Growing up (and growing wiser)

• Great Expectations is a book about growing up. The reader meets Pip when he is seven, and follows his life until he meets Estella again (after 11 years apart) at the age of 35.
• The proper term for this kind of story is the German word bildungsroman [bildungsroman: A type of novel that tells about the the early moral, psychological, and intellectual development of the main character. The Harry Potter books are a modern-day example. ] (meaning 'instruction novel').
• The fact that Pip is also the narrator of the story makes it more instructive, because he is able to interpret the meaning of what is happening, as well as see it through a child's eyes.

• The reader lives Pip's life with him, and we see:

  • the way contact with rich people makes him dissatisfied.
  • how coming into money makes him shallow and selfish, and unhappy.
  • how trying to find love with a beautiful, yet cruel, girl makes him unhappy - the plain, good girl would have been better.
  • how disappointments change his character for the better.
  • how Pip is happier when he settles down to a decent living through hard work - this is one of the main messages of the novel.