Not just sympathetic, pip was large at heart. He was generous. This can be witnessed in page _____ where he secretly buys Herbert’s way into business. The third example to show that pip was generous is in page 137where he says, “as I passed the church I felt a sublime compassion for the poor creatures who were destined to go there, Sunday after Sunday, all their lives thru and to lie obscurely at last among the low green mounds. I promised myself that I would do something for them one of these days and formed a plan in outline for bestowing a dinner of roast beef and plum pudding, a pint of ale and a gallon of condescension upon everybody in the village.”
3. Had a great desire for self-improvement: pip always wanted to better himself, better his condition and better his status. This trait in him can be witnessed in page 66 where he tells Joe, “and that there had been a beautiful young lady at miss Havesham’s who was dreadfully proud and that she had said I was common, and that I wished I was not common, and that the lies had come of it somehow, though I didn’t know how.”
Moreover his deep desire to improve in life, to be “Uncommon” is also seen in page 68 where he goes to one of his relatives, Biddy to get educated from her. He says, “when I woke up the best step I could take towards making myself uncommon was to get out of Biddy everything she knew.”
In page 164 he asks Herbert to correct his mannerisms if he found them un-gentlemanly. He says, ”I further mentioned that as I had been brought up a blacksmith in a country place, and knew very little of the ways of politeness, I would take it is a great kindness in him i.e. Herbert if he would give me a hint when ever he saw me going at a loss or going wrong.”
However, this desire for self improvement, desire to lift his status and standard of living has along with its advantages a few ill effects too
4. Pip was bigoted: in many places, especially in the first section of the novel, we come across pip, the protagonist as being narrow-minded. His narrow-mindedness is seen in the fact that on meeting someone the first impression he has of them is –ve. The way he describes Mr. Gargery as “a strange man who looked at me as if he wanted to have a shot at me at last and bring me down” shows that pip for no concrete reason suspected Mr. Gargery. Not just a person, the way pip describes the physical atmosphere around him, using words such as “cold and threatening weather” page 33;; bleak weather(pg 1); marshes as “ dark flat wilderness; marshes covered with thick mist; marshes being “flat and low” etc. these examples are more than enough to show that pip looked at his surroundings with a closed mind, he is never was able to appreciate anyone or anything.
In page 60, when pip takes up the role of a narrator and reminisces his past, he says, “ the child is small, and its world is small and its rocking horse stands as many hands high according to scale as a big boned Irish hunter.” Looking back at his pas the mature pip now confesses that he saw things with a closed, narrow mind.
5. pip is a troubled adolescent: in page 60: 1st paragraph he confesses that his ill tempered sister had always been unjust to him.
Pip has been portrayed as being very scared and troubled. In pg 6 he says, “I leaded in terror”; in pg 56 he says that he was scared of miss havesham. Quotation: “for a moment the horror…”
Moreover in pg 212 pip says that on returning to the ‘marshes’ from London, there was a revival for a few minutes of the TERROR OF CHILDHOOD.
Apart from this: pip was a spendthrift: pg 201 ; had a low self esteem : Pg 67,59,100.
Estella: in this novel Estella comes across as pip’s love. Pip starts liking her right since their 1st meeting at the manor house. Through the character of Estella, Charles Dickens has sent across a meaning to the readers that ‘ one cannot be happy and contented just by being rich and having a high status in the society.’
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Haughty, cold and brutal: Estella has been portrayed as being extremely haughty, cold and brutal. In page 57 this becomes evident. She insults pip on his face, criticizing him for his rustic and unrefined mannerisms. She insults him for wearing ugly clothes and his bad vocabulary.
In page 61 pip says, “She contemptuously pushed me out and locked the gate”. This goes to show how cold and rude Estella was.
The best example to indicate the bad nature of Estella is in page 77. I shall read out the quotation; “ she stood looking at me and of course I stood looking at her. ‘ am I pretty? ‘Yes; I think you are very pretty.’ ‘ Am I insulting?’ ‘ Not so much so as you were last time,’ said I. ‘ Not so much?’ No’. She fired when she asked the last question, and she slapped my face with such force as she had, when I answered it. ‘ Now, you little coarse monster, what do you think of me now?’
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Was troubled and mislead: Estella is perhaps one of the most unluckiest characters in the novel. She had been trained by Miss Havesham to be a cold brutal animal. Mr. Herbert who knew a lot about Miss Havesham says in page 162 that, ‘ she (Estella) was trained to be ruthless towards men of all kinds.’
In the end Estella acknowledges her appallingly ruthless behavior as she tells pip “ suffering has been stronger than all other teaching,,, I have been bent and broken, but- I hope- into a better shape” thus she also confesses to Pip that she was always troubled by Miss Havesham, forced to do things she actually never preferred doing.
Her husband Mr. Drummle also troubled her.
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Very attractive: page 58, page 77
Joe: in the novel Joe Gargery is Pip’s Brother in law. He was dearest to pip. Joe plays a major role in Pip’s life.
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Extremely supportive: Joe deeply loved pip and cared for him. Though he was very naïve he was very sensible. He would assume the role of a father of an adolescent and talk to pip, guide him, and advise him in various matters to alleviate his troubles. This can be seen in Page 67 were he advises pip “ well pip…”
His love for pip can be seen in page 136 where we read, “he (Joe) never smoked so late, and it seemed to hint to me that he wanted comforting, for some reason or the other”. This indicates that Joe felt very sad about Pip leaving him to go to London.
Page 132: Joe refuses to take ‘Compensation’, second paragraph. Also see page 134.
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Had a large heart. Observed people with an open mind and found something good in everyone: Page 45 and Page 46 where he defends his wife and speaks good about her.
Understood pip well and never sulked hearing his complaints.
Page 206 “ our eyes met… GOD bless you!” Pip and Joes touching conversation,. He immediately apologizes Pip for his formal and un –respectful behavior.
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Was very Naïve: pg 205 (1st paragraph). His accent and the way he speaks also suggests that he was very innocent.
Page 67, where he says “ Why, see what a letter you wrote last night…” he appreciates Pip’s wriring skills not knowing that pip’s letter were full of grammatical and spelling errors.
