Great Expectation Pip and Bildungsroman

The first trait if the Bildungsroman is that as a child the character is orphaned or there is an absence of parents. This is true of Pip because his parents died when he was young and his sister and her husband, Joe, raised him. Although they raised Pip, Mrs. Joe and Joe did not fit the role of parental figures in Pip’s life. His sister was not a mother figure because she did not show love or affection as she was constantly beating him and telling him that he ruined her life. Joe, although loving, was not a father figure because he and Pip did not have a father-son relationship but rather a friendship as they protected each other from the mental and physical abuse of Mrs. Joe. This absence of parents caused Pip to lose faith in family values and therefore journey from home.

Pip’s journey from home follow the second trait of the Bildungsroman, provinciality. This is when Pip leaves his familiar surroundings and his life as a common apprentice and goes to London to start a respectable life as a gentleman. As a gentleman, Pip condescends people of lower class, including Joe. He gets so caught up in the rich, high-class aspect of being a gentleman that he loses sight of the generous, kind aspect of being a gentleman. Pip has an epiphany when he condescends Joe during Joe’s visit to London and as Joe is leaving, Pip feels badly. This is the first time that Pip realizes he is a jerk.

The next trait of the Bildungsroman that the novel contains is that the character is tested by love and is drawn to the destructive love. Pip’s two loves are Estella and Biddy. Estella is the unhealthy love to whom Pip is instantly drawn. He puts her on a pedestal and she leaves him heartbroken and disappointed. Pip’s epiphany in this stage occurs when he discovers that the convict Magwitch is Estella’s father. Here he realizes that the whole time he has worshipped her, she was below him in social class as the daughter of a convict. This realization helps him to take her off of the pedestal and see that he deserves better than her. Biddy is the healthy love who cares deeply for Pip but Pip is oblivious to a potential loving relationship with Biddy. When he comes back for her after being disappointed by Estella, it is too late and he is