Great Expectations Essay

Life in Victorian times was hard for most people, but it was extremely brutal for blacksmiths. Toiling away for hours a day in a hot forge pounding hot metal into shape is a job that anyone would cringe at, but in Victorian times, it also put you near the bottom of the social ladder. Most people would be worried about much money they had, and completely forget the people they love in life, or completely forget about trying to be happy in life. In Charles Dickens’s classic novel Great Expectations, Joe is the embodiment of the main theme, love, and how beneficial it is to love everybody around.
Joe’ relationship with Pip is a long and winding one. Joe and Pip first meet at a very young after Pip’s parents died and he has to live with his sister and her husband. Initially, Joe’s love for Pip is more like a brotherly love, a relationship filled with jokes and eating contests. Joe also stands up for Pip if his sister is being too strict with Pip. As they both grow older, Joe finally starts acting like a father figure to Pip. When Mr. Jaggers first approaches Pip and Joe about Pip’s windfall, Joe does the mature thing in letting Pip choose, instead of just forcing a decision on him. After Pip moves to London, he begins to realize how much Joe really did to him. Whenever Joe visits, Pip cherishes it, but Joe is always intimidated by his newfound wealth and always acts as if he’s below him. However, as Pip becomes an adult Joe realizes what an effect his love had on Pip, and they once again become best friends.
Joe not only has love for Pip, but for others in his life. Joe’s first wife, Pip’s sister, is not quite the perfect person. She is often cold towards Pip, despite him being her brother, and she is described as being tall and unattractive. Yet, Joe still loves her with all his heart, showing that Joe doesn’t care about surface appearances and can still find something to love in her. After Mrs. Joe’s accident, she is left unable to walk and speak, and barely living. Throughout, this time Joe still remains faithful to her, though she can barely do anything, up until her death. After she dies, Joe’s love becomes focused on Biddy and they eventually get married. Biddy resembles Joe, in that she is always loving and caring. Biddy was one of Pip’s first teachers and has a fondness for him, always trying to do what’s best for him. As Pip is about to leave for London, he tells Biddy about how he loves Estella. Biddy tries to warn him that she will just hurt him, but Pip is too angry to listen to her advice. After Biddy and Joe get married, they have a child, naming it Pip.
Throughout the novel, Joe is one of the only characters who consistently loves others around him and is truly happy in life. Though this is a tragic novel, and there are many dark characters and events in it, Joe appears as a sliver of light in a dark world.