Miss Havashams adopted daughter Estella was probably the most influential character in pips life there are many moments in the book that suggest this. During Pips first visit to Miss Havashams house he first met Estella he described her to Miss Havasham, he described her as being, ‘very proud’, very pretty’ and finally ‘very insulting.’ Whilst at Miss Havasham’s house Pip was made to play this didn’t please Miss Havasham so she invited Estella to play with Pip, Estella made some comments whilst playing a game of cards, ‘he calls the knaves jacks’, and ‘what course hands and thick boots’ this made pip feel very small, intimidated and embarrassed. Pip was also feeling bitter about his up bringing, Pip was thinking that it was Joes fault for telling Pip that they were jacks. He also felt very ashamed that his boots were so thick because it shows Estella his social class and that he was a poor working boy. Estella was always mean to Pip but he didn’t know any better because that was how his sister treated him. Pips sister was very mean to Pip she beat him with a stick she called the tickler, this was a very ironic name for her beating stick, also Pips sister spoke down to Pip like he owed her something and always uses the phrase ‘I brought you up by hand’, this was because Pips mother and father had died. This had an effect on Pip because he wanted to change who and what he was to please Estella so she wouldn’t make fun of him and might actually start to like him. He wanted to be a gentleman ever since this moment and forget about his upbringing and how his sister had treated him and how Joe had just been a common man.
Joe has a strong effect on Pip when he was growing up and when he was older and made Pip realise something very important which I will explain in this paragraph. As a young boy Joe was pips best friend and when Pip became an apprentice he was apprentice to Joe. Joe taught him a blacksmiths trade, however pip still wanted to become a gentleman and please Estella. However Pip did become a gentleman and forgot about his old ways as a blacksmith, and how he was brought up. When Pip was a gentleman Joe went to see him, and made Pip feel embarrassed in front of his posh friend. This made Pip feel that he wanted to disown Joe, that he had finally forgot about everything in the past and he was happy with his new life, but was he?
After some time pip went back to try and find Estella only to find out that she was already married to his rival Bentley Drummel. He made up his mind that he was going to ask his childhood friend Biddie to marry him but, when he went to ask her Biddie said, ‘this is the happiest day of my life i'm finally getting married to Joe.’ This made Pip think about what a true gentleman was. He realised that it wasn’t money or social class that made a gentleman it was, just being nice and kind to every one, having a family, trying hard, not being a snob and grateful for what you have. This was perhaps the best lesson that pip learnt in the book, he began to think that all the things he did in his life were a waist of time because becoming a gentleman which he thought would bring him every think left him with nothing.
Magwitch, an escaped convict had some effect on pip, but I do not think he changed the way he felt about things, he only changed Pip from being a common labour boy into a gentleman by giving him the money. However without pip receiving his ‘Great expectations’ he would not have been given the chance to change his social class and impress Estella. Pip first meets the convict in the churchyard and is asked to bring some food and something to get the chains off the convict’s legs.
To conclude my essay and after studying all the information that I have found on the characters I feel that Estella has the most effect on Pip because everything Pip does with his life revolves around Estella, like pleasing her and trying to get her to like him. She was the main reason for Pip wanting to become a gentleman and become bitter towards Joe and Mrs Joe about the way they brought him up. However after Pip went through his ‘Great expectations’ he came out of it with nothing, Estella had already married, Biddie was getting married to Joe and Pip was left with nobody. After all that Pip finally realise what being a true gentleman was all about, he learnt this by watching Joe and how he achieved this gentlemanly status. It had nothing to do with money, cloths, jobs or even social rank; it was all to do with how u conducted yourself in front of other people. So in a way Joe had a large effect on Pip. I honestly think every character had there own part to play:
Magwhich- them benefactor for Pips ‘Great expectations;
Joe- for making Pip realise what a true gentleman was and being his friend as a boy;
Estella- for making Pip love him, treating him cruelly and making him want to become a gentleman so he could impress her;
Mr Havasham- For bringing Pip to the house and introducing Pip to Estella, making Pip feel common and finally making Pip love Estella.
There is a few characters I haven’t mentioned in my essay that might have had a slight effect on pip, however I focused on the major influences.
