Theme of Friendship and Loyalty in Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Essay Sample

📌Category: Books, Dickens, Great Expectations, Writers
📌Words: 780
📌Pages: 3
📌Published: 14 June 2022

True friends are loyal no matter what happens. When conflicts arise, they mend their broken relationship without hesitation. Whenever necessary, true friends help each other out. The bildungsroman novel Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens, demonstrates the theme of friendship and loyalty through Pip and his interactions with different people. At the beginning of the novel, Pip is kind and tries to help others when he sees someone in need. He becomes snobbish and rude as a result of him gaining a large sum of money from his benefactor. Near the end of the novel, Pip becomes more of a gentleman and is the best person he has ever been. Dickens’ idea of a true friend is a loyal and caring person who stays by someone’s side no matter what life throws at them. Through Pip’s encounters with Magwitch, Herbert and his shared bond, and his friendliness towards Wemmick, Dickens reveals the importance of friendship and loyalty. 

Pip gives a man named Magwitch the help that he needs while he is on the run from the police as an escaped convict. When Pip first meets Magwitch on the marshes, he worries about what Magwitch's personality is. He is nervous that he will be hurt again if he does not do what Magwitch asks of him. When they first crossed paths, Magwitch turned him upside down and shook him to get anything that he had in his pockets out of them. Magwitch asks Pip to get him food and a file, so Pip does what is asked of him. Because he doesn’t want to upset Magwitch, Pip steals “some bread, some rind of cheese, about half a jar of mincemeat… some brandy from a stone bottle… and a beautiful round compact pork-pie” (13). Magwitch is in bad shape and Pip is a kind person, so he decided to get different necessities to help this stranger. While Magwitch is on the run from the police again, Pip helps him not get caught by providing him with a boat and other materials so he can escape safely without being seen. Then, Pip and Wemmick decide that they will “take him down to the river… when the right time comes” (380). Magwitch is being looked for by the police and some other people, so Pip and Wemmick develop a plan to help him escape and not get caught.

Herbert and Pip both help each other whenever they need it because they are good friends. Pip is so attached to Estella because he loves her and wants to be with her for the rest of his life, but he is miserable whenever he is with her. Herbert gives him some advice to help him with Pip’s situation of despair because of Estella. When Herbert is giving Pip advice about him and Estella, he asks Pip “can you not detach yourself from her?” (250). Herbert asks him this because he is trying to prevent Pip from not feeling more heartbroken even more than it already is. Pip feels bad for Herbert not being able to get a job because he is too poor, so he gives him money anonymously so that he can have a job. Later, as Pip is giving Herbert money anonymously through the form of a “cheque” (a check), he thinks to himself “It was the only good thing I had done, and the only completed thing I had done, since I was first apprised of my great expectations” (419). He thinks this because it is one of the nicest deeds he has done so far in the book since he came to London.

Pip and Wemmick's relationship is an example of a true friendship. Around the time when Pip and Wemmick both met, Wemmick invited Pip to have a home-cooked dinner at his house. When Wemmick was inviting Pip over to dinner, he said “Now I’ll tell you what I got Mr. Pip. I have got a stewed steak–which is of home preparation–and a cold roast fowl–which is from the cook’s shop” (204). To give him a warm welcome, Wemmick makes food for Pip after becoming friends with him. He invites him to his house to share the food. Pip runs into Wemmick, who explains to Pip that Compeyson is searching for Magwitch. He also says that Magwitch is hiding in the house owned by Clara. When Wemmick finishes explaining what is currently happening with Magwitch, he says, “I have probably done the most I can do; but if I can ever do more… I shall be glad to do it.” (373). Through this quote, it is clear that Wemmick genuinely cares a lot about Pip and the things going on in his life. Wemmick is willing to help whenever Pip needs it because he is a good friend.

Dickens reveals the themes of friendship and loyalty throughout the novel by showing Pip's relationships with other people (Magwitch, Wemmick, and Herbert). In life, friends are important because people need help if they are struggling with something, want advice, and need other necessary things.

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