Pip’s Transformations in the Perspective

Pip's Transformations in the Perspective

of Values and Morality

1 Introduction

Charles Dickens, the greatest representative of English critical realism, was born in Victorian age. It was an age of controversy: industrial revolution brought out rapid development on the one hand, but on the other hand, great contrast between the rich and poor emerged; capitalists laid so much emphasis on morality while many things that betrayed morality appeared. Dickens, who was sensitive by nature, gained full understanding of life and society from the various professions he had taken, especially, from the extreme miseries of the poor he experienced. Sub-consciously, Dickens had a desire to purify the world. As a writer, he resorted to his works, instilling his thoughts into them to serve as a beacon to the contemporary people.

There is no exception to Great Expectations, which was written in DickensЎЇs latter life after he had cultivated penetrating sight into life and society. It is an acute examination of Victorian society and the development of oneЎЇs morality. The novel centers on the story of Pip, an orphan boy adopted by a blacksmithЎЇs family, who has good luck and is bestowed a great fortune. But later he loses both his luck and his expectations. Through the ups and downs, he encountered a number of different acquaintances and friends who influence him in his decisions and goals for his life. He changes from a contented and kind child to a snobbish Ў°gentlemanЎ±, and at last he realizes the true values and the importance of the values in oneЎЇs life if he wants to live a happy life.

This paper attempts to analyze the causes of PipЎЇs transformations at different stages so as to reveal DickensЎЇ thoughts and morality characterized by humanistic concerns and sympathy towards the common poor.

2 The Critic and Humanist Dickens

Queen Victoria ruled over England from 1836 to 1901. In the history of England, it has generally been regarded as one of the most remarkable periods in the development of the country. England grew from an agricultural country into an industrialized one and became the Ў°workshop of the worldЎ± as well as its financial and political center.

The implementation of the first reform bill made it possible for the industrial capitalists to gain their power in parliament. For up to 1832, the industrial capitalists, though they had been playing an increasingly important role in the economic life of the country, were barred from the political organ of the country. Prior to 1832, the landed class and aristocrats, including the commercial capitalists, controlled the system of voting and representation. But the Reform Bill of 1832 extended the right to vote to all men owning property worth ten pounds or more, enabling the industrial capitalists to come to the political arena. During this period, Britain was transformed from a predominantly rural economy to a major industrial power. Transportation, mass communication, education, legal and parliamentary structures, the treatment of the insane and criminals, and the position of women, were all radically altered.

However fast England was developing into a rich, advanced industrialized country in Victorian age, it was an age that saw the sharpest contrast between the rich and the poor. The whole process of the development in capitalism witnessed the sufferings and miseries of the mass working class. With the introduction of the steam engine, it was possible for the capitalists to hire unskilled workers, such as women and children. It was not unusual that children of five years of age were dragging heavy loads of coal in the mine passage for sixteen hours a day. Many skilled workers were unemployed, and under the economic policy of Leissez faire, the capitalists did not feel they were responsible for the poverty of the working people, because it is a policy based on the Utilitarian philosophy, which asserted that the function of the government was to preserve order and protect ownership of private property and not to interfere with the economic operation of the country. In order to demand their own rights, the working people launched large-scale demonstrations. Chartist Movement thus began in 1836.

Under this situation, the English critical realism appeared. It realistically exposed the darker side of the seemingly prosperous society, condemned the ugly modern capitalist civilization, and revealed the cash corruption and its influence upon human nature. Charles Dickens was one of the greatest critical realist writers.

He was born in the family of a clerk in the Navy Pay office and enjoyed a short period