Examine how Dickens portrays the incompetence of parents in Great Expectations.

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Examine how Dickens portrays the incompetence of parents

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens is a bildungsroman, which is primarily concerned about the literal and metaphorical metamorphosis of the central protagonist, Pip.  However, Dickens main thrust is that of parenting through the utilization of Mrs. Joe Gargery and Miss Havisham to establish their injustices towards children. Miss Havisham from an affluent class abuses her privileges of being a parent by using Estella, her adopted daughter to attack the male gender. In contrast, Mrs. Joe Gargery is from a lower class, yet she too torments pip, but through physical and verbal means. Through Miss Havisham and Mrs. Joe, Dickens dam’s the ethical codes of the rich and the poor and moreover, conveys that the incompetence of parents that transcend economic boundaries. Contrastingly, Charles Dickens utilizes Mr. Joe Gargery as the leading embodiment of how parents should be offering Pip wisdom, but more importantly love and friendship.

In the beginning, Dickens emphasizes the ill treatment of children in a low-class through the use of Mrs. Joe Gargery. Mrs. Joe’s apron symbolizes her unwillingness to perform her expected role and acts as a reminder of the troubles Pip gives her:

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“…I may truly say I’ve never had this apron of mine off, since born you were. It’s bad enough to be a blacksmith’s wife (and him a Gargery) without being your mother.”(Pg 7)

Mrs. Joe makes Pip feel guilty by reminding him of her domestic slavery. Thus, Pip is left feeling like he warrants all the abuse Mrs. Joe inflicts upon him. Moreover the “coarse” apron, “stuck full of pins and needles,” reflects Mrs. Joe’s unapproachable and unloving nature. Also Through this Dickens’s mocks the traditional gender roles in the Victorian times, as Mrs. Joe is perceived to be more masculine. ...

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