Joe Gargery Character Analysis

Symbols are physical objects that manifest deeper concepts through attributes of that object. In culture, symbols are heavily used for religious or commercial purposes. Specifically, the entire United States economy relies on the promise of the dollar, a piece of paper, that symbolises monetary worth throughout the nation. Symbols are powerful tools that many authors use to demonstrate connections between foil characters and events that shape protagonists. In Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, symbols are used to portray leaders and important events that guide Pip, a simple boy from the marshes who becomes so much more. Dickens uses symbols to portray characters who bend, shape, and guide Pip through his journey to becoming a gentleman. To open up the novel, pathetic fallacies of the weather and nature fill the

Joe has a strong hand, quiet tongue, and gentle heart; he is Pips protector and friend. Joe’s occupation is a blacksmith which was most likely meticulously picked by Dickens for the attributes associated with the job. When a blacksmith forges and object, it is chemically changed with fire. Joe does so with both physical objects and Pip’s personality. The symbol of fire brings warmth and life to the cold, wet marshes. Joe’s warmth gives Pip a chance, for if not for Joe’s love and protection, Pip would have lived solely with his sister and could have turned into another lost child, or worse, Magwitch. One of the main differences between Magwitch and Pip being that Pip has a friend and Magwitch only has a hateful competitor Compeyson. “There is no fire like the forge fire” in Joe’s home, especially when the threat of Mrs. Joe is neutralized. In his home is where Pip gains compassion and the gentle kindness that is constantly radiating off of Joe. The idea of rebirth through fire leads Pip into the next stages of his life which are bound to test