gwitch to break his bonds and, later, the inevitable, albeit short-lived, circumstance of apprenticeship for young Pip. Joe Gargery, is Pip’s conscience throughout the novel. Joe represents purity and honesty and innocence and reminders of these qualities to Pip as he begins his ascendancy as a gentleman. Joe is Pip’s link with his past, and, as is oftentimes the result, can be a source of embarrassment and guilt for Pip even though he does nothing but live a good life and harms no one.Great Expectations is a myriad of familial situations that not only provide background for the reader but also help develop the plot and circumstances that affect our young hero, Pip. Dickens uses the thread of family to weave his story into an effective entertainment. Pip’s immediate family of Mrs. Joe and Joe Gargery merely sets the stage for the reader as to the importance that familial ties will have throughout the remainder of the novel.A central character in Great Expectations to whom Pip makes frequent visits and through whom Dickens continues his emphasis upon familial relationships is Miss Havisham. Miss Havisham lives with an adopted daughter, Estella, about whom more will be said later. Miss Havisham is a matriarchal person whose bitter attitude toward men stems from her ill-fated wedding plans many years earlier. Disappointment reigns in the Havisham household as all the clocks in the house are stopped at the precise moment that the wedding plans disintegrated. A wedding cake remains untouched but crumbling from the passage of time. Miss Havisham, herself, wears the yellowed wedding gown and moves by wheelchair from room to room never venturing to enjoy the light of day.Miss Havisham is a rich woman. Dickens makes use of this fact on several different levels each of which contributes greatly to his story. First, of course, Pip’s expectations are certainly on the rise when he is invited to play at Miss Havisham’s h...
