Pip Character Analysis in Great Expectations Essay Example

Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations depicts Philip Pirrip, also known as Pip in the plot, falling in love with an upper-class girl. Pip is then motivated to become a gentleman to reach high society and marry the girl of his dreams, Estella. Throughout Pips' trip, he loses himself in his new way of life, Pip mistreats and abandons Joe his friend, he takes advantage of biddy a woman who loves him, and Pip tries to pursue Estella who often bullies and belittles him. Pip becomes a snob as a result of his pursuit of being a gentleman, this has dramatically altered his life.

Pip is consumed with becoming a gentleman so much so that he endures bullying from Estella, the girl of his dreams. Pip believes that she can only be with him if he becomes a gentleman, a high-class member of society, and to do this, Pip finds himself abandoning everything he has ever known to pursue a woman who has been raised to break men's hearts. “Though she called me “boy” so often, and with a carelessness that was far from complimentary, she was about my own age. She seemed much older than I, of course, being a girl, and beautiful and self-possessed; and she was as scornful of me as if she had been one-and-twenty, and a queen.” Pip did not address Estella disrespect. After all, he believed it was justified because he was only a common boy; rather, the start of that ideal shaped him into the arrogant person he would become.

When Pip was only a child, he had a remarkably close friendship with Joe. However, as Pip grew older, his vain ambition to become a gentleman in order to marry Estella grew stronger. Pip thought Joe was beneath him, so he abandoned Joe to move to London to pursue his ambitions of being a part of the upper class. Pip begins to feel ashamed of Joe, the man who raised and cherished him. He tries to educate joe to help him become higher classed. Pip starts to develop a snobbish mentality toward his friend Joe. His desire to become a gentleman to impress Estella is molding him into a selfish man. Biddy and Pip shared a close friendship when they were younger; Biddy adored Pip and did everything he could to support him, such as teaching Joe to make Pip happier.  However, as Pip grew older, he began to ignore Biddy's thoughts and sentiments toward him. She continues to doubt his character, expressing her worries about him abandoning Joe.

Pip was determined to become a gentleman in order to win Estella's heart; though, his ambition to become a part of high society led him to mistreat his family and friends while pursuing a girl who would never love him. Pip's pursuit to become, a gentleman transformed him into a snobbish and arrogant individual. His journey obscured his perception of what was really significant.