to see what is really important to him. The convict comes back and his life is turned upside down. At first he cannot stand the convict and he is embarrassed by him but then he realizes all that this man has done for him and he is very grateful. After the convict dies Pip realizes that he hasn't been grateful to Joe either. Pip begins to come to terms with the fact that being uncommon and living a life of the upper class isn't the life that he want to live. What is important to Pip begins to change. By the end of the novel Pip becomes a real man.

Emma said...

I have not yet finished the novel, so I cannot go into the end and how he changed within the last few chapters, but he changes a lot even before that.
I agree with everyone who has made a comment, saying that Pip started out with the innocent mind of a child. It was Provis who changed him. From the very start, Provis made him first drift from the safety that was Joe and the friendship they held.

Later, it was also Provis' money that lead to the continuation of Pip's furtive ideas of Estella being meant for him. She and Miss Havisham both make him balloon his ideas of who he is and of the world he should want for.

It was later that Miss Havisham shows remorse for the hurt she causes to Pip and what is does to herself and Estella as well, but the damage is done. All Pip has left is to help people in whatever way he can. He does his best to set Herbert off well and to get rid of Provis in the least painful way possible, meaning getting the poor convict out of the country, the sooner the better.

It is also by trying to help Provis that Pip is lead to greater hurt when Orlick comes to find revenge. I have not gotten further, but the poor boy has been tossed this way and that, in trying to be happy.

NJacobson said...

Throughout the novel, Pip's character has changed and learned drastically. In the beginning of the story, Pip was loyal to Joe and loved hanging out and being his friend. Pip did not care about where the family stood socially or financially. But after Pip starts growing up, he meets the woman he falls in love with and thinks the world revolves around, Estella. Estella is a woman of the upper class with whom Pip does not really fit in with due to the classes. Pip finally came to his senses and the audience saw the young innocent boy they saw in the beginning of the novel when Estella marries Drummel from the same class that she is in. When Pip starts to think about this, he realizes all the people he has betrayed and how he got so involved with Estella that he completely shut-out Joe and the family for her, for something he would never get. Once he comes to realize, he finds out that his place has always been in the class he was born into. not with Estella in the next class up, but right where he came from. He also realized he was much happier there than anywhere else.

kpersau said...

Pip has changed a great deal since the beginning of Great Expectations. Once the small boy frightened by the terrible convict, Pip has grown up to be an educated and smart human being. His responsbility and loyalty are prime examples. The loyalty to Magwitch and hsi feelign of responsibility to help him guid Pip through a dangerous journey.
But Pip's life is not all good. After the revalation that Magwitch is hsi benefactor, not Miss Havisham, causes Pip to become disraught at the fact that Estella was not ment for him. But Pip continues his journey with great friends, and eventually gets the girl of his dreams.

icalo said...

At the beginning of the novel Pip is an innocent little boy who is raised by his sister and her husband. Pip doesn't care about his social class and about his education, and likes where he is. Once Pip meets Estella and goes into Miss Havisham's house he becomes rude and greedy boy who wants to be part of the upper class. He wants to be educated that way he can impress Estella and be part of the upper social class. As soon as he gets the money from his mysterious benefactor he forgets all about Joe and leaves to go and study and try to be part of the upper class. As he grows older he is realizing that he hurt the people he most cared about. Now in the later chapters he finally realizes that Estella wasn't "designed" for him and that he will never be part of the upper class.

His change throughout the book was because of Estella and Miss Havisham. they made him feel inferior to them and stupid and he felt that he had to be part of the upper class to be welcomed. When he got his large sum of money he thought it was from Miss Havisham so that he would marry Estella. Once he forgets about Estella and Miss Havisham he goes back to being himself and being happy with where he is.

Rachel P. said...

In Great Expectations, Pip is introduced as a kind, timid, and naive boy. However, as the story goes on, he begins to change. Whenever his wealth grows, so does his ego. We start to see changes such as the way he treats the people he cares about. Joe, who he considers his best friend, is seen to be inferior to him. He begins thinking very highly of himself and leaves behind the people that love him. As the novel has progressed, so has Pip. Throughout the novel Pip has matured. Although he is still not fully matured, he has definitely grown up. He has realized his mistake in mistreating Joe and we can see that he feels guilty. Pip is starting to realize that be a high member of society may not be his destiny. He's not there yet, but ever since he found out that the convict was his benefactor there have been small changes.

mrusso said...

In the beginning of Great Expectations, Pip was a somewhat naive boy whose aprirations were that of a "common boy". Pip just wanted to be like Joe. This changes when he meets Estella; he wants to become a gentleman so he can be with her. Pip changes again when he finds out that Magwich is the benefactor. Pip realizes that he was not really meant for Estella, and that he needs to be more than a common boy but less than a gentleman.

ablanc said...

In the later chapter of Great Expectations, Pip changes more subtly than he does in the beginning chapters. In the beginning, upon meeting Estella, Pip becomes selfish and only wants to become a rich gentleman. He does not care as much about the feelings of Joe or those around him, because he is turning into what Dickens thinks is the typical upper class gentleman. In the later chapters, though, Pip gradually begins to turn more into his old self. When Estella marries Dremmle, this seems to begin the change to where Pip used to be in society and in mindset. Also, when Pip finds out that his benefactor is really the convict, Magwitch, this seems to humble him a bit. Gradually, towards the end of the story, we see Pip turning into his old self again and caring more about the feelings of people like Joe, and less about being rich.

CConklin said...

In the novel "Great Expectations", there are many ways Pip's character changes. At first, Pip is just a young boy who is kind and caring, even to a criminal stranger who asks for some food. He feels bad for this man, even when there is no reason to, which shows how passionate and loving Pip really is. However, we see the most dramatic change in Pip's character when he meets Estella. He goes from being unselfish and kind to only wanting to move up in society and become something he is not. Pip is driven to do this to win the love of Estella, but he is so consumed in his new selfish ways, that he fails to see that Estella is only messing with him. Towards the end of the story, we see Pip change once again. He realizes that the way he treated the people who really cared about him was wrong. He also knows that he can never go back to the way things used to be, but at least he becomes less materialistic. He maintains a modest place in society and gains back some of the personality he once had when he was just a boy.