Pip And Joe Gargery Essay

Arath Jauregui

Charles Dickens is known to be the master of characterization. A perfect example is Great Expectations, which is one of his most successful stories due to the very complex group of characters he created. Each character has their own set of traits that makes them unique and different from each other. Two of the characters Dickens develops to their full potential are Joe Gargery and Pip.

Out of all the characters Dickens created in Great Expectations, only Joe Gargery stays relatively good throughout the entire story. Joe stands out the most because he is the only kind-hearted character in the book. In Chapter 5, Joe says, “God knows you 're welcome to it,—so far as it was ever mine. We don 't know what you have done, but we wouldn 't have you starved to death for it, poor miserable fellow-creature...” Joe says this after the convict claims to have stolen food from Joe’s house in order for Pip to not get in trouble. This shows that Joe is kind-hearted because he does not hold any

Although Joe worries about others, there’s no one he cares for and loves the most than Pip. Joe and Pip’s relationship is that of a father and son. In Chapter 4, Pip explains, “But he always aided and comforted me when he could, in some way of his own, and he always did so at dinner-time by giving me gravy, if there were any.” In this scene, Joe serves gravy on Pip’s plate every time the adults scorn him about something. This shows how much Joe cares for Pip’s feelings; he always tries to help him in any way he can by doing little things like serving Pip gravy. In Chapter 6, Pip says, “The fear of losing Joe 's confidence, and of thenceforth sitting in the chimney corner at night staring drearily at my forever lost companion and friend, tied up my tongue.” Pip is deciding whether or not to tell Joe that he stole his file and food for the prisoner. This shows that Pip loves Joe just as much because he fears Joe will never forgive him for lying, and their friendship