The Story Great Expectations Written by Charles Dickens

The story Great Expectations written by Charles Dickens has a recurring theme: guilt and innocence. It is present from the first page where young Pip encounters a convict demanding food and a file to almost the very end of the book where Abel Magwitch is sentenced to death for the drowning of another convict, Compeyson. The clichà ©, â€Å"No one is innocent,† can be easily applied to the characters of Great Expectations. Pip, the protagonist and narrator of the story, may not be one of the convicts mentioned in this story but throughout he broods with guilt over things he has done, mostly lying and snobbery towards those who love him. His first crime, one could say, is in Chapter II, where he steals a wide selection of foods and some brandy from the pantry in his home. Then he went to Joe’s forge and stole a file for the convict, later revealed as Magwitch, to saw away the irons on his ankles. Another instance of Pip’s guilt is in Chapter IX, where he tells a grand lie about Miss Havisham and how Estella fed him cake on a gold plate. After looking at Joe, Pip considered himself a â€Å"young monster† (Dickens, 58) and tells only Joe the truth. A final example of shame for Pip is his snobbery after becoming a gentleman. In Chapter XIX, he is conversing with Biddy about Joe when he says, â€Å"‘†¦Joe is a very good fellow†¦ but he is rather backward in some things. For instance, Biddy, in his learning and his manners’† (116). Then, in the same conversation, he says to Biddy, â€Å"‘†¦YouShow MoreRelated Attitudes toward Victorian Society in Great Expectations by Charles Dickens1156 Words   |  5 PagesGreat Expectations Explore some of the ways in which Dickens’ attitudes to Victorian society are presented in the opening chapter of Great Expectations. For this essay I will be focusing on the opening chapters of Great Expectations, a novel written by Charles Dickens. 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