In the novel Great Expectations, Pip is the main character. To what extent is he also its hero?

Andrew Hart Tuesday, July 09, 2002

Year 10 English and English Literature Coursework

Traditional heroes originate from Greek mythology. The Greeks wrote about many different gods and heroes and many of these myths are still believed in places of the world.

A traditional hero is someone who does something heroic or courageous or perhaps someone that has to undertake a tremendous ordeal or task. A hero would also be described as someone who would risk his own so that he could aid another. So a typical hero is someone courageous and unselfish.

However, heroes do not just have to be someone brave, they can be someone that is respected by another for a certain reason, because that person would look up to them. A typical hero would be described to have immense physical strength and someone that is emotionally and physically strong and someone that has helped others.

In this novel there are many different characters that show heroic qualities, but I shall be focusing mainly on Pip ( the main character of the novel ), Magwitch, Mr Joe Gargery and Herbert Pocket.

In the beginning of the novel we meet Pip Pirrip, an orphan that is living with his sister and her husband, Mr. and Mrs. Joe Gargery. Pip is in a churchyard looking at the grave of his dead mother and father when he encounters an escaped convict.

The escaped convict demands food and a file from Pip. Pip is firstly reluctant to get them, but when the convict threatens Pip, he soon runs home and prepares to steal some food and the file. Theses actions from Pip could be described as very heroic because he is helping the escaped convict with food.

Although, giving the convict the file would be aiding his escape and this would not be heroic. Also, because he does give the food and file to the convict, he could be described as non-heroic because he should have told his sister that he had seen the escaped convict.

Another heroic quality of Pip would be when he did not tell the police and his sister about the convict. He was giving the convict food and a file and this was certainly breaking the law so this could be seen as heroic because he was breaking the law ...

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However, this could also be seen as non-heroic, Because, Pip was a young child of about 10 when this happened and this means that we cant really make any judgements of him because he would have been very scared and quite unsure of what he initially intended to do.

Later on in the novel, around chapter 6, after Pip first visits Miss Havisham, we can see more characteristics of a hero. After Pip lies to his sister about the Havishams, he then admits to Mr. Joe afterwards and confesses the lies he has told. " I don’t know what possessed me Joe…and then I told Joe that I felt very miserable, and that I hadn’t been able to explain myself to Mrs. Joe and Pumblechook who were so rude to me "

This is heroic because although he made theses lies about the Havishams, he had the decency to admit to them afterwards. This tells us a lot about Pips relationship with Mr. Joe because he doesn’t want to lie to him.

These actions could also be seen as un-heroic because he shouldn’t have made the lies about Miss Havishams previously.

An un-heroic characteristic of Pip is Pip’s dream of becoming a gentleman. This could be seen as very stuck-up or selfish and even ungrateful to Mr. and Mrs. Joe because his main dream is to leave them and live in the city with wealth and forget all about his "poorer upbringing"

Mr. Joe has many different heroic qualities, which we can see throughout the book.

The first heroic quality we see in Mr. Joe is his physical strength. He is a blacksmith and he would need to be strong anyway but he manages to carry Pip on his back over the marshes, while on a chase for the convicts, Chapter 5. This shows us his physical strength and a heroic quality because he cares enough for Pip that he would carry him for miles while chasing convicts.

Another major quality we see in Mr. Joe is how he looks after Pip and protects him from his sister. Pips sister beats Pip quite regularly because Pip is quite mischievous. Mr. Joe completely disagrees with wife beating, another heroic character, and protects Pip from his sister by warning him before he is going to get beaten. Chapter 2 " Mrs. Joe has been out a dozen times, looking for you, Pip…and what’s worse she’s got Tickler with her." Tickler being a cane.

This shows us that Mr. Joe cares a lot about Pip and we can also see a father or brother figure in Mr. Joe. He is a stereotypical hero, because he is strong, he is kind, he cares for Pip, he has a sense of what is right and wrong and puts others first. He is also a role-model to Pip, even thought Pip doesn’t want to be a blacksmith, he wants to be as kind, unselfish and have the same sense of what’s right as Mr. Joe.

Magwitch is a mysterious character that we meet in the first chapter of the novel, however we don’t know who he is at this point. Magwitch is the escaped convict who threatens Pip for food and a file. This is very un-heroic because he scares and threatens a ten year-old child.

When the Soldiers arrive at Mr. Joe’s house asking for help for searching for the escaped convict, we see a heroic figure in Pip and Mr. Joe because the both go with the soldiers to help.

When the soldiers do catch up with Magwitch he lies to the soldiers about how he got the food and file. Magwitch said that he has stolen the food for himself and this is hugely heroic because he was lying for Pip because he originally got the food for him.

Another heroic and kind thing we see Magwitch do is give Pip some money to thank him. When Pip is in the local inn one night a mysterious man gives Mr. Joe some money and a file, the money being for Pip. This is heroic because Magwitch is a criminal he probably doesn’t have much money to his name, so giving Pip two pounds was significantly heroic.

The biggest heroic thing Magwitch does in the novel in providing for Pip. Magwitch is pip’s Secret benefactor and has worked hard in Australia, the country the courts used to send convicts and criminals, day after day so that he could pay for Pip to be a gentleman, a dream of Pip’s since he first met Magwitch in the Churchyard in the beginning chapters of the novel. This is very heroic and shows us that because Pip helped the starving Magwitch with food, Magwitch was hugely grateful and very heroic because he wanted to pay Pip back as much as he could.

However, Magwitch is also a convict. This tells us that he might not be as heroic and kind as his actions showed us. He is violent to Pip in the first chapters and scares him, he is also a general “ruffian” and has a dark and mysterious appearance, not of a typical hero.

A smaller character that could be described as heroic would be Herbert Pocket. We meet Herbert when Pip goes to Miss Havishams; this is where the two boys fight. Herbert Pocket later becomes Pip’s best friend and Herbert helps Pip attempt his dream of becoming a hero.

Herbert treats Pip as a social equal, which is very heroic and civil. Pip may not be as rich as Herbert but he treats him as equal. Herbert also proves Pip that he didn’t need vast amounts of money to be a gentleman, because Herbert was a gentleman and he was only slightly richer than Pip.

These things can be seen as very heroic because Herbert treats Pip as an equal.

However, After reading the novel, we can see that Pip would be the most heroic character. Charles Dickens wrote the book as if Pip was, so Pip was admitting to how ignorant and selfish it was to want to be a gentleman. It was very heroic for Pip to write the book because he was admitting all the things about his past and saying that he was selfish and un-heroic which was very heroic, because he was admitting to it and telling others.