Dickens's novel presents the reader with a great many intertwined themes, the most important of which include the following:
1. That children often live nightmare lives of guilt and fearsome terror without nurture or support from parents, who in most cases are irresponsible, incompetent, or simply missing. How many good parents can you find in Great Expectations? What is the role of Wemmick and the Aged P? Does Dickens expect us to take the image or situation of orphan further and take it as representative of the human condition?
2. That we all have Great Expectations — illusions and foolish desires — that lead us astray and prevent us from living comfortably with ourselves, but that we can grow out of them to some extent. What precisely are Pip's expectations, Miss Havisham's, Magwitch's, and how, in each case, do they affect the lives of others?
3. That although we exist riddled with guilt, we often suffer it for the wrong reasons. Why does Pip feel so guilty in the first half dozen chapters, and how does that differ from his later mature guilt?
4. That love and sacrifice, however little appreciated at first, ultimately have good effects.
5. That reading and interpretation dominate our lives and that actual reading turns one into an adult�but that a good bit of the time we misinterpret the evidence, taking expectations for reality. Note how Pip begins the novel reading the tomb stones and how many times the narrator emphasizes the act of learning to read words and objects, faces and actions.
Last Modified 23 October 2002