远大前程

The D evelopment of Pip’s Character in Great ExpectationsAbstract: This thesis is to analyze the development of Pip‟s character in Dickens‟s Great Expectations. Through the analysis, we can achieve a better understanding of the novel as well as Dickens‟s great power in the criticism of the society.Key words: Pip‟s character development Great ExpectationsIn Great Expectations,the development of Pip‟s character is influenced by many factors. The development can be divided into two parts:the childhood of Pip and the gentleman life of Pip.1.The childhood of PipThe children‟s world should be full of tender care and happiness. It should be a worry-free world. But Pip‟s world is not like this. He was an orphan living in the changing moods,cruelty and violence of his sister and also in the earnest exhortations of Uncle Pumblechook. Such living conditions resulted in a timid and sentive Pip.Joe was the only one who took care of Pip. He treated Pip as his dear friend and gave Pip sincerity and comfort. He lead Pip realize there was happiness and warmth in life even though his influence was too weak to combat Mrs.Joe and Uncle Pumblechook. Joe‟s protection was limited. When the false values about money and social status penetrated into Pip‟s world and great ly affected his mind, Pip could not resist the temptation, and therefore lost balance in mind. He vainly expected to be a gentleman, to marry Estella. Subjected to such wrong ideas, Pip lived in the gap between reality and dream.（1）Mrs.JoeMrs.Joe had various ways in punishing Pip. She could use the tar water as medicine; she could also use her tickler, her ring and her thimble as instrument of torture. She had all sorts of unreasonable rules. These were constantly torturing Pip‟s heart. Mrs.Joe was also fond of pretence,and advertised her to be Pip‟s benefactorwho brought little Pip up. In reality she never gave Pip any tender care but maltreatment. Pip felt that:“My sister‟s bringing up had made me sensitive. In the little w orld in which children have their existence, whoever brings them up,there is nothing so finely perceived and so finely felt, as injustice. It may be only small injustice that the child can be exposed to;…I in great part refer the fact that I was morally ti mid and very sensitive.”Mrs.Joe never stopped her complaints. She complained about her marriage,her “bringing Pip up by hand”, her endless work,almost everything. In Chapter Two of Great Expectations, when Pip returned home after being threatened by the convict,his sister asked him:“where have you been, you young monkey?...or I‟d have you out of that corner if you was fifty Pips and he was five hundred Gargerys.”When Pip told her he had been to the churchyard,his sister became even angry and exclaimed: “If it warn‟t for me you‟d have been to the churchyard long ago, and stayed there. Who brought you up by hand?...It‟s bad enough to be a blacksmith‟s wife, without being your mother.”Behind those complaints,we detect her frequent impatience. Once when Pip asked more questions,it was too much for Mrs.Joe,who shouted:“…People are put in the hulks because they murder, and because they rob,and forge, and do all sorts of bad ; and they always begins by asking questions.”Thus, Pip‟s curiosity was greatly strangle d. He could never count on his all-powerful sister to tell him anything patiently.The false love from his sister was very harmful to Pip‟s growth and became the origin of Pip‟s timidity.(2) Uncle PumblechookUncle Pumblechook‟s love for Pip was false too. Because he was rich, he belonged to the pretty bourgeoisie. From him, we can found the craft,selfishness and snobbishness of his class. In his treating Pip, he was a preacher. He reminded:“be grateful,boy,to them which brought you up by hand”. He always demonstrated an appearance of justice and kindness and in fact, he had the habit to fawn on those whohad higher social positions. He was a fearful impostor, an abject hypocrite and a basest of swindlers and a villain. To Pip, he never gave him any sympathy. At the breakfast before Pip‟s first trip to Miss Havisham‟s manor,Uncle Pumblechook‟s false love was wonderfully revealed:“Mr.Pumblechook and I breakfasted at eight o‟clock in the parlor behind the shop,while the shopman took his mug of tea and hunch of bread-and-butter on a sack of peas in the front of premises. I considered Mr.Pumblechook wretched company. Besides being possessed by my sister‟s idea that a mortifying and penitential character ought to be imparted to my diet—besides giving me as much crumb as possible in combination with as little butter,and putting such a quantity of warm water into my milk that it would have been more candid to have left the milk out altogether—his conversation consisted of nothing but arithmetic.”Their different diets showed the hypocrisy of Uncle Pumblechook.The above analysis shows the main stream of the Victorian countryside social circumstances. Hypocrites brought false moral and false love to little Pip, whose desperate revolt led to his timidity. Well on the opposite of such false values stood Joe.(3)JoePip‟s having in nature that industrious,kind,simble elements in terrible circumstances was mainly due to Joe. Joe was Pip‟s comfort and source of happiness. Joe represented the virtues of the working class. He was hard working,honest and kind. In bringing Pip up, Joe‟s attitude was quite different from others. He sincerely did all he could for Pip. He was Pip‟s fellow-sufferer. He never looked down and maltreated Pip,but protected Pip from Mrs.Joe‟s bullying. He told Pip that;:“I wish it was only me that got put out,Pip;I wish there wasn‟t no tickler for you, old chap; I wish I could take it all on myself;”Pip was deeply moved by such sincere words;and therefore Pip had gratitude for Joe. In Pip‟s learning of knowledge,Joe encouraged him quite often and gave Pip praise when he really made improvements. Joe also criticized Pip when he made mistakes. Once when Pip came back from Miss Havisham and lied to the cruel sister and Pumblechook. It was Joe‟s great person alitythat made Pip feel sorry for telling liesJoe‟s influence also existed in his dignity,which he paid great attention to all the time. He would never be lured by money. When Miss Havisham interviewed him,Joe did not want any premium because he was sure that he could earn a living through honest labor. He let no one do any harm to his dignity. What Joe represented was the great virtues found in the working class,unfortunately,Pip did not follow Joe‟s example;instead, he fell into the plot of Miss Havisham.(4) Miss HavishamMiss Havisham represented the cruel bourgeoisie. Her self-failure led to her hatred and revenge. As an eccentric woman,she lived in the house without a beam of sunlight. Her adopted daughter—Estella,was her tool to take revenge on men. Estella had been taught to be cold to men. The poor Pip was strongly attracted by Estella as soon as he entered the Satis Manor. He longed for her but was laughed at by this beautiful proud girl. From then on, Pip felt ashamed of his hands, of his boots,of his social status and his friends. He fell into false values. His ambition to be a gentleman resulted from his hopeless love for Estella. The worship of money and status was like position. Pip was trapped in his dreams.And at the same time, Biddy became more lovely, Pip dared not express his love for Biddy for he always imagined how happy he would have been if he could be with Estella. Pip even looked down on the honest Joe, because in his mind Joe was in a low-lived bad way.Miss Havisham‟s cruelty on Pip was based on her hatred on men and on her relatives. When Pip was asked to play at her house,her purpose was to use Estella to mock the poor Pip. With the passage of time, and also because of some coincidence,Miss Havisham found in Pip some other functions. Miss Havisham knew from her solicitor that Pip got a big fortune from a secret patron;she also knew that her greedy relatives were waiting for her fortune. She then designed a scheme that could cheat both parties. She pretended to be Pip‟s patroness and made Pip feel grateful for her. At the same time,she made all her relatives envy Pip, thus hersatisfaction from seeing the sufferings of men was greatly strengthened. When finally Pip learnt the truth of his fortune and asked Miss Havisham about the reason,she attributed the illusions totally to Pip. In fact, she never stopped leading Pip into her trap.The childhood of Pip was miserable not only because he was subjected to his sister and Pumblechook‟s hypocrisy but also because of the bourgeois influ ence.2.The gentleman life of PipPip‟s life changed overnight because of a mysterious benefactor. And Pip began his adventure as a gentleman.On leaving the forge of Joe, Pip lived in the circle of gentleman in London. In the Victorian Age, London was not as good as Pip imagined. Here, Pip lost his good nature for a time and felt proud of being a dandy. He turned into a selfish, blinkered, frivolous one. He fell deep even deep into the illusions that Miss Havisham was his benefactor and he would marry Estella under the authority of Miss Havisham. The suddenly coming-back of Magwitch broke his illusions into pieces and made him realize his misdoings. He decided to get rid of illusions and his gentleman life.First, in Pip‟s gentleman life in London, the mos t important influence came from Jaggers and Wemmick. The two were the typical representative of London upper class.their law office was the reflection of London evils.(1)JaggersFirst, Jaggers was cruel in his theory of money. In Jaggers‟s mind , money w as the most important thing. When his clients turned to him, he only asked them:“Have you paid Wemmick?” On his first visit of Pip‟s family, he said:“I am paid for undertaking it.”Jaggers‟s theory of money influeced Pip strongly. Later when Pip became a London gentleman, he learnt to spend money expensively and he also learnt to evaluate people in terms of money. Pip became an absolute snob. He felt ashamed of his brother-in-law:the dear Joe and Joe‟s simple manners.Second, Jaggers was cruel in his manner toward others. When he shut his eyes and threw his fingers at Pip, it seemed that he knew all kinds of things to Pip‟s disparagements, if he only chose to mention them. He never laughed. Jaggers wasalways suspicious and could not get rid of a certain air of bullying suspicion: “On the police-court, if anybody, of whatsoever degree, said a word that he didn‟t approve of, he instantly required to have it…taken down‟,if anybody wouldn‟t make an admission, he said:…I will have it out of you!‟”He was also very hypocritical. Pip knew this from Jaggers‟s law office.“He had a closet in his room, fitted up for the purpose, which smelt of the scented soap like a perfumer‟s shop. It had an unusually large jack-towel on a roller inside the door, and he would wash his hands, and wipe them and dry them all over this towel, whenever he came in from a police court or dismissed a client from his room.”In fact, the dirt of crime could not be wiped out by water or the towel, Jaggers did so was just as drawing a snake and add feet to it, which was unnecessary. Because Jaggers was a central part of those dirty business, nothing could show that he was clean and far away from it. Growing up under the nurture of Mr.Jaggers, Pip took hypocrisy for granted, and he acted the sa me and always felt proud of being Herbert‟s patron.Third, Jaggers was always good at wrenching the weakest part of our dispositions out of others. As long as he had interest, everyone would become a zest to Mr.Jaggers‟s wine. He was suspious and always qu estioning. He had an immovable determination to others‟sufferings. As the representative of two clients, he served Miss Havisham on the one hand , and the convict—Magwitch on the other. He knew Pip‟s great expectations very well from the very beginning, b ut the bourgeois selfish-centeredness made him want to let things drift if they did not affect him personally and he never let loose the truth, for it would not bring him any good. Also the one who trusted him was a convict, which would do harm to his career as a successful lawyer. Because of these, Pip‟s illusions turned into a net that Pip himself could not escape.The bad effect of Jaggers‟s cruelty caused terrible results:the childish Pip was even far away from his nature. He forgot sincerity and simplicity; he was after the levity.(2) WemmickWemmick was Mr.Jaggers‟s clerk. In the law office, Wemmick was quite similar to Jaggers because both of them spoke coldly and decisively. But at home,he was quite a different man. At Walworth, his smile was not the merely mechanical smile in the office, but with a relish. He was creative and designed many interesting devices. He was also hard working and showed filial obedience to his old father. His friendship to Pip was cordial and loyal, but he never took this feeling for Pip when he was in the law office. On approaching the office, he would get harder and drier and his mouth tightened into a post-office again.“At last, when we got to his place of business and he pulled out his key from his coat-collar, he looked as unconscious of his Walworth property as if the Castle and the drawing bridge and the arbor and the lake and the fountain and the Anged, had all been blown into space together by the last discharge of the String.”As Jaggers‟s clerk, Wemmick had to de al with his office affairs and his private life. He did not want to confuse the two, so he warned Pip that:“The office is one thing, and private life is another one. When I got into officem, I leave the Castle behind me, and when I come into the castle, I leave the office behind me. If it is not in any way disagreeable to you, you‟ll oblige me by doing the same.”Wemmick‟s character was the embodiment of distorted character under the capitalist system. It was Wemmick‟s influence that made Pip feel sorry fo r his looking down upon Joe.In the Newgate prison, Wemmick was highly populr.“He walked among the prisoners much as a gardener might walk among his plants.” He helped fulfill Pip‟s desire of assisting Herbert. He also helped inquiring information of Magwitch and arranged the renaway scheme for Pip. Still Wemmick could not get rid of his guilding-star. He told Pip when Magwitch‟s stay in England became quite dangerous that:“Let me finally impress one important point upon you, avail youself of this evening to lay hold of his portable property. You don‟t know what may happen to him. Don‟t let anything happen to the portable property.”(3)MagwitchMagwitch was a thread in this novel. He influenced Pip greatly. Pip did him onlysmall service, but he felt grateful for it all his life. His affection towards Pip was just like that of a father. His turning Pip into a gentleman‟s idea brought Pip drastic change and immense pain. His coming back made Pip almost scared to death. His being arrested and sentenced aroused in Pip great pain and sympathy. This sympathy at last developed into sincere respect.In Pip‟s eyes, Magwitch was a dreadful visitor; while in Magwitch‟s eyes, Pip was a real and complete gentleman. The sharp contrast made Pip feel sorry. He should not treat his benefactor in such an indifferent way. He should show the love of a son to him in the way Wemmick treated his old father;he should be grateful for the convict because his small kindness did not deserve the sincerity from Magwitch. Thus the sudden c oming back of Magwitch indicated the returning of Pip‟s good nature. Without this incident,Pip would never understand himself. Magwitch gave Pip a kind of generous love. This was too precious. Magwitch was like a candle,for he lightened Pip‟s future. Magwi tch was like a book, for he educated Pip. Pip‟s unselfish protection for Magwitch was the best proof of Pip‟a gaining good nature back.ConclusionsIn this thesis, I have analyzed many characters that influneced Pip‟s character development. Some people‟s i nfluence was weak,some was strong. The most important was that Pip lost balance in life because he was subjected to money and status.The novel tells us that: we should have faith in human virtues and try to avoid being lured by some unrealistic thoughts or objects. This is true to almost everybody.Works Cited:〔1〕Cotsell,Michael. Critical Essays on Charles Dickens‟s Great Expectations 〔2〕Great Expectatins. London :Pan Books Ltd,1980.〔3〕Lucas,John. Charles Dickens:the Major Novels. Harmondsworth: Penguin Group,1992.〔4〕朱红狄更斯小说欣赏太原：山西人民出版社，1985。