Great Expectations

Great Expectations’ main character, Phillip Pirrip- generally known as Pip- had a rough upbringing as a child. His sister, Mrs. Joe had “brought him up by hand”, after their parents and five brothers had all been laid to rest many years ago. Another character, Herbert Pocket experienced a bizarre childhood, though in a different manner. Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations develops through the novel following Pip, a young “common boy” who grew up in the countryside. As he matured so did his love for a girl of higher class, Estella. However, being a common boy, Pip was not good enough for his Estella, thus once he was given an opportunity to become a gentleman in London he seized it without much hesitation. Charles Dickens’ had his own style in the ways he portrayed his child characters’ upbringings, history, and the children’s emotions. Also in Great Expectations, Dickens creates his child characters in unique methods; Pip, Estella, and Herbert Pocket all have miserable backgrounds, however none of them is too similar.

Pip didn’t know his parents, thus there love and comfort, he never felt. In the absence of parents there are plenty of people who tell Pip what to do, to bully him, in a self-satisfied, self-enhancing way, but there is no one to shield him or guide him, or give him the special kind of love that he seeks. Dickens’ child characters were impeded emotionally in some way: Most of his child heroes and heroines are born sound in their physical form, but a loving home is what they most obviously lack and need. Pip had his wicked sister as a mother figure, thus the warmth and love a stereotypical modern-day mother would give was absent. However, Pip didn’t feel pain for having this hole in his life, because he had never felt the power of unconditional love before. Pip was an orphan. Orphans were one of Dickens' favourite subjects; what could be more crippling emotionally, than not experiencing the support of a mother and father? Pip’s sister, Mrs. Joe, didn’t make this loss much easier. Although they had both lost their parents, Mrs. Joe, never openly displayed any grief for losing her parents and five brothers. Consequently, she complained about having to bring Pip “by hand” and dealt with him physically (with the Tickler) and emotionally. Mrs. Joe talked about him openly as if he had no thoughts or feelings of his own. But, Pip still had some bright light at the end of the tunnel: Joe. Joe, Mrs. Joe’s husband, was the only confidant and friend Pip had in his childhood. They both felt the wrath of Mrs. Joe; she frequently “knocked his (Joe) head…against the wall” or the Tickler for Pip. Knowledgeable critics have referred to Pip’s experience as that of a "Dickensian childhood - stripped of his rights, found guilty of being himself, and rendered invisible by all those around.

Estella also is a victim to her guardian in the novel. She too is never given the chance to be her own person and live life to its fullest. Estella is conditioned by her guardian, Miss Havisham, to make men suffer, and in return it is Estella who will be made to suffer for her guardian's actions. Miss Havisham is a severely disturbed old woman who has adopted Estella. Miss Havisham was abandoned on her wedding day and as a result she forever maintains hatred toward men. Thus for her dirty work, Miss Havisham uses Estella to meet this purpose. Pip concludes that Miss Havisham "had done a grievous thing in taking an impressionable child (Estella) and had manipulated into the form that her wild resentment, spurned affection, and wounded pride, found vengeance in". Miss Havisham makes Estella have a fear of men being close to her and not to allow herself to become attached to them emotionally. Dickens’ made Estella an almost identical copy of Frankenstein: trained to perform specific tasks for the pleasure of their guardian. However someday, they crack and see the illness in their lives. Estella was Miss Havisham’s toy. Estella never was able to know who she actually was, where she came from, who her parents were. In deep irony, Estella grew up as a wealthy, high class ‘lady,’ where in fact her parents were convicts. Her mother was Molly, Mr. Jaggers’ (the lawyer) housemaid and her father, Abel Magwitch, Pip’s secret benefactor. Estella had a twisted childhood, of which no blame can be or was burdened on her.

In contrast to both Pip