Great Expectations Post #2, Option 1

In the first book of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, the dramatic change in Pip's aspirations is caused by his several visits to Ms. Havisham's house. At the beginning of the novel, Pip was excited to be apprenticed by Joe as a blacksmith, but after going to the rich patron's house and meeting these new people, he is moved by the poise, level of education, and sheer sense of confidence displayed by Estella and Ms. Havisham that he suddenly wants nothing but to achieve that same gentile-like stature. "'Though [Estella] called me "boy" so often, and with a carelessness that was far from complementary, she was of about my own age. She seemed much older than I, of course, being a girl, and beautiful and self-possessed; and she was as scornful of me as if she had been one-and-twenty, and a queen'" (56). Even though the two are about the same way, Pip could not help but notice how so different they are by the way they act. Estella constantly bilittles Pip and calls him names, but the way in which she speaks shows great pride, confidence, and eloquence. And when Ms. Havisham has her guests to visit for her birthday, she gives of a very similar aura. "'Matthew will come and see at last,' said Miss Havisham, sternly, 'when I am laid on that table. That wil be his place - there,' striking the table with her stick, 'at my head! And yours will be there! And your husband's there! And Sarah Pocket's there! And Georgiana's there! Now you all know where to take your stations when you come to feast upon me. And now go!'" (88). Miss Havisham has such a strong sense of confidence and conviction that she demands those who are her friends how they should behave at her own funeral. The sense of power that radiates off of her is simply captivating to almost all around her. The way in which he describes Estella and Ms. Havisham suggests that he does not appreciate the company of Estella but after his first day at Ms. Havisham's residence, he can't help but be persuaded that he must be of a higher standard. "I took the oppurtunity...to look at my coarse hands and my common boots. My opinion of these was not favourable. They had never troubled me before, but they troubled me now, as vulgar appendages...I wished Joe had been rather more genteelly brought up, and then I should have been so too" (62). It only took a few hours for Pip to be extremely influenced by the only presence of those who are "uncommon", when all his life he saw absolutely nothing wrong with his lifestyle. All because of the strong feeling of power and self confidence displayed by two members of the aristocracy, Pip unwillingly lost content with his life and his forseeable future.