The theme of guilt can be explored through two main relationships in Great Expectations. As an innocent child who grows up to be an equally innocent young adult, Pip’s relationships are varied and complex. Dickens presents Pip’s guilt in his relationship with his brother-in-law, Joe Gargery. A simple man, Joe has unbounded love for Pip. He has been responsible for rearing him and has instilled in him a kindness that he would not have known if he were left to his sister alone. When Pip begins his journey to becoming a gentleman, however, he turns his back on Joe because of Joe’s simple and countrified ways. Estella poked fun at Pip for things that Pip learned from Joe. In his rejection of Joe, Pip acknowledges his guilty feelings, but pushes past them and continues to work at being the gentleman that he envisions himself to becoming. When Abel Magwitch reveals himself to be Pip’s benefactor, Pip feels guilt toward the source of his money, as well as ashamed for his self-delusion in believing that he was being groomed by Miss Havisham as Estella’s future husband. In both cases (Joe and Magwitch), Pip reverts to the kindness that Joe had taught him. He walks away from London and the life of a gentleman to become a simple clerk. He stays by Magwitch’s side until the ex-convict dies. He ceases to ignore his guilt, faces it, and uses it to remake himself into a man who has the true nature of a real gentleman.
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