It's hard to categorize a person's personality as being entirely one way or the other. Likewise, it is difficult to classify a rich, rounded character like Pip in Charles Dickens' Great Expectations as essentially passionate or essentially moderate. While, as Robert R. Garnett states in his essay "The good and the unruly in Great Expectations - and Estella", there is an apparent distinction between these "two mutually exclusive parties: the moderate and the one governed by undisciplined passions" (25). , it is not so easy to apply this categorization to Pip, whose only connection to the latter category is caused by Miss Havisham's influence. An author may choose to reveal only certain aspects of a character's personality or exaggerate specific qualities for effect, giving that character a seemingly simplistic nature, as is perhaps the case with Joe or Miss Havisham. Pip, however, has a distinct development over the course of the novel and, as such, must be carefully considered before a label can be applied to him. As a result, rather than being the result of his own actions, Pip's apparent indiscipline is more the product of the harmful influence of characters who have their own interests in mind, regardless of Pip's benefit. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay As Dickens takes pains to express, Pip, as a child, has a decidedly delicate conscience. The mental turmoil he undergoes after rendering aid to the inmate Magwitch is a testament to this delicacy. “I fully expected to find a policeman in the kitchen, waiting to take me up,” (Dickens 21; vol. 1, ch. 4) Pip states, feeling somehow that he deserves to be punished for his theft. To give perspective, however, on the degree to which he is at the mercy of his elders' influence, Pip states: "but all that I had endured up to that time, was nothing compared to the terrible feelings that took possession of me" . when…everyone had looked at me (as I felt painfully conscious) with indignation and disgust" (Dickens 27; vol. 1, ch. 4). Pip, through no fault of his own, is the target of collective adult contempt at the table and this adds to his growing desire to refute their speculation that he is "naturally evil" (Dickens 25. vol. 1, ch. 4). Once she makes her first visit to Miss Havisham, Estella comments on her his "coarse hands" (Dickens 62; vol. 1, ch. 8) and begins to understand that these unfounded judgments will follow him throughout his life if he aspires to be anything more than a blacksmith. Although Pip is unaware of this, he is, somehow, altered by his first visit to Miss Havisham. When Miss Havisham asks him to play, he tells her he can't due to the contrived nature of the situation, but adds, "if you complain about me, I'll get in trouble with my sister" (Dickens 61; vol. 1, ch. 8). Pip, at this point, is governed largely by fear of Mrs. Joe. Later, however, he begins to take advantage of his situation. Although his meeting with Miss Havisham is frightening to him, he realizes that he can manipulate the envy of Mrs. Joe and Pumblechook when they ask him for an account of his visit. “I beg leave to observe that I think of myself with astonishment when I remember the lies I have told on this occasion” (Dickens 71; vol. 1, ch. 9) Pip imparts in a retrospective parenthetical note. If it weren't for being treated as annoying and ungrateful, he certainly wouldn't have resorted to manipulating Mrs. Joe in that way, and this is the beginning of his apparent descent into indiscipline. The whole situation where Pip 16:1 (1999): 24-41