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Mrs. Rich

English, Per. 1/2

02 September 2009

A Father for Pip

Charles Dickens’s novel Great Expectations is about an orphan named Pip, who is being

raised by his sister and her husband. He comes into a great fortune by means of a secret

benefactor, and so leaves his home for London to be a gentleman. The book follows Pip into

manhood, along with his exploits and trials along the way. Throughout the story, several father

figures were very prominent. These included Joe, Jaggers, and Magwitch.

Joe is the husband of Pip’s sister, and has known Pip the longest of the three, ever since

Pip was a boy. All through Great Expectations, from beginning to end, Joe shows his love for

Pip. For example, at dinner in the beginning of the book, he is concern when he notices that Pip

is not eating. When Mrs. Joe is about to hurt Pip, Joe steps in to stop her. When Pip is ill and

bed-ridden, Joe nurses him back to health. When Pip gets into tremendous debt, Joe pays it off.

Another good example of Joe’s love for Pip would be when Mr. Jaggers comes to take Pip away

to become a gentleman. He offers Joe money for compensation. Joe is outraged at the very idea

that money could replace his dear Pip, going so far as to cry out, “‘If you think as Money can

make compensation to me for the loss of the little child . . . and ever the best of friends!—‘”

(150). The relationship between Joe and Pip could be best described in those words, “ever the

best of friends”.

Mr. Jaggers acts as Pip’s father when Pip first leaves his boyhood home for London.

Jaggers is a powerful lawyer hired by Pip’s benefactor to be his guardian. He is the most

impersonal of the three, even stating to Pip that “‘I am paid for my services, or I shouldn't render
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them.’” (148). He refers to himself as Pip’s ‘guardian’, and says several times throughout the

book that he is simply doing his job. Nevertheless, he takes care of Pip on his journey to

manhood. Mr. Jaggers gives Pip advice, and tries to keep him safe, such as after Magwitch

reveals himself as Pip’s benefactor. Jaggers plays a large role in shaping the adult that Pip would

grow up to be.

Magwitch, an escaped convict from the beginning of the story, is perhaps the strangest of

them all. He knew Pip the least, but felt the strongest emotions for him, willing to sacrifice so

much to see him succeed. When Magwitch was sent to Australia, he made a fortune as a sheep

farmer. Instead of using that money to increase his own position, he became Pip’s secret

benefactor, responsible for all of Pip’s fortune. Later in the novel, Magwitch risks his life to

return to London, solely to see what Pip has made of himself. Magwitch, like Joe, loves Pip like

a father, but his love was born out of a single chance encounter in the marshes when Pip was a

boy, coupled with Magwitch’s desire to create a gentleman of his own making. When Magwitch

reveals himself to Pip, he expresses his love for Pip very clearly in saying, “‘Look'ee here, Pip.

I'm your second father. You're my son - more to me nor any son. I've put away money, only for

you to spend.’” (340). And certainly, towards the end of Great Expectations, Pip has learned to

care for Magwitch in the same way he does him. He risks everything he has to arrange him

passage away from Britain.

As can be seen, each of these characters, in their own unique way, act as Pip’s father.

But who, it may be asked, came the closest to being Pip’s true father? Magwitch, although with

the potential to have been Pip’s closest father figure, was separate from Pip’s life for too long,

and part of it again for too little. If he had been given the chance to bond and share with Pip,

instead being hanged, then who knows what might have happened. Jaggers had a large influence

on the young Pip, but failed to be truly loved and cared for by his “son”. Joe is perhaps closer to
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a true father to Pip than anyone gets in the novel. He has shown himself to love Pip

unconditionally, with or without Pip’s reciprocation. When Pip is ill, he pleads to Joe to show

him some unkindness, to repay for his treatment of Joe earlier through the story. Joe is baffled by

the thought, telling him, “‘Pip, old chap, you and me was ever friends.’” (493). That is the mark

of a true father.