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Tiffany Chen
Ms. Gardner
English 10 Honors
11 March 2014
Overshadowing of Virtues
The Bildungsroman novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens is centered around the
protagonist Pip who grows up in the Kent marshlands and gradually rises in society to encounter
a bustling nineteenth-century London. When exposed to the materialistic upper class of society,
he develops an infatuation to rid himself of his low-lived (Dickens 63) life for the purpose of
embodying a gentleman. While struggling to achieve an artificial standard of living he
experiences a sequence of both gains and losses such as physical wealth, moral values, and
relationships. Pips irreversible development is highlighted thoroughly by the significant factors
of light and dark. The transitions between lighting convey the altering of Pips nature as
momentous encounters with Miss Havisham, Estella, and Magwitch gradually result in his
acquisitive perception towards life, pulling Pip into the darkness of a rigid social hierarchy.
In the exposition, Pip is brought to the Satis Housea dreary estate with limited
exposure to natural lightwhere he is introduced to Miss Havisham and Estella who instill
inferiority in him, causing his persistent disturbed and unthankful state (70). Before Pips
meeting with Miss Havisham and Estella, he viewed Joes forge as the glowing road to
manhood and independence (106), largely connotating Joes radiant influence on him. This
notion of light in Pips life is abandoned however, after his admiration for Joes virtuous
character is replaced with embarrassment in regards to his low social status. The masking of
Pips past ethics is emphasized after his first visit when he leaves Miss Havishams dismal room


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and recalls his perplexion towards the presence of natural light. Until she opened the side
entrance, I had fancied, without thinking about it, that it must necessarily be night-time. The rush
of the daylight quite confounded me, and made me feel as if I had been in the candlelight of the
strange room many hours. (60). Pips confusion of day and night signify the overshadowing of
his upright principles by an ambition fostered by inferiority acquired upon meeting Estella and
Miss Havisham. As they continue utilizing their social status to manipulate Pip, his ability to
comprehend the importance of moral values is obscured.
As transitions of light and darkness signify the weakening of Pips honest judgement,
they also foreshadow the effects of his harmful mindset and its role in skewing his progression in
life. The night Magwitch reveals his identity as the benefactor to Pips fortunes, a gloomy
atmosphere envelopes Pips room, the candles were wasted out, the fire was dead, and the wind
and rain intensified the thick black darkness. (325). Dickens associates the sudden transition of
darkness with Magwitchs arrival in order to signify the obliteration of Pips connections to his
optimistic past after the abrupt obtainment of wealth and social status. Pip further states that his
life at the forge would have been far from contented, yet, by comparison, happy! (322),
depicting the artificial appeal of materialism in social stratification that cloaked Pips radiant
integrity.
When Pip reflects on all his abandonments, a unification of darkness and light is
described: the establishment of balance in his revival of moral judgement, previously clouded by
the manipulation of social inequality is revealed. This mature comprehension attained through
the hardships of loss is distinct after one righteous man disregarded for years by Pip, cares for
him when he becomes gravely ill: Joe. Towards this, Pip reflects on the ambience, when I
looked on the loveliness around me, and thought how it had grown and changed, . . . . by day and


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by night, under the sun and under the stars, (472). The statement by day and by night depicts
his experiences which acted as either a radiant glow or a gloomy darkness in his life. Through
the misery of an insatiable love and loss of an invaluable relationship with Joe his perception
towards happiness is broadened and Pip develops an appreciation of genuineness in life.
By utilizing light and darkness, Dickens emphasizes the negativity and positivity
surrounding Pips experiences in a venture to grasp the true meaning of great expectations
(144). On the marshes, in the Satis House, within the bustling streets of London, Pips
experiences associated with light and darkness ultimately reflect on the detrimental effects of a
socially stratified environment and the crucial worth of morality. Great Expectations exemplifies
the insignificance of social class in the attainment of happiness and the means of embodying true
qualities of a gentleman (128).