Sin: a mistake that all humans make, believed to weigh down the soul until one repents. One thing that global religions have in common is the acknowledgment of sin, whether through set laws or teachings of holy scripture. However, on a more local scale, individuals combat sin in a personal way, as greed especially comes to the selfish and expectations come to the overly prideful. In Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, the main character Pip’s ultimate sin is his expectations that lead him to become overly self absorbed in his affairs, consequently creating a false reality of life. Primarily, in the beginning of Stage Two, Pip practically becomes obsessed with finding out the identity of his benefactor, for he has a strong instinct that
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Prior to Pip’s realizations concerning his benefactor as well as his overall misery in his expectations, he spends the majority of stages two and three escaping and ignoring his problems. Pip states, “ As I had grown accustomed to my expectations, I had insensibly begun to notice their effect upon myself and those around me. Their influence on my own character, I disguised from my recognition as much as possible, but I knew very well that it was not all good” (302). Passiveness being one of Pip’s major character faults, he often acknowledges a problem he has but fails to come up with a solution for it, something especially troublesome considering his expectations began to affect others negatively as well. His lavish spending, among other things, begins to take a toll on Herbert’s finances as well as his own. Still, Pip asserts that he would rather “disguise” the faults that his expectations had on his character than fully deal with them. The use of the word “insensible” shows his passiveness yet again as he purposely chooses to be blind to his faults. If Pip had chosen to solve his problems early on, his expectations could have been seen as a learning experience as opposed to a sin that lead him to rock bottom by the end of stage
Prior to Pip’s realizations concerning his benefactor as well as his overall misery in his expectations, he spends the majority of stages two and three escaping and ignoring his problems. Pip states, “ As I had grown accustomed to my expectations, I had insensibly begun to notice their effect upon myself and those around me. Their influence on my own character, I disguised from my recognition as much as possible, but I knew very well that it was not all good” (302). Passiveness being one of Pip’s major character faults, he often acknowledges a problem he has but fails to come up with a solution for it, something especially troublesome considering his expectations began to affect others negatively as well. His lavish spending, among other things, begins to take a toll on Herbert’s finances as well as his own. Still, Pip asserts that he would rather “disguise” the faults that his expectations had on his character than fully deal with them. The use of the word “insensible” shows his passiveness yet again as he purposely chooses to be blind to his faults. If Pip had chosen to solve his problems early on, his expectations could have been seen as a learning experience as opposed to a sin that lead him to rock bottom by the end of stage