American author and editor, Russell Lynes, said, “A true snob never rests; there is always a higher goal to attain, and there are, by the same token, always more and more people to look down upon.” Although some rich people may earn their wealth, the fact remains that people who have money tend to be pretentious. However, this may not be true for all many believe they are elitists compared to others with a smaller paycheck or in Victorian time, a different social status. It is not uncommon to witness a man or woman behind the wheel of a high-end car drive as if they owned the road, oblivious to the drivers around them. In Charles Dickens’ novel, Great Expectations, Estella is raised in the highest of classes by Miss Havisham. Surrounded by …show more content…
Pip, growing up in a family of blacksmiths, decides to climb the social ladder by becoming a gentleman and never returns to see his family after he adjusts to his new lifestyle. In Great Expectations, Dickens supports the idea that rich people are snobs through Estella’s judgment of Pip as he attends to Miss Havisham and Pip’s later neglect of Joe and Biddy after he becomes a gentleman. Dickens supports the mindset that the wealthy are snobbish when Pip becomes overwhelmed with the uncanny objects and wealth that surround him inside Miss Havisham’s home. As strange as wealth seems to be to Pip, poverty and the lower class seems to disgust Estella. After being asked by Miss Havisham to play with “the boy” and fulfill her “sick fancies,” Estella laughs at the fact that Miss Havisham would even consider asking such a question of her: “‘With this boy! Why, he is a common labouring-boy”’ (Dickens 60). Eventually, Estella decides to only play with Pip in order to benefit herself, doing so by breaking his heart. The