Shame is a social punishment that everyone goes through at some point in their lives. It is meant to embarrass the person being shamed so that they may either learn or fix something, or it may even cause someone to change their life behaviors afterwards. In Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, as well as David Brooks’ The Shame Culture, shame is depicted as a very powerful tool that can be used at both the giver and receiver’s discretion to cause a course of action for change.
In the book “The Things They Carried” two stories show that shame is a strong feeling that human beings experienced and can make humans do things that they wouldn’t do. In the story "On The Rainy River '' By Tim O’Brien the example below shows what the feeling of shame can do mentally to a person “my conscience told me to run, but some irrational and powerful force was resisting, like a weight pushing me toward the war. What it came down to, stupidly, was a sense of shame.
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.
Dickens goes on to describe Ignorance and Want in a pitiful manner
“Shame should be reserved for the things we choose to do, not the circumstances that life puts on us.” Ann Patchett, american author. Throughout the stories we have read this semester shame is a common feeling amongst the characters. They are all seen as shameful for different reasons but still are clearly connected, in all three books society is a large reason they are feeling shameful. In Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, Huck feels ashamed that he wants to help Jim escape.
The reason for this was, if Pip would have let Joe know in advance, Joe would have let Pip marry Biddy in a heart beat and take his place. Pip knew that Joe was such a giving man that he would do that, and he was thankful because know he knew that he would be happy. Joe's mood also shows that he is forgiving. When Pip realized that he had acted rudely to Joe, Biddy, and others as well, he went to seek for their forgiveness. However, Joe replied with, "Oh dear old Pip, old chap, God knows as I forgive you, if I have anythink to forgive!"
The Reality of Shame Shame is a self-conscious emotion that arises from the perception that one has done something dishonorable or something is wrong about oneself. In the Scarlet Letter and The Price of Shame, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Monica Lewinsky depict the effects of shame and public embarrassment on the mortified victim and humanity as a whole. Their arguments project various themes such as humanity thriving on public humiliation, people deserving redemption, being upstanders and not bystanders, and labeling shame victims with objects.
Pip was shocked by this as well, stating that he, “... stood with a hand on the chair-back and a hand on my breast, where I seemed to be suffocating…” This ironic situation ended up changing Pip’s perspective on his place in his society, and was crucial to his character evolution. This is shown when Pip suddenly felt bad for leaving Joe and Biddy, stating, “Long-suffering and loving, Joe, you never complain. Nor you, sweet-tempered Biddy.” This shows that the ironic situation changed Pip’s perspective and was crucial to his character
Before Joe and Biddy were married, Pip tries to apologize to them both. He says, “And now, though I know you have already done it in your own kind hearts, pray tell me, both, that you forgive me! Pray let me hear you say the words, that I may carry the sound of them away with me, and then I shall be able to believe that you can trust me, and think better of me, in the time to come!” (Dickens 856). This was his apology that shows that by the end of the novel Pip becomes aware of what this imprisonment has done to him and how cruel he was to Joe.
Picture this: a woman is getting arrested for shoplifting at the local Giant. As the cops take her away, a cluster of onlookers begins to form. Sure, they don’t know the story, but one thing for certain is that she really wanted that milk. She knows the story, however: that her husband just left her, leaving two kids and herself without a source of money. The conflict is that she shoplifted, so she committed a crime.
However, as the novel goes on, it is portrayed as more of a “job” which is already making Pip lose some of that innocence to begin with. After years of being apprenticed, Pip is feeling “ashamed of home” and how he “liked [Joe’s trade] once, but not now” (Dickens 82). Pip is slowly drifting away from the forge where his innocence once was and because it is a job to Pip, now more than ever, his innocence is drifting away like his passion for his job. In Pip’s life, “never has that curtain so heavy and blank, as when my way in life lay… in the apprenticeship of Joe” (Dickens 83). Pip does not hate Joe, but the apprenticeship at the forge.
(132). Pip does not look forward to going to London because that means not being able to see Estella anymore. He thinks London would not bring him any good at all. However, he meets Herbert, a shipping merchant, who gives Pip an opportunity that later on makes a difference in the way he views happiness in life. Pip
Joe Gargery exemplifies the theme of the power of friendship in this book. When Pip prepares to go to London, he gives Joe a very mean and snobby attitude. He even lets on that Joe and his background cause him embarrassment, “I have been thinking, Joe, that when I go downtown on Monday, and order my new clothes, I shall tell the tailor that I 'll come and put them on there, or that I 'll have them sent to Mr. Pumblechook 's. It would be very disagreeable to be stared at by all the people here,” (page 126). Throughout Pip leaving on a sour note, Joe always remains around for Pip. Joe even meets Pip in London and tells Pip that he cares about him and understands the social divide and changes that have taken place, “Pip, dear old chap, life is made of ever so many partings welded together, as I may say, and one man’s a blacksmith, and one’s a whitesmith, and one’s a goldsmith, and one’s a coppersmith.
In section 27 when Joe comes to see Pip, he treats Joe in an alternate way than before on the grounds that Joe was currently in a lower social class. His sentiments about Joe 's entry were "Not with delight... I had the most keen affectability as to his being seen by Drummle." (p. 203). He was unable to avoid the fact that Drummle will look down on him due to Joe 's lower class.
Additionally, Pip's immaturity is truly evident when he asks Biddy if she could teach Joe everything she knows because he is ashamed of his lack of knowledge. Lastly, as Pip comes into his expectations, he is blessed with more and more money. Pip receives an endless supply of money which causes him to spend munificently. He spends all of his money on self-centered luxuries to impress the other young rich gentlemen.
