Joe comes to London

Pip continues his training as a gentleman as time passes and soon develops the mindset of a gentleman as well. He is innocent personality turns into arrogance as now he thinks that he is better than all the common people, including Joe and Biddy, and of what he once was. He looks down on those people now and his moral values of compassion and love are diminished greatly at this point in the book. When Joe comes to London to see Pip, they have a very akward conversation that does not go smoothly. Pip seems annoyed at Joe because he does not want Drummle to look down on him as Joe is very common. This shows that Pip cares more about raising his social status now than caring about his old family that once took care of him. He is becoming the exact part of Estella that he hated and the part of her that made him unable to connect with her. His arrogance is too great now that Joe is unable to connect with him and after all those years of building friendship with each other, their relationship is shattered and Pip is unwilling to mix his old life and his new life with each other.

The Story of Miss Havisham

Miss Havisham is a very important character in Great Expectations, and upon arriving in London, Pip is told the story of her life by Herbert Pocket, his new friend and living partner. Up until this point, Miss Havisham was the elderly old lady that acted as a mother to Estella and constantly tells Estella to break mens' hearts. Now we learn the reason why this is. As a young woman, Miss Havisham fell in love with a young man and trusted her entire life to him. The young man, who was of a lower social class than she was, convinced her to buy his brother's brewery, which he intended to run. They were set to get married on Havisham's birthday and Havisham was already at the already waiting for him to come. But the young man never showed up and instead sent a note which Havisham saying that he did not intend to come. Havisham was devestated and could never get over the heart break and the sorrow of being left at the alter on her wedding day. So she locked herself up in her huge mansion, the Satis House, and never did go out since that day. Sometime later, she adopted Estella, and since she could not get revenge on the single young man that broke her heart, she resolved to get revenge on the entire male sex and encourages Estella to just that. She also intends to do this to Pip, who thinks that they are still set up to be married. Now, Pip is in the perfect position to have his heart broken, just like Miss Havisham all those years ago.

A New Life in London

Jaggers arramges for him and Pip to go to London, a city that Pip expects to be grand and full of new opportunities. Instead, he is disappointed by the stench and filth of the city, but is still eager to begin his training as a gentleman. He soon learns that Jaggers is a very important lawyer in London with many clients. Pip meets Wemmick, Jaggers' clerk, who seems very cynical at first, but later seems very lively in different situations. The most important character that Pip meets upon arriving in London is Herbert Pocket, who Pip asks to teach him how to be a gentleman, and they decide to live together after a pleasant dinner in which Herbert teaches Pip many table manners. Herbert is the son of Matthew Pocket, who becomes Pip's tutor and also likes Pip much, but does not have much power because he is constantly oblivious to what goes on around him. Pip quickly adjusts to his new surroundings and he establishes a new life for himself in London with a who new group of people.

Pip's dreams are going to come true!

Years pass as Pip being Joe's apprentice until one day, he goes to the Pip and sees Mr. Wopsle reading about a murder trial. A large lawyer dressed in dark clothes starts to question Wopsle about the details of the trial and Pip soon recongnizes him from the Satis House. Pip walks home with the lawyer, named Jaggers, who informs Pip that he will receive a large some of money from an unknown benefactor, and he will move to London to start learning how to be a gentleman, as long as Joe is ok with it. Joe lets Pip go and is happy that Pip is finally getting what he wanted. This decision by Joe truly shows how much love he has for Pip; that even though he wants to live with Pip and make Pip a blacksmith, Pip wants to become a gentleman to become of a higher social class, so he lets Pip despite his own desires. Pip suspects that his benefactor is Miss Havisham, because he had seen Jaggers before at his house and he thinks that her reason is to set him and Estella up. Preparing to leave for London, he feels sorry for leaving Joe and Biddy, because once Mrs. Joe died, they were his family and his entire life surrounded them. He is both excited and sorrowful; excited because he finally has the opportunity to be a gentleman and impress Estella, but sorrowful because he is abandoning everything that he had known all his life and the only two people that loved him. He promises to still be close with Joe and Biddy and not forget about them, but once he gets to London, his relationship with them will only go south.

Apprentice to a Blacksmith

The days pass and Pip continues going to the Satis House doing what Miss Havisham wants him to do and also playing with Estella more. He thinks that one day, Miss Havisham intends to make him a gentleman and raise his social class. However, these thoughts are all for naught, as instead, one day, Miss Havisham brings up the point that he is old enough to become an apprentice for Joe and in an instant, he realizes to his horror that Miss Havisham never intended for him to become of a higher social class. In fact, Miss Havisham helps him fill out his apprenticeship papers and soon, he is an apprentice for Joe. Mrs. Joe and Joe take him out to celebrate, but deep down, Pip becomes even more unsatisfied with his life and is desparately wanting to become a gentleman. Pip begins work at Joe's forge and does that for many years along with Orlick, a fellow worker that Pip cannot get along with. Soon, Pip loathes his life, but keeps his feelings to himself because he does not want Joe to be hurt. Finally, Pip cannot take it anymore and visits the Satis House against Joe's advice only to find out that Estella has been sent away. On the way home after going to Pumblechook's, he sees Orlick and gets home to see that Mrs. Joe has been attacked and is now brain-damaged. Pip feels horrible for what happened to Mrs. Joe, and although she was very strict, Pip still loved her because she took care of him when there was no one else and made him into what he is now.

The Lies of Pip

Once Pip returns home from Miss Havisham's house, Mrs. Joe, Joe, and Mr. Pumblechook are all eager to know what happened at the Satis House and what Pip did. However, Pip is deeply ashamed of how he was treated there and puts the blame on himself for being of such a low social class and being insulted. In addition, he feels that Mrs. Joe and Pumblechook will both be disappointed if he tells them what really happened because they had great expectations of him to do well and get Miss Havisham to like him. So, Pip lies about what they did and makes up stories of playing with flags and swords instead of telling them what really happened. Suprisingly, Pumblechook backs Pip up on some of the parts of his story. This is a huge event in the novel as this marks the first time that Pip shows his morals diminishing due to society. Also, it shows the first time that Pip has ever been unsatisfied with his life and wants more. Up until this point in his life, although it may have not been the best life, Pip was happy with it, and did not realize that there was much more than what he had. Now, because of his interaction with a higher class, he wants what he cannot get in both Estella and being of a higher social class. This want and desire causes Pip to be ashamed of what he is and as a result he lies and his morals are weakened by society. Pip still shows somewhat high ethics as he instantly feels guilty about what he did and tells Joe what really happened, but this marks the beginning in a steep downward spiral until Pip has been completely corrupted by society.

"What coarse hands and thick boots he has!"

A great deal of time passes from when the convicts are caught, and Pip resumes his normal life with Mrs. Joe and Joe. Mrs. Joe is terribly strict to both Pip and Joe and gets angry over the smallest things, while Joe is a blacksmith and Pip's closest friend and mentor. Later on, Pip goes to Mr. Wopsle's school and learns how to read and write and receives a decent education. One day, Pip's uncle, Mr. Pumblechook, gives news that he has arranged for Pip to go play at the Satis House, owned by Miss Havisham, an affluent elder lady. When Pip arrives, he meets a girl, Estella, who lives at the Satis House and Pip takes a great liking to because of her beauty. She takes him to see Miss Havisham, who is a very mysterious looking woman that has not seen the sun in years. Strangely, Pip is not frightened by her, and is ordered to play with Estella. Although Pip shows affection toward Estella, she does the opposite to him, and mocks him about his low social status with insults about things that he had not even realized before, such has his coarse hands and thick boots. Still, Pip enjoys the company of Estella despite her coldness and learns a lot about the high social class. In his encounter with Estella and Miss Havisham, Pip uncovers a type of living that he did not even existed before, and suddenly because of this, he realizes how low of a social class he is, and becomes unsatisfied with his way of living, which seemed perfectly fine before.