... Pip shows both an immature idealism and a cynical perception beyond his years. His youthful love may be pure but he quickly understands that only a true gentleman can be successful and marry a beautiful woman, like Estella. Pip clearly acknowledges the fact that by an accident of birth, he is socially unworthy of ... the more the grain will express itself." (Dickens, 1996, p. 209.) Pip defies this expectation and persists in his struggle to become a true gentleman. He just wants to return one day and win Estella's heart. He simply expects that he only needs to claim the ladder in society...

• Word Count: 1112
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... uncle to Satis house where he meets Estella. Although she treats him coldly and contemptuously he falls in love with her and wants to become a gentleman in the hopes he might be worthy of Estella. Against his dreams he becomes a common laborer working in a blacksmith's forge. One day Pip learns ... must go to London to collect. When he gets to London he starts his education to be a gentleman. He is tutored by Matthew Pocket, his friend"s, Herbert, father. Although he is striving to become a gentleman, Herbert and Pip lead an undisciplined life. Pip soon returns home for a funeral. He lea...

• Word Count: 1103
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... narrator of the novel in two different ways. Dickens enforces that Pip is the most important character in the novel as it is his story and his perceptions are what define other characters. From this first section of the novel we understand him to be both the main protagonist and narrator as he opens telling us about his family and his ... the nineteenth century." This is a very compelling argument as they all centre around important values at that time as John Sutherland pointed out that "The idea of becoming a gentleman is almost synonymous with the Victorian era."3 This is clear to Fl...

• Word Count: 1038
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate