It's funny how we want so many material goods, without realizing that we are already surrounded by so many priceless things. We all want a new iPhone, ultra-fast computer, unnecessarily expensive clothes, luxury cars, ect., but yet we take so many important things for granted. This trait of so many of ours is incredibly apparent in many instances, for example, when we hear about people loosing their homes to natural disasters. With their homes, goes almost everything in it. Surprisingly enough, people who lose their homes talk not about the laptop that the lost, or the shoes that the lost, or the purse that they lost, but they almost always talk about the memories that they lost. It's not until people encounter these types of events, that they typically realize just how much that they took every priceless thing for granted, and realize that the material stuff just simply isn't so crucial.
Along with many other life examples, this trait is clearly apparent in Pip's mind from Great Expectations. Pip was once a little boy with a tough life, but he was obviously grateful for his best companion, Joe. But, as soon as he was introduced to the high life of Miss Havisham and Estella, he automatically decided that his life was no where near good enough. He lacked the realization that, although Estella had a big house and never had to work, the house that she lived in was plain creepy, along with her motherly figure, Miss Havisham. He began to forget about the priceless friend he had, Joe; in this sense, he was lucky compared to Estella. All he wanted was riches.
After years of never ending want, Pip was told that he wishes would finally be fulfilled. He would soon become a gentlemen, well-respected and highly educated. He began to feel superior to Joe and he couldn't wait to start his new life, as an uncommon man. But, as he started his journey out to London, away from home, he began to overwhelmingly miss Joe. Every stop he made, made him think of turning back toward him, even though the new life that he was only hours from starting was all he ever wanted. He wanted material goods, but only now did he find that he took the priceless things(and people) for granted, just as the best of us would.
It's easy to stop liking Pip, at this point in the story, because of how ungrateful that we found that he is, but before jumping to the conclusion that he has a rotten mind, we must remember that his ungratefulness is really just an exaggeration of what so many of us are like. This novel has already taught me a lesson to not be this person, but to appreciate what my, already great life, has to offer, and not to drool over what others have that I may not.
This is a thoughtful and well-written post. So many of my student dislike Pip last year, but they failed to realize that they were very similar to Pip. Your empathy and understanding shows maturity. Furthermore your writing is expectional; my favorite line: "Surprisingly enough, people who lose their homes talk not about the laptop that the lost, or the shoes that the lost, or the purse that they lost, but they almost always talk about the memories that they lost."
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