In the bildungsroman, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Pip grows up and acquires a plethora of money, ultimately changing him and his character. As readers watch Pip grow into a wealthy young man, they also witness his morals change. Pip and Joe were always close when he lived in the marshes, ever since Pip moved to London, he started talking with disrespect to Joe. Pip does not care what Joe thinks of him now because to Pip, Joe is just another commoner with no money. Their friendship was valuable but Pip gave it up for money, that act shows Pip’s character and morals. Exploring the theme of maturity, Dickens illustrates Pip’s feelings of superiority over Joe through Pip’s diction and condescension. Utilizing diction and symbolism to emphasize the ‘common’ in Joe but the elegance of Pip. As Pip describes Joe’s arrival: I knew it was Joe, by his clumsy manner of coming up-stairs-- his state boots being always too big for him--and by the time it took him to read the names on the other floors in the course of his ascent. (Dickens 195) Pip’s use of words such as “clumsy” and “too big” express a feeling of power against Joe. Defining someone as clumsy has a denotation of them …show more content…
In London Pip gets attention or being wealthy, this comes with the reputation of elegance and maturity, yet when Joe visits, these connotations get wrecked. Pip uses diction to portray his annoyance with Joe being there. He uses small details to pick apart Joe as immature and not qualified to have money. As Pip describes how Joe playing with his hat is childish during their conversation: Indeed, it demanded from him a constant attention, and a quickness of eye and hand very like that exacted by wicket-keeping. He made extraordinary play with it, and showed the greatest skill; now rushing at it and catching it neatly as it dropped; now, merely stopping it midway, beating it up… (Dickens