During Pips early years he and Joe share a relationship based on love and trust, like father and son or two brothers. They are united in their suffering because of the cruel Mrs Joe. For example she gives them both horrible tar water to drink. They play games and have friendly competitions in order to cheer up the atmosphere. They both mouth words to each other so not to get her angry. They also have secret hand signals to warn if Mrs Joe is in a bad temper. They also share a hatred of wearing their uncomfortable Sunday best clothes. Joe tells him to put a towel down his trousers to stop the pain. Joe accepts his wives tyrannical rule because his own father beat his mother and he did not want to be the same.
Joe is kind to Pip, for example when Mr Wopsle attempts to make Pip uncomfortable by criticising him Joe puts extra gravy on Pips plate to make him feel better. Joe also tries to bring Pip up well. When he thinks Pip is swallowing his food whole he is worried and says, “Your elths, your elth”. Pip describes Joe as a:-
“mild good natured sweet tempered easy going foolish
Dear fellow”.
Pip clings on to the only person who shows him affection. He writes:-
“I loved Joe, perhaps for no better reason in the early days than because the dear fellow let me love him”.
There are other instances where Joe cares for Pip such as during the dramatic chase with the convict when Pip says “Joe took me on his back”. He admires Joe’s strength and feels protected by him like an older brother or father.
Their friendship changes when Pip visits Miss Havesham when Estella teases him for being a “common labouring Boy”. He begins to question his upbringing at the Forge and wants to be a gentleman. Joe has no aspirations for himself or for Pip other than Pip becoming his apprentice. These expectations contrast with Pip’s and his desire to become part of Estella’s rich world. Under the influence of false pride and vanity Pip becomes ashamed of himself and Joe with his simple ways. However he still loves Joe as he spends he said the loneliest night of his life before leaving for London. He also cries as he leaves, this shows he still feels connected to Joe and loves him.
However, once in London the tears soon dry. He becomes a ‘gentleman’ and never contacts Joe. He has become a member of a different social class, one with money, whereas Joe is still a simple, uneducated working-class man. Dickens shows this in their dialects, Joe’s common working-class dialect remains the same but Pip’s gets more posh. Joe even calls him “Sir”. This shows their relationship has altered and they do not see each other as equal any more. When Joe visits Pip in London Pip is uncomfortable and embarrassed finding faults with Joe’s behaviour and manner. He rejects Joe’s friendship and all that Joe has done for him. He is leading a hollow and purposeless life. The irony is that Pip’s financial and social rise is accompanied by a moral decline. In rejecting Joe he is rejecting unconditional love, selflessness, honesty, compassion and faithfulness. All his worst characteristics emerge, arrogance, greed ungratefulness and snobbery. He says of Joe:-
“If I could have kept him away by paying money
I certainly would”.
Pip betrays his friend who he no longer looks upon as an equal or best friend. Joe however remains the same. He still loves and cares about Pip.
Their friendship is rekindled when Joe looks after Pip when he is sick. He feeds him cares for him and even pays Pip’s debts. Pip realises:-
“The great wealth of his great nature”.
And again sees Joe as a true hero no longer as a “mere blacksmith”. He sees him as one of the greatest people in his life and is proud of him. This shows he has grown in maturity. He learns that there is more to people than the first impressions they give. Although Joe is one of the simplest people in Pip’s life he remained true to Pip and treated him the same throughout. Through Joe, Pip has learnt that true friendship is unselfish. Even after Pip’s betrayal of Joe, Joe calls his own son Pip, a gesture of love. Pip’s illness is like a rebirth. He sees that being a gentleman is to do with character, that wealth, education and social class are less important than, kindness, generosity and selflessness. Joe’s wise advice to his friend shows Pip and also the reader that the wisest men are not necessarily those with the largest bank accounts but those with the largest hearts. Pip works hard to pay Joe back and decides to become a real gentleman, like Joe. Through Joe’s character the reader is given a valuable lesson that true worth comes from inside a man.
Dickens uses Pip as first person narrator reflecting on his life. The reader likes and feels sympathy for Pip because he speaks directly to them admitting frankly about his poor behaviour and his remorse at his treatment of Joe. It also makes the story more intimate and believable if someone is relating their own life. I found the friendship between Pip and Joe very convincing and very moving, especially when Pip rejected Joe in London. One of the main strengths of the book was Joe and Pip’s relationship. It gave the novel humanity and was also morally educational. The most memorable part for me was when Pip first visited Miss Haversham. The description of her and her home I found very visual and I also found it very sad that she had wasted her life.
Dickens books explore snobbery and social class in the hope of making people think and bring about a more just system. Books were a good way to reach people in those days. Dickens attacked society’s values and wrote from the point of view of the lower class. His books are still of value today. We still treat people differently according to how they speak. Dickens also teaches us the destructive power of wealth, which is shown by Pip’s moral deterioration when becoming a ‘gentleman’. Dickens also explores ideas about redemption, selfless love, honour and real love and friendship. All of these themes are explored vividly in the relationship between Pip and Jo.
