Great Expectations Literary Analysis

Great Expectations is a book about a boy named Pip. Although Pip started out common, he got lucky when he got involved with a mysterious benefactor. He is suddenly learning how to be an upper class gentleman. Throughout the whole book, Pip is infatuated with a girl named Estella. Estella is hard and says that she cannot love because she never learned how. The first time she met him, she called him “coarse” and “common”, and that made a big impression on Pip. All he could think about was how to improve himself for him and for Estella. This proved to be important in the book. It showed that one person can make a huge impression on someone else’s life. This passage from Great Expectations shows exactly how much Estella meant to Pip, and how she changed him forever.
“You are part of my existence, part of myself. You have been in every line I have ever read, since I first came here, the rough common boy whose poor heart you wounded even then. You have been in every prospect I have ever seen since—on the river, on the sails of the ships, on the marshes, in the clouds, in the light, in the darkness, in the wind, in the woods, in the sea, in the streets. You have been the embodiment of every graceful fancy that my mind has ever become acquainted with. The stones of which the strongest London buildings are made, are not more real, or presence and influence have been to me, there and everywhere, and will be. Estella, to the last hour of my life, you cannot choose but remain part of my character, part of the little good in me, part of the evil. But, in this separation I associate you only with the good, and I will faithfully hold you to that always, for you must have done me far more good than harm, let me feel now what sharp distress I may. O God bless you, God forgive you!” (Charles Dickens, Great Expectations P. 386)
I think that this passage is kind of the climax of everything Pip felt for Estella. He always tried to do whatever he could to impress her. He became a gentleman so she couldn’t see him as common. He hoped more than anything that she would choose him and return his feelings. She was always on his mind, and she marked everything that he did. In this passage he explained to her that he couldn’t forget her in just one day. She was a part of him.
Pip also admits that there is more evil than good in him. But when he’s letting her go, he can only associate her with the good. By making him want to improve himself, she made him a better person overall. She made it so he could learn by trial and error. After he realized the consequences of his wrong decisions, he learned which ones he shouldn’t make again. And it was all because of Estella. She was the one who motivated him to change. That one person made a huge difference in Pip’s life.
The imagery in this passage is amazing. Really the only word you can use to describe it is beautiful. He describes everything, but it isn’t a paragraph full of adjectives. Phrases like, “the embodiment of every graceful fancy that my mind has ever become acquainted with”, and “Estella, to the last hour of my life, you cannot choose but remain part of my character” really demonstrate Pip’s conviction of his feelings for Estella.
This passage had a huge impact on me. The way Pip says everything, you just have to believe him. No one could say words with that much meaning if it wasn’t true. Before Estella throws herself away for someone like Drummle, he has to at least tell her exactly how he feels about her. And when Estella suggested that he would forget her the next day, he came right out and told her exactly how wrong she was. He tells her how she has been a part of everything since he met her.
The conviction in Pip’s “voice” really supports the theme. It shows that he means what he says. It shows that she really has made a huge difference in his life. And the way he phrases everything gets right to the point about what she’s done for him. After this passage, even heartless Estella can’t help but be moved. She can’t believe that someone honestly cared about her so much, and that she made such a big difference for him.
Overall, this passage shows how Pip’s character has developed throughout the book. From all of Estella’s criticism, and warnings not to fall for her, Pip became a better person. Even if she couldn’t love him back, she made a difference in his life. And she at least cared for him enough that she wouldn’t play around with him like the others. Out of anything that anyone else ever said to Pip, what Estella said was what made a difference and an impact.
Great Expectations was actually a really good book. It was definitely better than I expected. You could really feel everyone’s characters developing as the book went on. And Dickens really made all the characters seem like real people. People with real lives, real experiences, and real feelings. It was well-written and definitely worth reading.