Michaela Seaton Romero

Charles Dickens was an influential writer whose work was heavily influenced by the poverty he experienced and witnessed.  Great Expectations emphasizes this theme of poverty.  In many ways, the main character mirrors Dickens himself and his own struggle with poverty.

An orphan, the main character Pip lives with his abusive sister and her husband, the village blacksmith.  Over the course of the book Pip runs across escaped convicts, jilted old ladies, and cold-hearted beautiful women.  He goes from his marshy village of Kent to bustling London.  He goes from one of the poorest of the poor to rich and must acclimate to that society.

Dickens is similar to Pip in many ways.  Although he lived with his mother and father during his childhood, he spent part of his childhood in Kent, just like Pip.  They also lived in during the same time period, when the Industrial Revolution was taking place and there was great social upheaval.  He also moved to London, just like Pip, although he moved there earlier than Pip does in Great Expectations.  Likely he met many different type of folks in London that gave rise to characters like Joe and Estella.

Dickens, unlike many other famous people, found relative success during his lifetime, and he had to adjust to society as a person with money.  Pip also had to adjust to gentleman society, and there were strict rules to follow.  Climbing the social ladder required learning a whole new set of skills and expectations as Pip soon realizes as he studies to be a gentleman.  Dickens also would have experienced the disparity between the desperately poor and those who were well off, or at least moderately so.

Pip studies to be a blacksmith under Joe, but he feels himself too good for this after getting a taste of the genteel life with Estella and Miss Havisham.  Dickens also worked a job he did not feel put all his skills to use, at a blacking warehouse when his father was in debtor’s prison.  Eventually he is able to gain more education and raise his status and wealth, just like Pip does.

The entirety of the book is centered on social status and wealth, or lack of it.  Pip’s purpose in life is to gain recognition and marry a woman of higher status.  He doesn’t just care about money, he cares about where the money came from.  When he finds out his fortune is due to a convict he helped once, he is disgusted.

Dickens’s status also rose, and he was able to chronicle the trials and problems he experienced in the character of Pip.  Even though he became famous, Dickens’s poverty had a tremendous impact on his life, and this can be seen in Great Expectations.  Pip desires social improvement, but when he finally attains it, he finds himself still feeling empty; there are still the basic immorals and depravity he saw as a blacksmith’s apprentice.  Dickens is trying to say no matter how much money you have, it is moral improvement that makes a difference, not money.

Bibliography

Zhou, Linda. “About the Author: Charles Dickens.” Great Expectations. Web. 4 Mar. 2015. <http://greatexpectationsnovel.weebly.com/about-the-author.html&gt;.