Charles Dickens’s “Great Expectations” (1861) tells the coming-of-age story of Pip, an orphan boy. The narrative follows Pip’s life from boyhood to adulthood, until he reaches psychological maturity. It is a great example of a bildungsroman, a literary genre that addresses the personal and moral growth of a character.
The novel tackles complex themes such as the social classes and how memories of the past can affect the present. But it is also, against all expectations, a witty and delightful read.
A Coming-of-Age Story
Pip, a young orphan boy, lives in rural Kent with his tyrannical older sister and her sweet-natured husband, the blacksmith Joe Gargery. One day, as Pip visits his family’s graves in the churchyard, he runs into an escaped convict. The convict threatens him, and the young impressionable and frightened Pip brings him some food and a metal file. Pip doesn’t tell anybody about this encounter, but the memory of it haunts him.
Every few days, Pip has to visit Satis House, the residence of Miss Havisham, a somber woman left by her lover on her wedding day, and Estella, her adopted daughter. He is expected to play with Estella, and soon falls in love with her. However, Estella doesn’t return his love, and Pip believes it is because of his low social standing. To earn her love and impress her, Pip decides to become a gentleman.
Pip holds great expectations for himself but is disappointed when his future seems to become Joe’s apprentice. But his fate turns around when a mysterious benefactor sends him to London and pays for his education to become a gentleman.
Pip finally gets what he wants but becomes arrogant and conceited, turning away from friends and family. While abroad, he runs into debt and becomes sick; Joe comes to London and nurses Pip back to health.
A Unique Bildungsroman
“Great Expectations” focuses on Pip’s moral rebirth and is a great study of how humans develop into maturity. The first-person narrative gives readers access to Pip’s thinking, addressing the main concerns of the bildungsroman genre: the search for identity and authenticity.While Dickens wrote many bildungsroman novels, “Great Expectations” is considered to be one of his greatest works within this genre for its intricate narrative and character development. The novel follows most tropes of the genre. The plot focuses on the progression of a central character as he matures into adulthood, and follows the experiences that lead to the character’s psychological and moral growth.
Yet, while “Great Expectations” might seem like a narrative full of pathos, it is also very light and uplifting. Dickens uses humor to keep readers entertained and engaged while exposing the social issues of his time.
The first-person narration reveals amusing scenes and situations, especially in the first part of the novel, which is told through the lens of an innocent child. When his sister, Mrs. Gargery, prepares Pip to go to Miss Havisham’s house, he is “soaped and kneaded and toweled and thumped and harrowed and rasped,” just like a sheep. Joe is equally ill-treated by his wife, to the point where Pip says that they were both “brought up by hand.”
Humor also reveals character. This is rendered clearly with the Christmas scene, one of the funniest passages in the novel. Mrs. Gargery hosts Christmas dinner and keeps criticizing Pip. Every time she does so, Joe secretly offers him more gravy, to the point where it becomes ridiculous. The repetition of “Joe gave me some more gravy” in between the criticisms is deeply amusing, as well as the “Joe offered me some more gravy, which I was afraid to take.” This scene shows the true nature of the characters and, in this instance, Joe’s kind heart and his love for Pip.
Dicken’s ability to combine tragic and comic elements give depth to his stories. Even in the darkest moments, the narrator uses humor to lighten tragic situations. For example, when Pip first comes back from Miss Havisham’s, he invents a story and tells his family that he and Miss Havisham sat in a black velvet coach, and had wine and cake on gold plates while feeding four large dogs from a silver basket.
Dickens made the story his own, slightly deviating from the classic bildungsroman. In “Great Expectations,” the author doesn’t tell of the victorious underdog, getting all he wants. Instead, the challenges Pip undergoes are often his fault, as he is blinded by his own ambition. He comes to not only understand the harshness of the world, but that he contributed to it and made others suffer. It is only when he lets go of his unrealistic dreams and ambitions that he can understand the true meaning of life.
By combining wit and pathos, Dickens created a deeply poignant and reflective novel that has stood the test of time.
