The definition of gentleman can be a chivalrous, courteous, honorable man, or a man belonging to a high family or social station (Merriam Webster) . But, which of those definitions is the most important? In Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Joe Gargery is a lowly blacksmith who raises his wife’s orphaned brother, until the boy comes into money and becomes a gentleman. The boy, Pip abandons his poverty-stricken home and family in exchange for the lavish, yet empty life of a gentleman. In Great Expectations Pip represents each of these definitions and portrays the theme of actions of being the real indications of who a person truly is. In the beginning of the book, Pip is a kind young man, and respects the people around him despite the
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Joe, his closest friend, told his wife to, “… bring the poor little child. God bless the poor little child,' I said to your sister, 'there's room for him at the forge' (Chapter VII, pg. 83)'"! For this, Pip is grateful and in the first stage of the book, shows his gratitude by being a loyal companion to Joe, and together they suffer the wrath of Mrs. Joe as they were both “raised by hand”. Overall, the first chapter of Pip’s life, although poverty-stricken, Pip was a gentleman because of the way he carried himself and treated others with the utmost respect, no matter how they treated him, even if the woman he pinned after did not see as the respected man he …show more content…
Dickens, conveys the feelings of Pip during his time as a gentleman through tones of somberness, but also shows how important it is to pip by metaphorically comparing it to a “glowing road to manhood and independence (Chapter XIV, page 188)”. Dickinson also foreshadows Pip’s future embarrassment of his family in Chapter 14, through Pip’s older and wiser point of view. Dickenson takes us on the roller-coaster that is Pip’s internal conflict that is his identity crisis. The reader gets to follow Pip from the exposition, where Pip is a small orphaned child, to the ambiguous resolution where Pip is a changed man with prospects. The importance of gentleman has been made evident through its shaping of how Pip carried himself. When Pip was a blacksmith’s boy, he was a true, kind-hearted gentleman. Only when the actual title of gentleman was bestowed upon, was he less than honorable. This speaks to the overall theme of Great Expectations that no matter how much money, or how many titles you come into in this life, the quality of the people you have around you is what matters
Joe, his closest friend, told his wife to, “… bring the poor little child. God bless the poor little child,' I said to your sister, 'there's room for him at the forge' (Chapter VII, pg. 83)'"! For this, Pip is grateful and in the first stage of the book, shows his gratitude by being a loyal companion to Joe, and together they suffer the wrath of Mrs. Joe as they were both “raised by hand”. Overall, the first chapter of Pip’s life, although poverty-stricken, Pip was a gentleman because of the way he carried himself and treated others with the utmost respect, no matter how they treated him, even if the woman he pinned after did not see as the respected man he …show more content…
Dickens, conveys the feelings of Pip during his time as a gentleman through tones of somberness, but also shows how important it is to pip by metaphorically comparing it to a “glowing road to manhood and independence (Chapter XIV, page 188)”. Dickinson also foreshadows Pip’s future embarrassment of his family in Chapter 14, through Pip’s older and wiser point of view. Dickenson takes us on the roller-coaster that is Pip’s internal conflict that is his identity crisis. The reader gets to follow Pip from the exposition, where Pip is a small orphaned child, to the ambiguous resolution where Pip is a changed man with prospects. The importance of gentleman has been made evident through its shaping of how Pip carried himself. When Pip was a blacksmith’s boy, he was a true, kind-hearted gentleman. Only when the actual title of gentleman was bestowed upon, was he less than honorable. This speaks to the overall theme of Great Expectations that no matter how much money, or how many titles you come into in this life, the quality of the people you have around you is what matters