In “Great Expectations,” a book by Charles Dickens, Pip is a multifaceted and dynamic character. Pip experiences considerable changes in his personality, motivations, and behaviours as a result of his voyage of self-discovery. Pip’s growth as a character in the book will be examined in this article along with pertinent quotes.

Pip is portrayed at the start of the book as a shy and sensitive little child, influenced by his impoverished environment. He want to live a better life and become a gentleman. However, his first encounters with the prisoner Magwitch have a lasting impact on him. Pip realises the effect his interaction with Magwitch had on him when he thinks back on it:

“…I felt a perfect protection in the change of manner. He had put his hands in his pockets, and slowly sat down on the rusty, smoky grate. ‘You can’t do better nor keep quiet, dear boy. You ain’t looked slowly forward to this as I have; you wosn’t prepared for this as I was’” (Chapter 5).

The context makes it clear that Pip experiences mixed feelings as a result of his meeting with the Magwitch. By Magwitch’s rugged exterior and criminal past, he is both terrified and fascinated. The shift that Pip would experience as the novel goes on is hinted at by this interaction.

Pip grows fixated on being a gentleman and escaping his modest beginnings as his expectations shift. He distances himself from his loved ones by become haughty and self-centered. He starts to feel bad about himself and wants to change. He freely acknowledges:

“I was not at all happy as I sat here thinking about myself, but that I was rather uncomfortable… I was ashamed of home, ashamed of the dear old forge in which Joe and I worked together, ashamed of my old fellow apprentices, ashamed of myself” (Chapter 20).