Great Expectations. How Does the Relationship Between Pip and Joe Change and Develop as the Novel Goes on? What Is Dickens Saying About Society at the Time?
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“Great Expectations” is set in Victorian England. It is apparent when we read the novel that Charles Dickens expressed many of his own views when writing the narrative, using a strong authorial voice. This is particularly clear when he addresses certain issues concerning the social and cultural concerns of the time, and through Pip’s desire for social change. The development of the relationship between Pip and Joe is crucial in realising the complexity and importance of their relationship because their friendship is affected by many external factors which are beyond the control of the beholders. In order to explore the change and development I must also consider how society inspired Dickens to write such a powerful novel.
Initially, the relationship between Pip and Joe is portrayed as an artificial friendship, combining two people merely because they have one thing in common; they are both ‘fellow sufferers’ at the hands on Mrs. Joe. Yet Pip’s extreme loving views of Joe provoke the reader to start questioning such ideas,
“He was a mild, good-natured, sweet-tempered, easy-going,foolish, dear fellow – a sort of Hercules in strength, and also inweakness.”Pips recognition that Joe has strengths as well as weaknesses is further endorsed when he says;“…can crush a man or pat an eggshell,In his combination of strength with gentleness.”The complex range of sentences, and the extreme use of pathetic fallacy in the opening chapters are essential to consider when exploring the relationship of Pip and Joe; they suggest that like the description, Pips and Joe’s relationship is also very complex and is not based on such a minor reason; that they are forced together by the fact that they are ‘fellow sufferers’.
Right from the start of the novel, we see such an effective use of symbolism that when Mrs. Joe serves Pip and Joe some bread for supper, Dickens deliberately illustrates that the two pieces of bread are equal, and that this routine “never varied” is clearly representative of Pip and Joe; even though their relationship undergoes certain changes, the love between them never really alters. Being rather like a child himself, Joe would always join Pip in a game of comparing their slices of bread and how they both ate it. Pip was never judgemental of Joe’s immature nature, so the fact that Pip isn’t judgemental is crucial in seeing how their relationship changes and develops, because later in the novel, Pip is extremely judgemental of Joe. For example,
Pip’s very distinct character, while her strong, masculine character and her extremely feminine character become even stronger and more prominent. If you take a look at their relationship and her actions and their personality in terms of a typical two piece bread, you’ll quickly find that they are one person each.
‡To say the least, the book is so important to keep in mind that I think most fantasy authors could easily get the best out of it in some way, but they didn’t, especially because in many of their books the emotional interactions and scenes seem so often meant to imply a relationship or connection of a different kind. This is especially true in the early chapters, where when Pip and Joe go back to their home town and visit the other side of a volcano, they see very different things. It is also very noticeable in some of the scenes in this one that they see Pip’s own character standing by and watched as a “dude” with an axe swings a knife in front of the other kid as a family man. So those two characters both have the right and power to change the world and change things.
My personal favorite chapter so far (it is, sadly, a bit over-long) is when Pip and Joe are about to meet Teddy Bear’s father when they make their first adventure. Though Teddy’s dad was very strong in his fight with Teddy, a few moments later, he is struck by lightning. This is the real danger of taking Teddy as a companion instead of yourself, and the hero doesn’t know that Teddy Bear’s son is a man of action.
In one of The Man in the High Castle, at night, Teddy Bear falls during a short but passionate battle at the hands of his father, who had been fighting to survive a firestorm on the island. When he dies, his mother carries him out into the street and tells that Teddy could help his father survive by making a new one instead of going to war with his dad. When Teddy’s mother, now in her twenties, asks him to join her in killing this old monster, Teddy agrees, telling her she wants to save Teddy and his family.
This is the most common sense plot point to have in fantasy, but the reality is, even with that as a plot point, it is often so complicated that I find myself feeling very confused and confused whenever I say something like “If you could stop using the word ‘father’ to describe yourself as a man, and instead refer to your son as an older one, and instead refer to him as someone who is half-brother, you wouldnt be talking to yourselves as a father. Why did you say that?” It´s even more confusing when you think back to when my family was around 40 and I was growing up with a grandmother who had lost her grandpa. The most important thing about this is that I find myself wanting to explain that this child is half
“…droppedso much more than he ate, and pretended that he hadn’t dropped it…I felt impatient with him and out oftemper with him.”unlike when Pip is learning to write and discovers the only thing Joe can read or spell;“Why, here’s a J,” said Joe, “ and a O equal to anythink! Here’s aJ and a O, Pip, and a J-O, Joe.”Here, Pip is patient and kind towards Joe emphasizing the fact that he is respectful and loving towards Joe no matter what at this point. Another example is when he is describing Joe’s clothing, although he recognises that they are shabby and worn, it doesn’t seem to matter to him.
When Mrs. Joe receives news that Miss. Havisham (an extremely wealthy woman) would like Pip to go and play at her house, the journey from Mrs. Joe’s to Miss Havisham’s is a symbolic emotional journey which marks a change in Pip’s life. He embarks on a journey through life, and from this point he cannot “retrace the by-paths” the he and Joe had “trodden together”. When he first arrives at Miss Havishams he sees it as a gloomy and dismal building rather like a prison,
“…which was of old brick, and dismal, and had a great manyiron bars to it. Some of the windows had been walled up; of thosethat remained, all the lower were rustily barred.”This prison-like building is very much emblematic of Pip’s life after he enters the building; he will be cut off from Joe, Biddy and indeed his old lifestyle both physically and emotionally. When he returns, he lies to Mrs. Joe, Mr. Pumblechook and most importantly Joe. It is Joe’s astounded reaction