Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens, narrates the life story of Pip, a blacksmith's apprentice, from his childhood to adulthood. Pip was born an orphan in a small village and cared for by his cruel sister, Mrs. Joe, and her husband Joe Gargery. One Christmas Eve, when meeting with the neighbors and relatives, such as Joe's Uncle Pumblechook, Pip had stolen and given food to an escaped convict out of fear. Pip later meets Miss Havisham, a wealthy but traumatized lady whose fiance tricked much of her fortune. After visiting her multiple times, Pip also meets Estella, Miss Havisham's adopted daughter, with whom he falls in love. One day, Pip suddenly gets informed by Mr. Jaggers, a lawyer, that a secret benefactor has supported him with a fortune. Supposing it is Miss Havisham who helped him, Pip goes to London where he enters high society and becomes a gentleman. In London, Pip goes into debt because of his large usage of money, which is later paid by his supportive brother-in-law, Joe. There, he realizes that his benefactor was actually the convict he helped when he was younger, who went by the name Provis. He and his friends in a failed attempt try to help Provis escape from the authorities. However, they do manage to get rid of Compeyson, Provis' rival and Miss Havisham's fiance. Provis later dies in prison, and Pip is welcomed by Joe and his new, better wife, Biddy when he goes back to his village. When Pip visits Miss Havisham's abandoned property once again, he reunites with Estella, and the two later marry.
The social class and position of people during their childhood greatly influence their living and working conditions later in life, whether it takes a turn for the better or the worse. All three of Charles Dickens’s novels center on the protagonist’s full life, including Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, and David Copperfield, which emphasize the importance of the born social class in one’s future life. In Great Expectations, Pip, the protagonist, is born into a poor village family in the working class. During childhood, Pip becomes a blacksmith’s apprentice and works in Joe’s forge until he meets Mr. Jaggers, who informed him about his anonymous benefactor willing to make Pip a gentleman. Later, his ‘commonness’ and low social class as a child motivated him to succeed as a gentleman and nobleman later on. In Oliver Twist, Oliver is in reality the son of a deceased nobleman, but his identity is hidden until the near end of the novel. Therefore, Oliver spends his childhood as an orphan in a workhouse; his previous, humble working and life conditions makes him a generous, innocent, and grateful boy. In David Copperfield, the protagonist is born in the high society in the arms of a single mother, who later remarries to a cruel and abusive man. His stepfather makes David go to work at a young age, and his experience there makes him more mature. Later, David’s success is supported by both his wife’s motivation and his wealthy Aunt Betsey. People’s social status as children and teenagers is a key factor contributing to their future careers and lives.
In addition to social class, people’s experiences, fate, and destiny affect the broad course of their future lives and careers. In Great Expectation, Oliver Twist, and David Copperfield, the main characters of the stories are influenced by their fate and experiences during their childhood. For instance, in Great Expectations, Pip becomes a blacksmith, his brother-in-law Joe, an apprentice at an extremely young age and often works at the forge. His working experience after meeting Estella is different from when Pip actually liked the forge; now, he feels embarrassed about his low social status and working conditions as a blacksmith’s apprentice. In addition, Pip’s fate of meeting and helping the convict when he was a little child changes the course of his life and makes him a gentleman, since the convict is actually Pip’s benefactor. In Oliver Twist, not only Oliver himself but many characters are directed by fate. Oliver is destined to meet with Fagin’s gang, and later, Mr. Brownlow and the Maylies. These people contributed greatly to Oliver’s life, as they helped him get out of the cruel abuse of the workhouse. Moreover, characters such as Fagin and his criminal gang are also destined in many ways: they are all fated to be criminals for life and later accept their punishment for their crimes. In David Copperfield, the protagonist’s life is similar to that of Pip’s in Great Expectations. For instance, they both are sent to work at a young age; David is forced by his step-father to go work as an apprentice. His time spent working gives him more experience and later provides him an opportunity to run away to Aunt Betsey as if it was his fate to do so. The experiences and destiny people are made to follow greatly influence the later course of their lives.
People’s surroundings, family members, friends, and enemies during their childhood all contribute to their future life and experience. In Charles Dickens’s novels, Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, and David Copperfield, the three main protagonists are greatly influenced in both positive and negative ways by their family conditions and surrounding people. For instance, in Great Expectations, Pip is influenced by the “commonness” and low social status of his family's condition, Estella, and Miss Havisham to desire to become a gentleman. Since he was an orphan and his guardian Joe was a blacksmith part of the working class, Pip is embarrassed by his social position, especially after Estella rudely emphasizes his low status and commonness. Although Pip is wisely advised by Biddy to ignore Estella and be happy with his own life at the blacksmith forge, he pursues the dream of being a gentleman and later achieves it. In Oliver Twist, Oliver is mostly forced to perform certain actions by Fagin and the criminal gang, although he always maintains his innocence and goodness. Fagin and his gang kidnap Oliver after he runs away from the Sowerberrys and make him participate in burglaries, but after a failed attempt, Oliver is saved and adopted by the kind Maylies and Mr. Brownlow. However, without Mr. Soweberry saving Oliver from the workhouse and Fagin kidnapping him, Oliver would never have met Mr. Brownlow and the Maylies. Both his enemies and friends contribute to Oliver’s future life happily staying with his good-hearted and supportive guardians. In David Copperfield, Clara Copperfield, his mother, and Mr. Murdstone, his evil step-father, both contribute greatly to David’s future career and household. For instance, David is shown to be interested in women who have similar characteristics to his mother, and so came to meet Dora Spenlow and later Agnes Wickfield, an improvement from his first marriage. Mr. Murdstone, on the other hand, makes David go to a cruel school and work as an apprentice at an extremely young age. However, these actions make David more mature and give him more childhood experience which influences his life later on. Both friends and enemies contribute greatly and influence people’s respectable lives in the near future.
In Charles Dickens’s novels including Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, and David Copperfield, many key factors in the protagonists’ childhood influence the course of their lives later on in the novel. In all three novels, the protagonists' born social class varies differently, but through many ups and downs, all three characters reach a high social status during adulthood or at the end of the novel. Pip is born into a low-leveled working class, but gradually makes his way up to a high position as a gentleman; Oliver Twist is born as an orphan in the workhouse while he is actually the son of a nobleman, and so becomes wealthy after discovering his true identity; David is born a nobleman and stays in the high social class all the way to adulthood. Moreover, the three characters’ lives are affected by their experience, fate, and surrounding people. They each have many working experiences during childhood, which make them more mature and understanding; the boys are each destined to a particular path that they either follow or ignore; and their surrounding family members, friends, and enemies each contribute to their adulthood and future life.
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