Great Expectations:The Evolution of Pip

In Great Expectations, Pip goes through stages of moral maturity. Over the course of the novel, Pip learns lifelong lessons that result from pain, guilt, and shame. Pip evolves from a young boy filled with shame and guilt to a selfish, young man, and finally into a man who has true concern for others. Pip goes through three stages in the novel; shame and guilt, self-gratification, and his stage of redemption. The first stage of …

…he had all along- a man who loved him like a son, a man who was there through thick and thin. Joe Gargery was the only constant in Pip's life. Joe was the same man at the end of the novel that he was in the beginning. Shame and guilt never took control of him; that is why he was able to save Pip. In the end, Pip manages to become a respectful, true gentlemen