3 Things I Learned from Great Expectations

I recently finished the classic book Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.

It tells the story of Pip, a boy who grows up in a small town as an apprentice to a blacksmith, who is his brother-in-law, Joe. He meets a wealthy woman with a cruel and beautiful daughter. Naturally, he falls in love with her daughter, Estella.

After this, he longs to be a gentleman so he can be worthy of her. One day, he learns that a mysterious benefactor has provided for him to move to the city and become a gentleman.

He does, and assumes that the rich woman, Miss Havisham, who is Estella’s adopted mother, paid for him so he could eventually wed Estella. But he soon learns that living the high life isn’t as good as he thought it would be.

His patron ends up being a prisoner that he helped when he was a child, not Miss Havisham. So he is not meant for Estella after all. 

Here are three things I learned from this wonderful book:

1) Things Don’t Often Turn Out Perfectly

After Pip received his gift from an elusive sponsor, he expected that his life would be smooth and easy. But it was not so. His patron ends up being a convict that has returned to the country he was banned from. The punishment for this crime is death. So Pip has to deal with trying to get him out of the country.

On top of all that, the love of his life, Estella, ends up getting married to an abusive, lazy, all-around horrible man. I mean, how much worse can it get?

Our lives don’t always happen exactly as we’ve planned, and we have to be okay with that. That’s what makes them interesting and teaches us valuable lessons.

2) Good Can Come From ‘Bad’

Even though all the scary, shocking, and sad things I just mentioned happened to Pip, he came out of them as a better person. He learned to trash his stereotypes about the people he came across in his daily life. He learned to unconditionally love someone. He learned that a simple life is better than an extravagant one.

There is always something good in any bad situation we come across. Even if it is unbearable at the time, the lessons we take away help us later.

A great way to turn hard circumstances into a positive situation is to think of something good that will come from the issue. This can help to refocus attention from the negative to the better.

3) Don’t be Ashamed of Where You Come From

Throughout the book, Pip struggles with shame about his humble belongings. He knows he owes so much to his father figure, Joe, but he is embarrassed by Joe’s ignorance about city life. Pip gets to the point where he will not even visit faithful Joe.

Pip eventually realizes that Joe is worth a thousand shallow friends and a million gallons of status. 

Fancy doesn’t matter. Reputation is often irrelevant. The heart and soul of a person is what we should truly care about. We don’t need to be afraid to own our roots, however humble they may be.