At the end of the novel Pip would rather let Magwitch die a happy man with the ignorance that Pip would inherit a fortune, than let Magwitch know the crown would take his money for a chance that he might get some of it.
Pip begins to realise that Magwitch was not an evil man, and not all convicts are typical of their social stereotypes. In fact, Pip’s realisation that Magwitch is indeed a more honest, true and loyal person than he had ever been, changes him completely. Going to Magwitch’s trial and holding his hand in front of the public states just how much Pip begins to pay the convict the respect he so deserved. Pip realises you cannot become a gentleman by simply having money, but it needs a change of heart.
‘No varnish can hide the grain of the wood; and the more varnish you put on, the more the grain will express itself’
Therefore, the idea that people are not always as they seem on the surface crops up in the novel. This is also brought to our attention when we find out that Estella, who was brought up a lady and seemed a lady, actually came from apparently more lowly backgrounds than Pip himself.
Pip’s encounter with Estella at Satis House changed his whole perception of himself. Before Estella revealed to him that he was “a coarse and common boy” Pip had always been happy in his destiny as an apprentice to Joe in the forge. However, having fallen for Estella’s beauty he wanted more than anything in the world to be a gentleman, so that he might have a chance to compete for her love. The knowledge that Pip was common and seen as inferior made him ashamed of home, and unhappy in his job with Joe.
“…I had believed in the forge as the glowing road to manhood and independence. Within a single year this was all changed. Now, it was all coarse and common…”
Therefore, Estella and Miss Havisham had in effect poisoned Pip’s mind and given him knowledge he would have been happier without.
Estella herself ends up miserable from the lifestyle she had been brought up to lead. Pip realises that Estella thinking she had no heart ruined more than just the men she teased lives, but her own. By Estella marrying Drummle and refusing Pip’s love, she made a very big mistake and admits to it. Pip learns that love should never be refused or scorned, but repayed. For example, he is happiest in his self when he is in a muturally affectionate relationship with Magwitch and Joe.
Miss Havisham and Orlick teach Pip that revenge is not a route to take. The desire to have revenge on each other between Compeyson and Magwitch leads to the end of both of their lives. Orlick’s plans for revenge on Pip are unsuccessful and he ends up in the County Jail. Miss Havisham dies a thoroughly unhappy lady when she realises in horror that by raising Estella to have no heart, Estella herself cannot love even her. Another fact is that she herself had broken Pips heart in a similar fashion to how her own was broken, and she despaired at the thought.
Pip regards Biddy as having a ‘bad side of human nature’ whenever she tries to approach him in the respect that Pip was not behaving correctly or had a thought that was not agreeable to him. Similarly, Pip privately believed Herbert to be a lost cause and planned eventually to disassociate himself with him. When he looks back, in retrospect, Pip realises that the faults he saw in Biddy and Herbert were not their faults at all, but his. In this way he realises that his vanity and arrogance had led him to believe he was a better person than honest and hard working Herbert and Biddy, when in fact he was far below them.
‘We owed so much to Herbert’s ever cheerful industry and readiness, that I often wondered how I had conceived that old idea of his inaptitude, until I was one day enlightened by the reflection, that perhaps the inaptitude had never been in him at all, but had been in me.’
Pip learns that there is more to people than just the impressions they give you. For example, Pip cannot understand how Joe can be proud of his life early on in the novel, but later finds Joe to be one of the greatest people in his life and is proud of him. Pip’s debts were paid off by Joe and this surprised Pip because he hadn’t even considered Joe would do it. Although Joe appears to be one of the simplest people in his life, Joe always remain true to Pip and always treats him exactly the same throughout, with the exception of the time when Joe comes to London and is made to feel uncomfortable. He also gives very wise advise to Pip on the way life is, and proves that the wisest men are not necessarily the ones with the largest bank accounts, but the ones with the largest hearts.
‘If you can’t get to be a oncommon scholar through going straight, you’ll never get to do it through going crooked. So don’t tell no more on ‘em Pip, and live well and die happy.’
Jaggers behaves throughout the novel like a lawyer both while at work, and at home. He is very efficient and all his words seem as if they are planned to derive a specific reaction. Jaggers appears to have no emotion at all. However, when Pip reveals he knows of Estella’s parentage, Jaggers displays qualities that imply Jaggers does indeed have a heart, as he rescused Estella and had ‘poor dreams’ himself. This is another example of how people are not always as they seem.
Pumblechook is portrayed by Dickens as a sycophantic, arrogant obnoxious, vain and selfish man. By Pip’s uncle claiming to be Pip’s earliest benefactor, it reveals that not all gentlemen are necessarily nice people. It is indeed an irony that it may be Pumblechook’s recommendation of Pip to Miss Havisham that ruined Pip’s life, rather than helped him. This idea can be seen again where Compeyson uses his education and manners to gain Miss Havishams love in order to drain her of her money.
