Social Status in Great Expectations

Social and financial status play a big role in our environment today. The wealthy tend to get more recognition for having more money and the lower class tend to get a bad reputation of being uneducated people who have no rights as citizens. Social status in a large town relates to how well people treat a person and see them as they represent themselves throughout the community. In the book Great Expectations, Charles Dickens explains wealth and popularity in the 1800’s as a key factor of life. He allows the reader to see how important it is to be in the upper class, but he also makes the reader realize that whether being wealthy or poor that certain person is always judged in their life and sometimes being judged can ruin who they really are inside.

Lower class citizens in the 1800’s were represented as good hearted people who took all they could get and make the best out of what they owned. Joe was described as a man of many words and a person who crafted and was skilled in his work. He worked as a blacksmith and made the best living he could from his small income. He became a victim of Mrs. Joe’s abuse and also turned into a long lost friend of Pip’s. His status in this particular book was represented as being an unpopular person, but someone who would give the shirt off of his back for the man who was striving to live more than he was. Joe never let Pip down even when Pip erased Joe from his memory. During Mrs. Joe’s funeral service Pip came back to a saddened Joe with not a word to be said. Joe was a strong person during this time, but also held his heart in his throat thinking deep down he would never become something to Pip. Pip now being wealthy thought he would surround himself with wealthy humans, but in reality never understood the friendship Joe cherished and he also took for granted what Joe taught him in life. During the time of Pip’s debt Joe came to Pip’s rescue and nursed him back to stable condition. Pip had no money, but yet was considered upper class. Joe paid off all of Pip’s debts out of the goodness of his heart and left Pip with these words on page 439," Not wishing to intrude I have departed fur you are well again dear Pip and will do better without." Joe expresses that he realizes Pip has no need for him anymore because Pip has turned into a well known wealthy man and Joe is still stuck as a lower class blacksmith. Even though these thoughts hurt Joe he still remains strong and keeps winning but also losing at the same time. Altogether, Joe represents the man everyone wants to be and makes people realize that being wealthy isn’t always everything and money can get in the middle of relationships.

In the 1800’s if money was not a hard thing to earn then that person would be considered a middle to upper class citizen. Pip transformed into a middle class citizen after spending half of his life living as a peasant. Magwitch, Pip’s benefactor, risked his life and all of his money to make Pip into a young gentleman. Magwitch did everything for Pip at the own benefit of Pip’s life for the future. Pip was turning into a young gentleman due to the money Magwitch allowed Pip to spend and be recognized with. Not only was Pip a wealthy man, but he took his social status to the extreme and only allowed himself to be associated with the upper class citizens of London. He only thought about himself and about no one else and his money would only belong in the hands of his. This shows he was a very demanding man and only spent his own money on himself. When Pip took a trip to the Statis House he never once allowed himself to see how Joe and Biddy were doing. Instead of staying at the home front he stayed at the Blue Boar. He thought he was too wealthy to stay at a house only low class citizens reside at. Yet, he never knew his old home was the one place where