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Great Expectations
Appearance vs. Reality in Great Expectations
In Great Expectations Pip is frequently affected, effected and influenced by appearances. The very nature of his life is dictated by his view of the appearance of others and his own self and outward appearances. The work itself demonstrates a major theme associated with not judging by appearance as it simultaneously demonstrates how much those very appearances actually mean to the individual characters and society in general. The tenor of the story is based around the concept of appearance making or breaking an individual while juxtaposing the dark concept of hidden faults and weaknesses that exploit all the characters, regardless of appearance. The juxtaposition of the appearance and power of wealth with the ideation that it represents all that is good and poor as all that is bad, specifically speaking of people and their appeared circumstances is a construct of social criticism on the part of Dickens that attempts to address the idea that appearances are deceptive and that all who hold the appearance of wealth and power are not as they seem. The result of this juxtaposition is the attempt to show Pip through experience that making decisions based on appearances is...
For the purpose of this very brief work focusing on Pip's actions when he discovers that his benefactor is Magwitch is sufficient. Despite the warnings of Jaggers that Pip should not assume that his benefactor is Miss Havisham Pip nonetheless, given the history of her seeking him out to "play" with Estella and paying for his apprenticeship to Joe, the blacksmith and his brother in-law, Pip assumes Miss Havisham is his patron. The conversation when he discovers that his benefactor is actually Magwitch, the frightening criminal who Pip saves with food and tools in the first chapter of the book when Pip is a boy is enlightening. Jaggers deplores Pip for assuming that Miss Havisham is his benefactor with, "Not a particle of evidence, Pip,' said Mr. Jaggers, shaking his head and gathering up his skirts. 'Take nothing on its looks; take everything on evidence. There's no better rule.'" (Dickins 332) Pip is so shocked that he does not know what to do, as by all appearances Magwitch was not only not a…
Works Cited
Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations. East Rutherford, NJ, USA: Viking Penguin, 1997.
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