In Great Expectations Pip is devastated to discover that the convict he helped years ago in the swamps is the benefactor of his riches in life. His anguish is exemplified by the fact that he abandoned his faithful friend Joe for the life that the convict Magwitch gave him. His greatest pain, however, stemmed from the fact that he believed he could never win Estella's love upon learning that she had married Bentley Drummel. Pip remained depressed about his situation until he discovered the truth about Estella's parents. The strange coincidence of these results causes Pip to change his attitude towards his further expectations and start believing again that he might still have a chance with Estella. Clearly the story is already well underway before any indication is made of the truth about Estella being an adopted child. of Miss Havisham. After this is established through the revelation of Herbert telling Pip this story, Pip gradually begins to gather clues of his own from different sources. He notices the similarities of Molly, Jagger's housekeeper, and questions Wemmick about her resemblance to Estella. Then Pip continues his search by questioning Miss Havisham about Estella's past. Magwitch's revelations begin to weave the story together in Pip's mind as he puts all his discoveries together into one neat little package. That package is the image of Estella's real parents. What is most interesting as the clues unfold are the connections between Estella, Magwitch and Miss Havisham with the lawyer Mr. Jaggers. For each of them he provided a service or was employed by them. In addition to their connection to Jaggers, they were all connected to inmate Compeyson through his victimization of them, each in a different way. Pip sees all these connections gradually through his fact-finding. Through his efforts he is strangely affected by Estella's parents' real realization of the truth. Pip continues to question and observe the actions of those connected to his question to corroborate his hypotheses. He doesn't really understand his intention to prove the identity of Estella's parents. Just before Pip comes to the conclusion that Molly might be Estella's mother, his depression is discussed by referring to his mood of stopping reading newspapers since he heard the news of Estella's marriage to Drummle. Then Pip looks at Molly and decides that she is the woman who definitely gave birth to Estella.