As you accompany Pip on his journey to become a gentleman,you may experience some challenges. I will post several discussion questions to help you reflect and interact with others on your reading of Great Expectations.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Chapters 52-end
What lessons has Pip learned through his journey to become a gentleman? How does he now define the qualities of a gentleman?
Through Pip's journey of becoming a gentleman Pip has learned many valuable life lessons. Not only was it through being taught but, through the experiances he encountered while being taught. Pip really is split between two people, the naive Pip who is the charecter and the gentleman Pip who is the narrator. Pip learned that your social position is not the most important quality one possesses, and that his behavior as a gentleman has caused him to hurt the people who care about him most. Another lesson Pip learns is that the people you care about shouldn't care about who you are but what your personality is. Once he has learned these lessons, Pip matures into the man who narrates the novel. These lessons have taught Pip to be mature, generous and kind which are the charecteristics of a gentleman which Pip has come to be. Due to both the endings being almost of no similarities I had different oppinions for both. The original enging seemed too plain for me and disapointing how the main charecter, Pip who has worked so hard throughout the book was not rewarded. Usually, I prefer endings where the chareceter who seemed to learn the most and go through what they needed to in order to become successfull are granted rewards. Thus, brings me to liking the second ending. Although yes, it was the typical main charecter gets what he wants ending it intrigued me in a way I have not experienced before through a books ending. I felt as if although it was the typical ending it was still extreamely different and unexpected at the same time. -Kerry Schwartz
Though it was bizarre from the path, from the top of the hill, Pip's actions throughout the book all make more sense than they did before. In the beginning, he wanted to be a gentleman so he could get what he wanted. If he never changed, I expect he would have ended up as a Drummle, or possibly destitute and friendless. He learns the true use of money and class near the end, with Joe (and Pip in a way, considering his job in Herbert's firm) representing the correct use of money to enrich your life and help other's, and class is just a way to be nice to other people. (Shown by his acceptance of Magwitch as he is) The polar opposite is Drummle, using money and class to no use but his own. So, through all these events and interactions, Pip became the perfect gentleman- hard working, kind to others, classy, etc. But I must say, the ending was really nice. Both were, honestly. The run up to the ending reinforced Karma- Evil Old Orlick's caught, Drummle's dead, and all the good guys are happy, with the possible exception of Pip (If he's heartbroken by the ending) and Estella (Due to her marriage) and assuming Pip is happy, it's because of what he did. His gift to Herbert is what becomes his future job, and you know that if he hadn't, he'd have no hope. Now, in regards to the ending, the first ending made me feel fulfilled, primarily because I have not liked the story (Basic dichotomy of my liking of happy endings in stories- the more I like the characters in regards to how much I like the story, the more I want a happy ending) but only the characters, whilst the second ending seemed more true to the tone of the novel. But really, I'm a sucker for a happy ending. darkness has its purpose in any story, and that purpose is to be destroyed. Now, not all good guys should be perfect Mary Sues -no one likes that- and not all evil needs to be uni-faceted, but stories are for escaping the world. What's the point if they're depressingly bleak. No one roots for the Grinch with a wrinkled heart, that's a cliché that I have never seen applied. It's not because all people will always root for the hero-- it's the tone of the novel that does it. Honestly, the second ending is what happens in real life. No one wants that. Who wants the Prince (When's he's a good guy, not a deconstruction, natch.) to get sick and die? Say what you will about realistic- it doesn't belong in a story. If the author can't get any of his heroes happy, he's done his job wrong. See http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheoryOfNarrativeCausality (Things happen because the plot says they should.) Dickens second ending was true to the tone, but if he wants us to believe all of the intertwined relationships, then he can have the decency to give me my Happy Ending, as he does. ~Oliver Stein
In the beginning of this story Pip is just a young boy seemingly hopeless to his family. Pip being naiive begins to obtain great expectations for himself shortly after he meets Estella at Miss Havishams house. With these expectations he goes through many new and different experiences and emotions leading him through a journey teaching him to become a real gentleman. Pip had to learn the hard way that family comes first. Money and a higher social status will not conclude in happiness. Pip also learns to be a gentleman by learning from some of the bad examples set around him. Towards the end when Pip ends up in dept he also learns you have to work hard for things, people will not always hand things to you. Pip becomes a mature man that can fend for himself, put family fist and learn to be generous, these are some things that define a gentleman. Pip learns a lot from Magwitch and his generous and surprising actions. I found it the two different endings to be unique being that i have never read a book with two different endings. Pip had to go through many difficult things during his life, he was tricked and had to miss out on important parts of his life all to learn how to be a gentleman. being that he had to go through these difficult times in his life I was proud to read the ending, to find out he has finally got what hes wanted. Making it a happy ending.
Throughout Pips entire journey of trying to become a gentleman he has learned many lessons. When Pip first began to strive to become a gentleman he was told that in order to be “uncommon” you must be educated and be a wealthy, elite figure in society. As years passed and Pip becomes this stereotype he begins to lose the many past friendships that he had with Joe and Biddy. Near the end of the book Pip becomes ill and without Pip even asking, Joe comes to take care of him. At this point Pip then begins to realize that you don’t need to be “uncommon” to be noticed in society, being “common” is just fine and as powerful. However, from the teachings that Pip has experienced when he was in London brought him to become a mature young adult for his future to come. Both endings of the novel were very interesting. I prefer the original ending over the editions ending. I like how in the original ending both Pip and Estella had moved on, where Pip continued with a good career, and how Estella remarried and later had a baby. This overall makes it a happier ending. In the editions ending Dickens states that once Estella’s husband dies she is left a widow and has been seriously depressed. Here Pip and Estella meet at Miss. Havishams house but intend to remain friends but separate. I overall thought this ending was a little sad considering everything that the characters had been through. -Dayna Weintraub
Pip transforms throughout the novel, slowly, into a gentleman. From beginning his journey a small and insignifiant commoner who wasn't at all independent (given, he was just a child), he's evolved into a completely different person. The story covers a tremendous timeline of Pips life and within which, he undergoes several personality changes. After becoming aware of his 'great expectations,' Pip turns into an condescending, boastful person who looked down on others with little to no reason. This lasts until Magwitch reenters the story. Pip finally becomes a genuine gentleman; not like Jaggers or Drummel, but a much more preferable, humbled one. He becomes compassionate and respectful for Magwitch which leads to being trustworthy. He demonstrates that a gentleman doesn't need crass and must be towering, but humility. The two ends go off into severely opposite directions although I prefer the editions ending. When he FINALLY wins over Estelle after years and years of pursuit to witch the novel is entirely based off of, I can't help but feel closure, as opposed to the original ending (touching as it may) to only focus on Estella's newly found heart. Although, I got a bit upset with Pip's decision: choosing to be with Estella (in the editions ending) and run the possibility of having to deal with her old cruelness, rather than coming to the understanding of what his heart USED to be, in the original ending (showing how much he's grown and how he'd gotten passed Estella... which is what I've been hoping for since his first day at Miss Havishams house!)
Pip slowly but surely became a gentleman over the course of the novel. He learned many valuable life lessons on his journey. First, he learned that money is superficial and can't buy you happiness. Also, he learned that things are not what they seem. Many things that seemed coincidential became clear that they were not. He discovered that no matter how much you think you know something or someone, there is always something about them that you don't know that will shock you. Lastly, I would like to believe that he learned that being a gentleman means more that just wearing fancy clothing and having money. Joe, who he thought of a one of the most common people he knew in my pinion and I think Pip's too is a gentleman. He stays true to his values, and helps the people he loves even though they have treated him unfairly. That is what is takes to be a true gentleman, to be real and to be there for people when they need their help, not their fancy suits.
I liked the original edition's ending because I liked that it was revealed that Estella had been married to a doctor and assumed Pip was married also and had children. This edition's ending was vague because it simply said that Pip assumed Estella was remarried, and they agreed they were firends. I probably would have like this edition's ending better if it had revealed what had happened between Estella and Pip after that, and I would have loved it if Estella and Pip wemt on to get married.
Pip starts his journey, as a "common" boy with no real dreams, other than to be a wealthy "uncommon" gentleman to win over the heart of Estella. Throughout his journey, he builds new relationships. His new life is not what he has expected at all, and overall it's a disappointment, and Pip begins to miss his old simple life with Joe and Biddy. I think Pip did truly become a gentleman by the end of the story, because he stays true to his beliefs, and doesn't give up on a goal he sets for himself, and treats others fairly and in a goon-natured kind of way, which to me is a gentleman. Pip learns overall that everything isn't what it seems. That this life he imagined in London, was not what it was thought to be, and he much preferred his life in Kent with Joe and Biddy. I agree to what Victoria said about the first ending being kind of vague, not knowing what ever happened between Pip and Estella which seems to me to not really be an ending, and i didn't like how it didn't have a set conclusion. Thats why i enjoyed the editions ending better, with him and Estella ending up together. I always liked how he put up with her selfish ways, because he knows its because of how she was raised. And i believe by the time they got together, Pip changed her in to someone with a heart.
Pip has learned many things on his journey to become a gentleman. some things are more simple, such as proper table manners. Others, such as making sure to maintain old relationships while building new ones, social class is not a meter by which to judge happiness, and the fact that strict definitions of innocence, guilt, good and evil are not possible to maintain in a inconstant environment. Pip incorporates these realizations into his being, becoming a much more "gentlemanly" person. He goes back to living with Joe and Biddy (recently married!!), and does the best he can, every day. The first ending sits with me as a better ending, as what is reading (or teaching) for? It is to make you THINK! Having no definite end to the story (save the ending of words on the page) definitely makes you invent your own ending. The ending also fits more with the tone of the book, having Pip chase after Estella even after her marriage and the death of the author.
During Pip's long journey he slowly becomes a gentlemen, but failed to realize in the beginning that becoming a true gentlemen has nothing to do with social-class. One lesson that he learned was that money can't buy his happiness. He learns this while he lives in London. Although, at first Pip expects his life to be sheer bliss when he goes to London and has everything handed to him he soon realizes that he becomes unhappier with each year. This is because, for example, all the money in the world would never buy Estella's love for him. He also learns the lesson of staying true to himself. This is because while he was living on the marshes all he wanted to do was work with Joe when he got older. He was so proud to be associated with a man like Joe. But when he goes to London that all changes. He immediately becomes ashamed of Joe and where he came from. He is embarrassed and tries to ignore them. This causes Pip to become ashamed of his own self. He is unhappy and this is mainly because he was too embarrassed of his past and forced himself to push his loved ones away. He eventually realizes that these people made him happy and he shouldn't be embarrassed of them. He now defines the qualities of a gentlemen in many ways. He was able to realize that being a gentlemen wasn't just being wealthy and having all of the nice things in life, it comes from within. Pip ends up being proud of the man he is in the end. This is because he makes a living for himself and he is true to himself. All in all I think Pip has grown to become a true gentlemen. I liked the original ending better than the new ending. This is because unlike the new ending, he does not end up having any type of future with Estella. I feel that this keeps the theme of the book that Pip will always love and desire Estella, but will never have her. I feel that the new ending was too much of the typical "happy ending" and that the book deserved much better than that.
After having the privilege of living in London, Pip soon learned many lessons. He discovers through the influence of others that social class isn’t everything. Being surrounded by your loved ones, and the people who truly matter to you is what’s important in life. Overall, Pip learns that people of a higher social class aren’t necessarily “more important” as he once thought when he was of a lower social class. He soon acknowledges this concept through the help of Drummle marrying Estella, that social class isn’t a social position that posses a remote quality. This realization causes Pip to while he was a gentlemen, he hurt the ones he truly loves. People like; Joe, Biddy are people he needs in his life to keep him grounded..not someone else. Furthermore, Pip discovers that appearances can misrepresent reality. While Estella was a harsh yet beautiful women, by the end of the novel, Pip is exposed to a sweet, kind-hearted Estella he never got the pleasure to see. Another person he learned to mis-interpret was Magwitch. Pip always frowned upon him and his bad decisions while being a convict. However, while spending some quality time with him, Pip learns he is caring for others. Once he had received a large fortune he wasn’t selfish with the cash, and decided to give back to someone who was generous to him in the past.
During Pip's journey to become a gentleman, his idea of what that means and what he comes to appreciate changes. At the beginning Pip had some of the qualities that Dickens thought made a real gentleman. Pip was humble, kind, and sensitive. He is very loyal to Joe because of the way Joe treats him like a friend and is there to comfort him. He is loyal to Magwich, but because he fears him. From his first meeting with Miss Havisham and Estella he then starts to be self conscious and think that being a gentleman is all about money and social class. He starts doubting the people he loves most and starts hating his lifestyle. After treating his friends who he considers below him badly and realizing how much he really appreciates them, he once again learns about loyalty. This time he is loyal to Magwich because of all he's gone through and risked to pay him back for what Pip did for him in the marshes. He learns that Joe has been loyal to Pip all along and has always been there to catch him when he falls no matter how badly Pip treats him. Even when Pip is sick, Joe is right there to help him. Pip realizes that money isn't everything and can't buy happiness. At Magwich's trial, Pip doesn't even care when his fortune is mentioned and is more concerned about Magwich. He realizes that social class doesn't matter. His benefactor was a convict the whole time. Pip learned that the true qualities of a gentleman are loyalty, kindness, humility, and concern for others. Magwich was a very important character for Pip because he taught Pip about putting someone else's needs before your own. Pip was a gentleman all along but it took this whole journey and reuniting with Magwich to realize it and to really become a better person.
Throughout Pip's long journey to become a gentleman he learns that being a gentleman doesn't mean you have to have a wealthy status. He has learned that to succeed in life as a gentleman is to live a simple, humble life. He has learned that he has to be kind to others no matter their wealth or status and he also learned that a true gentleman is understanding, sensitive, and loyal. In the beginning of the novel the way Pip acted, humble, loyal and kind, was his idea of what a gentleman is really like. He was loyal to Joe in the beginning by treating in like his equal, his friend. When he met Magwich in the graveyard even though he frightened Pip, Pip still went out of his way to help him though the cold night giving him more than a file and a piece of bread like he asked. He gave him more because he was being kind and loyal to a man that he didn't even know. Then he met Miss Havisham and the beautiful cold hearted Estella he believed that a gentleman was all about the wealth and his you didn't have wealth or status you weren't worthy of a 'gentleman's' time. After this he started treating Joe, who he was once loyal and faithful to, horribly, getting annoyed with him when he visited Pip in London and only improving his behavior once Estella was mention. This behavior continues until he finally realizes that treating his loved ones like this was wrong he changes back into being that loyal Pip he was in the beginning of the novel. After he helps Magwich he has an understanding of what a gentleman is. By the end of the novel he is a full blown gentleman, he is kind, understanding, knows the meaning of a hard working simple life and he can now appreciate all of Joe's common but hard work he did over the years, Pip is loyal going back to Biddy and Joe after he made a gentleman of himself working as a merchant, and he is just plain happy with who he is and who he has become, forgetting the young naive boy in the past and embracing the man, gentleman, he has become. My reaction to the two ending was that I was happy with edited version but I would have been satisfied (kinda) with the original because in the endings Pip is happy with is life and can life with or without Estella. I like the edited better thought because it completes the story, Pip finally gets what he's being working for years, almost like he's finally 'earned' Estella's love. But I also think that Dickens original was more realistic because it shows people can't always get the person they want to be with and it gives Pip the chance to move on from Estella and live a life without worry of pleasing someone.
Through Pip's journey of becoming a gentleman Pip has learned many valuable life lessons. Not only was it through being taught but, through the experiances he encountered while being taught. Pip really is split between two people, the naive Pip who is the charecter and the gentleman Pip who is the narrator. Pip learned that your social position is not the most important quality one possesses, and that his behavior as a gentleman has caused him to hurt the people who care about him most. Another lesson Pip learns is that the people you care about shouldn't care about who you are but what your personality is. Once he has learned these lessons, Pip matures into the man who narrates the novel. These lessons have taught Pip to be mature, generous and kind which are the charecteristics of a gentleman which Pip has come to be. Due to both the endings being almost of no similarities I had different oppinions for both. The original enging seemed too plain for me and disapointing how the main charecter, Pip who has worked so hard throughout the book was not rewarded. Usually, I prefer endings where the chareceter who seemed to learn the most and go through what they needed to in order to become successfull are granted rewards. Thus, brings me to liking the second ending. Although yes, it was the typical main charecter gets what he wants ending it intrigued me in a way I have not experienced before through a books ending. I felt as if although it was the typical ending it was still extreamely different and unexpected at the same time.
ReplyDelete-Kerry Schwartz
Though it was bizarre from the path, from the top of the hill, Pip's actions throughout the book all make more sense than they did before. In the beginning, he wanted to be a gentleman so he could get what he wanted. If he never changed, I expect he would have ended up as a Drummle, or possibly destitute and friendless. He learns the true use of money and class near the end, with Joe (and Pip in a way, considering his job in Herbert's firm) representing the correct use of money to enrich your life and help other's, and class is just a way to be nice to other people. (Shown by his acceptance of Magwitch as he is) The polar opposite is Drummle, using money and class to no use but his own. So, through all these events and interactions, Pip became the perfect gentleman- hard working, kind to others, classy, etc. But I must say, the ending was really nice. Both were, honestly. The run up to the ending reinforced Karma- Evil Old Orlick's caught, Drummle's dead, and all the good guys are happy, with the possible exception of Pip (If he's heartbroken by the ending) and Estella (Due to her marriage) and assuming Pip is happy, it's because of what he did. His gift to Herbert is what becomes his future job, and you know that if he hadn't, he'd have no hope. Now, in regards to the ending, the first ending made me feel fulfilled, primarily because I have not liked the story (Basic dichotomy of my liking of happy endings in stories- the more I like the characters in regards to how much I like the story, the more I want a happy ending) but only the characters, whilst the second ending seemed more true to the tone of the novel. But really, I'm a sucker for a happy ending. darkness has its purpose in any story, and that purpose is to be destroyed. Now, not all good guys should be perfect Mary Sues -no one likes that- and not all evil needs to be uni-faceted, but stories are for escaping the world. What's the point if they're depressingly bleak. No one roots for the Grinch with a wrinkled heart, that's a cliché that I have never seen applied. It's not because all people will always root for the hero-- it's the tone of the novel that does it. Honestly, the second ending is what happens in real life. No one wants that. Who wants the Prince (When's he's a good guy, not a deconstruction, natch.) to get sick and die? Say what you will about realistic- it doesn't belong in a story. If the author can't get any of his heroes happy, he's done his job wrong. See http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheoryOfNarrativeCausality (Things happen because the plot says they should.) Dickens second ending was true to the tone, but if he wants us to believe all of the intertwined relationships, then he can have the decency to give me my Happy Ending, as he does.
ReplyDelete~Oliver Stein
In the beginning of this story Pip is just a young boy seemingly hopeless to his family. Pip being naiive begins to obtain great expectations for himself shortly after he meets Estella at Miss Havishams house. With these expectations he goes through many new and different experiences and emotions leading him through a journey teaching him to become a real gentleman. Pip had to learn the hard way that family comes first. Money and a higher social status will not conclude in happiness. Pip also learns to be a gentleman by learning from some of the bad examples set around him. Towards the end when Pip ends up in dept he also learns you have to work hard for things, people will not always hand things to you. Pip becomes a mature man that can fend for himself, put family fist and learn to be generous, these are some things that define a gentleman. Pip learns a lot from Magwitch and his generous and surprising actions. I found it the two different endings to be unique being that i have never read a book with two different endings. Pip had to go through many difficult things during his life, he was tricked and had to miss out on important parts of his life all to learn how to be a gentleman. being that he had to go through these difficult times in his life I was proud to read the ending, to find out he has finally got what hes wanted. Making it a happy ending.
ReplyDeleteMonica Palucci
ReplyDeleteThroughout Pips entire journey of trying to become a gentleman he has learned many lessons. When Pip first began to strive to become a gentleman he was told that in order to be “uncommon” you must be educated and be a wealthy, elite figure in society. As years passed and Pip becomes this stereotype he begins to lose the many past friendships that he had with Joe and Biddy. Near the end of the book Pip becomes ill and without Pip even asking, Joe comes to take care of him. At this point Pip then begins to realize that you don’t need to be “uncommon” to be noticed in society, being “common” is just fine and as powerful. However, from the teachings that Pip has experienced when he was in London brought him to become a mature young adult for his future to come. Both endings of the novel were very interesting. I prefer the original ending over the editions ending. I like how in the original ending both Pip and Estella had moved on, where Pip continued with a good career, and how Estella remarried and later had a baby. This overall makes it a happier ending. In the editions ending Dickens states that once Estella’s husband dies she is left a widow and has been seriously depressed. Here Pip and Estella meet at Miss. Havishams house but intend to remain friends but separate. I overall thought this ending was a little sad considering everything that the characters had been through.
ReplyDelete-Dayna Weintraub
Pip transforms throughout the novel, slowly, into a gentleman. From beginning his journey a small and insignifiant commoner who wasn't at all independent (given, he was just a child), he's evolved into a completely different person. The story covers a tremendous timeline of Pips life and within which, he undergoes several personality changes. After becoming aware of his 'great expectations,' Pip turns into an condescending, boastful person who looked down on others with little to no reason. This lasts until Magwitch reenters the story. Pip finally becomes a genuine gentleman; not like Jaggers or Drummel, but a much more preferable, humbled one. He becomes compassionate and respectful for Magwitch which leads to being trustworthy. He demonstrates that a gentleman doesn't need crass and must be towering, but humility. The two ends go off into severely opposite directions although I prefer the editions ending. When he FINALLY wins over Estelle after years and years of pursuit to witch the novel is entirely based off of, I can't help but feel closure, as opposed to the original ending (touching as it may) to only focus on Estella's newly found heart. Although, I got a bit upset with Pip's decision: choosing to be with Estella (in the editions ending) and run the possibility of having to deal with her old cruelness, rather than coming to the understanding of what his heart USED to be, in the original ending (showing how much he's grown and how he'd gotten passed Estella... which is what I've been hoping for since his first day at Miss Havishams house!)
ReplyDeletePip slowly but surely became a gentleman over the course of the novel. He learned many valuable life lessons on his journey. First, he learned that money is superficial and can't buy you happiness. Also, he learned that things are not what they seem. Many things that seemed coincidential became clear that they were not. He discovered that no matter how much you think you know something or someone, there is always something about them that you don't know that will shock you. Lastly, I would like to believe that he learned that being a gentleman means more that just wearing fancy clothing and having money. Joe, who he thought of a one of the most common people he knew in my pinion and I think Pip's too is a gentleman. He stays true to his values, and helps the people he loves even though they have treated him unfairly. That is what is takes to be a true gentleman, to be real and to be there for people when they need their help, not their fancy suits.
ReplyDeleteI liked the original edition's ending because I liked that it was revealed that Estella had been married to a doctor and assumed Pip was married also and had children. This edition's ending was vague because it simply said that Pip assumed Estella was remarried, and they agreed they were firends. I probably would have like this edition's ending better if it had revealed what had happened between Estella and Pip after that, and I would have loved it if Estella and Pip wemt on to get married.
Pip starts his journey, as a "common" boy with no real dreams, other than to be a wealthy "uncommon" gentleman to win over the heart of Estella. Throughout his journey, he builds new relationships. His new life is not what he has expected at all, and overall it's a disappointment, and Pip begins to miss his old simple life with Joe and Biddy. I think Pip did truly become a gentleman by the end of the story, because he stays true to his beliefs, and doesn't give up on a goal he sets for himself, and treats others fairly and in a goon-natured kind of way, which to me is a gentleman. Pip learns overall that everything isn't what it seems. That this life he imagined in London, was not what it was thought to be, and he much preferred his life in Kent with Joe and Biddy.
ReplyDeleteI agree to what Victoria said about the first ending being kind of vague, not knowing what ever happened between Pip and Estella which seems to me to not really be an ending, and i didn't like how it didn't have a set conclusion. Thats why i enjoyed the editions ending better, with him and Estella ending up together. I always liked how he put up with her selfish ways, because he knows its because of how she was raised. And i believe by the time they got together, Pip changed her in to someone with a heart.
Pip has learned many things on his journey to become a gentleman. some things are more simple, such as proper table manners. Others, such as making sure to maintain old relationships while building new ones, social class is not a meter by which to judge happiness, and the fact that strict definitions of innocence, guilt, good and evil are not possible to maintain in a inconstant environment. Pip incorporates these realizations into his being, becoming a much more "gentlemanly" person. He goes back to living with Joe and Biddy (recently married!!), and does the best he can, every day.
ReplyDeleteThe first ending sits with me as a better ending, as what is reading (or teaching) for? It is to make you THINK! Having no definite end to the story (save the ending of words on the page) definitely makes you invent your own ending. The ending also fits more with the tone of the book, having Pip chase after Estella even after her marriage and the death of the author.
During Pip's long journey he slowly becomes a gentlemen, but failed to realize in the beginning that becoming a true gentlemen has nothing to do with social-class. One lesson that he learned was that money can't buy his happiness. He learns this while he lives in London. Although, at first Pip expects his life to be sheer bliss when he goes to London and has everything handed to him he soon realizes that he becomes unhappier with each year. This is because, for example, all the money in the world would never buy Estella's love for him.
ReplyDeleteHe also learns the lesson of staying true to himself. This is because while he was living on the marshes all he wanted to do was work with Joe when he got older. He was so proud to be associated with a man like Joe. But when he goes to London that all changes. He immediately becomes ashamed of Joe and where he came from. He is embarrassed and tries to ignore them. This causes Pip to become ashamed of his own self. He is unhappy and this is mainly because he was too embarrassed of his past and forced himself to push his loved ones away. He eventually realizes that these people made him happy and he shouldn't be embarrassed of them.
He now defines the qualities of a gentlemen in many ways. He was able to realize that being a gentlemen wasn't just being wealthy and having all of the nice things in life, it comes from within. Pip ends up being proud of the man he is in the end. This is because he makes a living for himself and he is true to himself. All in all I think Pip has grown to become a true gentlemen.
I liked the original ending better than the new ending. This is because unlike the new ending, he does not end up having any type of future with Estella. I feel that this keeps the theme of the book that Pip will always love and desire Estella, but will never have her. I feel that the new ending was too much of the typical "happy ending" and that the book deserved much better than that.
After having the privilege of living in London, Pip soon learned many lessons. He discovers through the influence of others that social class isn’t everything. Being surrounded by your loved ones, and the people who truly matter to you is what’s important in life. Overall, Pip learns that people of a higher social class aren’t necessarily “more important” as he once thought when he was of a lower social class. He soon acknowledges this concept through the help of Drummle marrying Estella, that social class isn’t a social position that posses a remote quality. This realization causes Pip to while he was a gentlemen, he hurt the ones he truly loves. People like; Joe, Biddy are people he needs in his life to keep him grounded..not someone else. Furthermore, Pip discovers that appearances can misrepresent reality. While Estella was a harsh yet beautiful women, by the end of the novel, Pip is exposed to a sweet, kind-hearted Estella he never got the pleasure to see. Another person he learned to mis-interpret was Magwitch. Pip always frowned upon him and his bad decisions while being a convict. However, while spending some quality time with him, Pip learns he is caring for others. Once he had received a large fortune he wasn’t selfish with the cash, and decided to give back to someone who was generous to him in the past.
ReplyDeleteDuring Pip's journey to become a gentleman, his idea of what that means and what he comes to appreciate changes. At the beginning Pip had some of the qualities that Dickens thought made a real gentleman. Pip was humble, kind, and sensitive. He is very loyal to Joe because of the way Joe treats him like a friend and is there to comfort him. He is loyal to Magwich, but because he fears him. From his first meeting with Miss Havisham and Estella he then starts to be self conscious and think that being a gentleman is all about money and social class. He starts doubting the people he loves most and starts hating his lifestyle. After treating his friends who he considers below him badly and realizing how much he really appreciates them, he once again learns about loyalty. This time he is loyal to Magwich because of all he's gone through and risked to pay him back for what Pip did for him in the marshes. He learns that Joe has been loyal to Pip all along and has always been there to catch him when he falls no matter how badly Pip treats him. Even when Pip is sick, Joe is right there to help him. Pip realizes that money isn't everything and can't buy happiness. At Magwich's trial, Pip doesn't even care when his fortune is mentioned and is more concerned about Magwich. He realizes that social class doesn't matter. His benefactor was a convict the whole time. Pip learned that the true qualities of a gentleman are loyalty, kindness, humility, and concern for others. Magwich was a very important character for Pip because he taught Pip about putting someone else's needs before your own. Pip was a gentleman all along but it took this whole journey and reuniting with Magwich to realize it and to really become a better person.
ReplyDeleteThroughout Pip's long journey to become a gentleman he learns that being a gentleman doesn't mean you have to have a wealthy status. He has learned that to succeed in life as a gentleman is to live a simple, humble life. He has learned that he has to be kind to others no matter their wealth or status and he also learned that a true gentleman is understanding, sensitive, and loyal. In the beginning of the novel the way Pip acted, humble, loyal and kind, was his idea of what a gentleman is really like. He was loyal to Joe in the beginning by treating in like his equal, his friend. When he met Magwich in the graveyard even though he frightened Pip, Pip still went out of his way to help him though the cold night giving him more than a file and a piece of bread like he asked. He gave him more because he was being kind and loyal to a man that he didn't even know. Then he met Miss Havisham and the beautiful cold hearted Estella he believed that a gentleman was all about the wealth and his you didn't have wealth or status you weren't worthy of a 'gentleman's' time. After this he started treating Joe, who he was once loyal and faithful to, horribly, getting annoyed with him when he visited Pip in London and only improving his behavior once Estella was mention. This behavior continues until he finally realizes that treating his loved ones like this was wrong he changes back into being that loyal Pip he was in the beginning of the novel. After he helps Magwich he has an understanding of what a gentleman is. By the end of the novel he is a full blown gentleman, he is kind, understanding, knows the meaning of a hard working simple life and he can now appreciate all of Joe's common but hard work he did over the years, Pip is loyal going back to Biddy and Joe after he made a gentleman of himself working as a merchant, and he is just plain happy with who he is and who he has become, forgetting the young naive boy in the past and embracing the man, gentleman, he has become.
ReplyDeleteMy reaction to the two ending was that I was happy with edited version but I would have been satisfied (kinda) with the original because in the endings Pip is happy with is life and can life with or without Estella. I like the edited better thought because it completes the story, Pip finally gets what he's being working for years, almost like he's finally 'earned' Estella's love. But I also think that Dickens original was more realistic because it shows people can't always get the person they want to be with and it gives Pip the chance to move on from Estella and live a life without worry of pleasing someone.