Great Expectations Loyalty Theme

Great Expectations Essay

Are Great Expectations and ambitions always destined for everyone? In Great Expectations, the central recurring theme is that affection, loyalty, and inner worth is more important than a progressive increase in wealth and social status. Dickens makes this theme evident through the interactions of the characters, and by discovering the idea of wealth and self-improvement (specifically in social classes). The thesis can be discovered in situations such as Pip's awareness of his harsh treatment toward his loved ones, the loyalty that Joe and Biddy continued to have toward Pip, and the emptiness in the life of Estella Therefore, by investigating specific characters and their occurrences with each other it can become
To explain, When Pip got a very high fever and became ill it was Joe who came back and nursed Pip back to health and even paid off all of his remaining debts. This shows that that affection is more important than health because in his true time of need Pip's true loving family members came to help him other than his money-hungry "friends". More importantly, after all the rough times Pip put Joe and Biddy through they still went and named their son Pip in order to honor the young gentleman. This goes to show that no matter what in sickness and in health, or for richer, for poorer, your family will always remain loving and loyal to you. Lastly, Even as a child, Biddy and Joe tried to help Pip even when it was to no benefit to them. For example, Biddy decided to help Pip with his grammar and reading, when the purpose of it was to help Pip obtain the attention of Estella. Furthermore, when Pip was a child there were many instances in where Joe would try to protect Pip from the "Rampage" of Mrs. Joe, only to get harassed himself. This proved to Pip that his loved ones showed affection to him before and even after he became rich. In the end the loyalty of Joe and Biddy toward Pip could not be compared to any others loyalty toward
For example, when Pip took Estella to Havisham's house, Estella displays her true feelings about her life and Miss Havisham. Estella blames Miss Havisham for her misery . This shows that even though Estella had wealth as a child, money can not buy everything and in Estella's case money could not make up for the void of affection in her life. More importantly, Estella ended up marrying Drummle not because she loved him, but married him because she was bored of her life. This shows that even though she was wealthy, the money she had could not buy her true affection she sought for. Lastly, at the end of the novel, Estella full of inherited wealth, explained to Pip how she was never happy with her life because of the fact that Miss Havisham raised her with a ‘Heart of stone". This showed that even with her wealth Estella still lead a relatively miserable