Great Expectations By Charles Dickens - 1627 Words

They say, love is blind, but when individuals are willing to sacrifice everything they value for this so called â€Å"love†, maybe it’s time to grab a pair of glasses. In Great Expectations, a classic 19th century novel by Charles Dickens, the protagonist Philip Pirrip, primarily referred to as Pip, explores the realms of the world as he begins to discover what it really means to be a â€Å"gentleman† and how social class isn’t as it seems. Pip’s origins derive from his hometown of Kent, where he spends his early years with his best friend and fatherly figure Joe, solely concerned with the guilt of aiding a convict. However, once young Pip encounters cold-hearted and â€Å"high-class† Estella, he finds himself entranced by her unearthly beauty and†¦show more content†¦I am disgusted with my calling and with my life. I have never taken to either since I was bound. Don’t be absurd† (130). Pip’s statement reveals tha t he is repulsed at the thought of living a common life, deeming it atrocious despite how content Biddy is with her own. Instead of cherishing his life with Joe and Biddy, he chooses to take the arduous route, yearning for money and Estella as if she is the newest fashion statement sanctioned on the highest shelf in the store, with her revenge-fixated guardian Miss Havisham governing the price tag and Pip cashing in his friends, family, and ultimately, his mindset. Accordingly, Pip starts to wander astray from his previous beliefs because of the fortune he longs to have, and like a spider spinning an endless web, he comes to believe in all the promises that wealth seems to bring. With the influence of money at his fingertips, he believes he can clearly do anything, and that includes marrying Estella. But everything he’s â€Å"worked† for all come crashing down when he loses not only his fortune, but his whole nescient perspective on what it means to be a gentleman. â⠂¬Å"With [Pip’s] heart beating like a heavy hammer of disordered action, [he] rose out of [his] chair,† shocked beyond disbelief as the once thought