The Hero Journey in Great Expectations

Great Expectations through Archetypal Theory

Great expectations is a book written by Charles Dickens which is a depiction of the life of a poor guy, Pip, who strives to become a gentleman to gain the love of a woman.

If you haven’t read the book you will not recognize the hero characteristics of his protagonist. In fact, Pip is this poor guy who wanted to a gentleman (high-class man) to get the love of Estella – a rich girl. We will analyze the Hero journey according to this article.

1-     Ordinary world

             The protagonist is Pip, an orphan boy who lived in Kent. He lived with her sister and brother-  in-law in. He was poor and did not have an education.

2-     Call to Adventure

            The hero journey makes a call to the hero, generally, in a unique way. The case of Pip is when   his Uncle Pumblechook took him to play at Satis House. This is the House of Miss Havisham which is a rich widow. There, Pip meets a gorgeous girl, Estella. She is the reason why Pip wants to become a gentleman. He wants to make money and gain status to marry Estella. However, making money and become a gentleman is not easy, but a difficult journey.

3-     Refusal of the call

           His refusal to become a gentleman is not completely up to him but his situation. He was told to be apprenticed to be a blacksmith and learn to forge iron. Pip meets Orlick who eventually will attempt to kill him. This guy makes Pip’s life impossible while he was working as a blacksmith. Pip felt uncomfortable because his dream was not to be a blacksmith.

4-     Meeting the mentor

          Time past and Jaggers who is a lawyer appears an amazing new to Pip. An unknown benefactor has given a fortune to Pip, and he has to go to London to start to learn to be a gentleman. Jaggers is the mentor who will teach him how the upper-class world works.

5-     Crossing the Threshold

         This is evident when Pip is required to go to London; a different world, expectations, and culture. He knows he will never be the same.

6-     Tests and allies

         In London, he meets Pocket and Wemmick who become his friends. He starts his education led by Pocket’s father, but Pip feels nostalgia for his sister and brother-in-law. However, he still wants to receive education to marry Estella- his love. He is now twenty-one years old and his he starts to receive his fortune. Tragic events make him come back to his house. Pip went to his sister funeral and Orlick appears again in Pip’s life. Orlick did not have good intents. He also discovers the truth about the origin of his fortune. He finds out his benefactor is a convict called Magwitch.

7-     Approach

        Pip comes back to his hometown and sees many changes. Miss Havisham asked Pip to forgive her because she used Estella to play with Pip’s feelings. Estella married with an upper-class man, Drummle.

8-     Ordeal, Death & Rebirth

        Pip is summoned to a secret meeting by a stranger who turned to be Orlick. This one tries to kill Pip but Herbert and his friends saved Pip’s life. Pip helps a convict, Magwitch, to escape; however, they were found by the police and Magwitch which is the origin of Pip’s fortune, was sentenced to death. Pip eventually loses his fortune. Pip was disappointed because he had great expectations that could not be reached- marry Estella and be a gentleman. He tries to marry Biddy but this one had married his ex-brother-in-law. 

9-     Reward

       Pip felt devastated, so he decides to go abroad with his friend Herbert. He learned that looking for wealth and status does not make people happy. On the contrary, he regrets to have lost the best moments with his loved ones.

10-  The Road Back

      Years passed and he comes back to regain the love of Estella. He finds out that she was treated badly by his husband, so he approached her to revive feelings.

11-  Resurrection

      Drummle, the evil husband of Estella, dies. Estella has changed, she is not cold and cruel to Pip but kind. They get together and leave the town hand in hand.

12-  Return with Elixir

      They were finally together with the hope to never separate. Pip past through a lot of trouble to make his dream come true. He thought that becoming rich would let him get the woman he wanted and be happy, but he found out that friendship and love are better tools to get what he wanted.

Great Expectations meets the twelve steps of the hero journey. In fact, the story of Pip works as a motivational to strive to be better in life. Pip Is an example of patience and hardship necessary to succeed in life. At the end, he was changed by the circumstances and found that money and status are not the key to success but love and friendship.

The End…