Pip's Unrealistic Expectations One of the most important and common tools that authors use to illustrate the themes of their works is a character who undergoes several major changes over the course of the story. In Great Expectations, Charles Dickens introduces the reader to many intriguing and memorable characters, including the eccentric recluse Miss Havisham, the shrewd and attentive lawyer, Mr. Jaggers, and the benevolent convict, Abel Magwitch. However, Great Expectations is the story of Pip, his initial dreams and subsequent disappointments that ultimately lead him to become a truly good person. The significant changes in Pip's character are very important to one of the novel's many themes. Dickens uses Pip's deterioration from an innocent boy into an arrogant gentleman and his redemption as a person of good character to illustrate the idea that unrealistic hopes and expectations can lead to undesirable traits. At the beginning of the novel, Pip is characterized as a harmless, thoughtful boy, who attracts a lot of sympathy from the reader even though he is content with his ordinary life at that point. The reader most likely develops warm and sympathetic feelings towards Pip only after the first two pages of the novel, which introduce the fact that Pip's parents are "dead and gone" and that the orphan has never seen "any resemblance of neither" ( Charles Dickens, Great Expectations, New York, Penguin Putnam, Inc., 1998, p. Pip's confrontation with the condemned man presents his harmless and innocent nature. When Magwitch first grabs the boy, Pip he simply replies, "Oh! Don't cut my throat, sir, Ö Please don't sir" (p. 2). So, Pip is forced to submit to the convict's demands, mainly because of his naive fear... in between a la carte… as he is physically capable. In the forge Pip no longer shows any feelings of shame or arrogance because he is now content and cheerful in his old surroundings. In fact, he even asks, “Now let me go up and have a look at the my old room... And then, when I have eaten and drunk with you, come with me up to the finger, dear Joe and Biddy, before saying goodbye." -hello" (p. 484). At the conclusion of Great Expectations, the reader most likely finds Pip's fate acceptable and entertaining. Early in his life, he had transformed from an innocent, thoughtful boy into an arrogant young man due to his unrealistic hopes and expectations. However, when those expectations end, so do his undesirable traits, as he proves himself to be a truly good-natured person. Therefore, it is fitting that, in both of Dickens's final episodes, Pip is happy and satisfied with the his life.