Pip

While I’ve been reading, I’ve been thinking about Pip (both the younger Pip presented to us through the unfolding plot and the older narrator), and the reader’s relationship to him. I think that it is somewhat natural to relate to the main character of a novel, because it is through his (or her) eyes that we are seeing the story’s events. And while there are certainly aspects of Pip’s character or his circumstances that make you want to root for him, he also proves to be very unlikeable at times. He’s an orphan raised by a horrific older sister who, given the choice, would have nothing to do with him – and this certainly engenders some pity. But he is so singularly obsessed with becoming a “gentleman” that he lashes out at Biddy (and I think Biddy, along with Joe, is one of the two truly likeable characters in this novel). Biddy, who is nothing but kind and thoughtful, is attacked by Pip, seemingly for no other reason than a jealousy stemming from the fact that she has a greater aptitude for learning than he does (and education is closely linked to higher societal status for Pip). And though Pip values Joe’s friendship, he seems to regard him with an attitude bordering on condescension at times. And even more frustrating, these actions arise as part of a desperate bid to become a gentleman to impress Estella, who has been, on the whole, rude, condescending, and manipulative. Estella loves to make Pip feel lowly and common, and Pip then treats Biddy and Joe in similar fashion, as if trying to convince himself that because he is less common than them, he actually belongs in Estella’s world and not theirs. It’s been interesting to read Great Expectations so far, because I vacillate between rooting for Pip and wanting him to be taken to task for his behavior. He’s definitely a complex character, and how he negotiates the situation he has fallen into is at the heart of the tension in the novel. Pip is stuck between two worlds, and through his bleak portrayal of Estella, Miss Havisham, and the “higher society”, Dickens seems to suggest the latter world is less grand than it may appear to Pip. His desire to be a part of this world, however, is what drives some of his less-than-admirable behavior, and I can’t help but feel that he will learn his lesson. It will be interesting to see how and when that will happen.