Great Expectations
Throughout human history, betrayal has been a part of our lives and always will be. Judas betrayed Jesus, Eve betrayed Adam, and Benedict Arnold betrayed Washington, but somehow the betrayed were able to overcome and make the best out of their situations. That same connection holds true in Charles Dickens’ book Great Expectations. In Great Expectations Dickens helps portray how much a part of our lives that betrayal is when he shows numerous characters betraying and then becoming the betrayed. Such as Estella betraying the love and affection of Pip and deceiving him after he has done so many acts of kindness for her, just as Judas had done to Jesus. But the important thing about all of the betrayals in Great Expectations is that even though many of the characters are caught in the midst of the common human mistake of the betrayal, the pain of which they find hard to overcome, they make the best of it and live on.
In Great Expectations, Pip decides to leave his small village in the country side of England to go to the big city of London so he can fulfill his dream of becoming a gentleman. (Dickens, 108) He does this though, at a cost. Joe feels betrayed, even if he doesn’t physically show it, by Pip for leaving him like that to go to London. At first Joe masks his pain by being quiet towards Pip and not seeming to have an opinion either way. But then he supports him in his adventures in becoming a gentleman but still stays to himself a little more like he is hiding his true emotions inside of him. “After a pause they both heartily congratulated me; but there was a certain touch of sadness in their congratulations that I rather resented.” (Dickens, 111) Pip realizes what he has done but for the moment he cares more about the possibility of becoming a gentleman rather than staying with his friend. Later on in the story, after Pip has been in London for some time, Joe comes to visit him. When Joe first meets Pip in his new house he constantly…