Great Expectations Themes Pip's Ambition And Self Improvement example essay topic

To be able to locate and analyze themes of novels, such as Great Expectations, it is essential to understand the basic definition of a theme: It is a fundamental and often universal idea explored in a literary work. For instance, if we take a closer look at the story of Pip, we discover that the main idea behind the story is ambition and self improvement, which is correlated to the preceding minor themes, including social class, crime, guilt and innocence. The most important theme throughout the book can be said to be ambition and self-improvement. Pip at heart is an idealist; whenever he is convinced that something is superior to what he has, he immediately desires to obtain that improvement. This is best illustrated when he sees Satis house, which puts him into a state of mind of desiring to be a wealthy gentleman.

In this novel, Pip's ambition and self-improvement takes three forms: moral, social, and educational. Firstly, he desires moral self-improvement and is very hard on himself when he feels that he acts immorally, by trying to act better in the future. This can be noticed when Pip leaves for London and is disappointed with his behavior towards Biddy and Joe. Secondly he desires social self-improvement, after having fallen in love with Estella, who demands Pip to act according to high society. His fantasies of becoming a gentleman are further fueled by Mrs. Joe and Pumblechook. These fantasies prove to be very significant throughout the plot, since the author uses these ideas of social class to explore the class system of his period.

Thirdly, Pip desires educational improvement, which is deeply connected to his social ambition and dream of marrying Estella. Ultimately, through the examples of Joe, Biddy and Magwitch, Pip learns that social and educational improvement are irrelevant to one's real worth and that conscience and affection are to be valued above social ranking. Throughout the novel, the author explores the class system of Victorian England, ranging from the criminal Magwitch, to the poor peasants Joes and Biddy, to the middle class of Pumblechook, and finally to the rich Miss Havisham. This theme, being the procedure that people where categorized into classes, is essential throughout the story, since Pip realizes that wealth and class are less significant than affection, loyalty, and inner worth.

The most important fact to be remembered about the post-industrial revolution class system is that Dickens ignores the nobility and aristocracy in favor of the main theme of this novel: ambition. The rich Miss Havisham did not acquire her wealth through heredity, but through commerce with her brewery. This is a subtle reinforcement of the author's idea of ambition and self-improvement. What the author wishes to teach the reader is that in order to achieve anything in life, one must show great self discipline and work hard to finally arrive at your personal goal. Additionally to the ambition and social class, the themes of crime, guilt, and innocence are introduced and explored throughout the novel largely through the characters of the convicts and the criminal lawyer, Jagger's.

From the handcuffs Joe mends to the prison in London, the imagery of crime and criminal justice prevail throughout the book, becoming an important symbol of Pip's inner struggle to reconcile his own inner moral conscience with the justice system. Magwitch, for instance, frightens Pip at first simply because he is a convict, and Pip feels guilty for helping him because he is afraid of the police. By the end of the book, however, Pip discovers Magwitch's inner nobility, and is able to disregard his external status as a criminal. In conclusion of all three major themes of this book, we can say that the author, Charles Dickens, used very effective techniques to promote his ideas to the active reader, making numerous subtle supporting features for his themes. For instance, as we have seen, Miss Havisham gained her wealth through commerce, which symbolizes ambition and self-improvement. Besides that, Dickens did not only write a book to entertain, but also to record for future generations, the period of the Victorian class system and the real significance of wealth.

As Pip has learned, wealth, education and social class does not tell anything about the real worth of a persons spirit.