'Measure of Contentment Essay\r'

'D make to that moment I had vainly pronounced that my creditor had withdrawn or suspended proceedings until I should be quite recovered. I had neer dream of Joe’s having paid the money; scarce Joe had paid it, and the receipt was in his see. What remained of me straight, notwithstanding to follow him to the dear elderly forge, and there to harbor out my manifestation with him, and my bad remonstrance with him,” (Page 463) This portrays how only Joe scum bag behavior of speaking place and his identity; Joe represents who strap should fill conk out.\r\nRespect and admiration for Joe is once over aadd-on won for mop, as â€Å"I had never dreamed of Joe paying the money; only if Joe had paid it, and the receipt was in his name” shows. As a precede of this make of Joe’s, pip continues to reform into individual with a correct identity, an example of which is shown in the passing: â€Å"What remained of me now, just to follow him to the dear old forge, and there to leave out my disclosure with him, and my penitent remonstrance with him,” as this shows how spot is willing to be humble toward Joe, and shoot for his forgiveness.\r\nBy rendering after(prenominal) nearlyone else’s pleasure in front his own, sprout displays qualities of self littleness, at a time charge has discovered his truthful identity, he washstand begin to ferment fewone he is blissful and kernel with, because he c ars slight well-nigh his own problems and so they don’t hatch as great and as terrible, and he becomes much(prenominal) than gist. A encourage lesson bit must chink in his grapple to find contentment is to control his fantasies, phobic disorders and delusions. A phobia is something psychological, that you fear and therefore strain to shut out.\r\n topographic point’s phobia that he won’t be able to obtain Estella controls him so such(prenominal) that he subconsciously c reates fantasies to counter-act his phobias. A imagine is when you dream of something irrational, or a phantasmagorical delusion of something that is exaggerated to fit your expectations of what you necessity that thing to be. scald loafs trapped by many fantasies in the refreshful, which delay him subsisting in naive realism and achieving contentment. A study(ip) fantasy in the novel is that Estella is meant for him, and that fly the coop Havisham is his bene positionress, and this fantasy drives situation into worthy a gentleman:\r\nâ€Å"‘The beautiful young maam at girl Havisham’s, and she’s much(prenominal) beautiful than anyone ever was, and I look up to her dreadfully, and I loss to be a gentleman on her account. ‘” (Page 125) This career is when shoot down confides in skirt why he yearns after being a gentleman, and it shows how come to has the fantasy that as soon as he is a gentleman, Estella will be his. Later, whe n he comes into his ample Expectations, he fantasises that get by Havisham is his benefactress so that he chiffonier be fit for Estella, and the fantasy is so buckram that he makes himself believe that it is true.\r\nA passage that displays this is found on Page 177, when welt is getting acquainted with Herbert: â€Å"‘And as to the flesh which you hold your advancement in demeanor-namely that you are not to inquire or debate to whom you owe it- you may be rattling sure that it will never be encroached upon, or even approached by me, or anyone belonging to me. ‘ In truth, he verbalize this with so much delicacy, that I felt the subject done with, even though I should be under his stupefy’s roof for historic period and years to come.\r\nYet e verbalize it with so much meaning, too, that I felt he as perfectly understood fell Havisham to be my benefactress, as I understood the fact myself. ” This passage shows how situation has let his fantas y that put down Havisham is his benefactress delude him, and how he will manipulate things that may not necessarily mean what buck complimentss them to mean, to guinea pig him and his fantasies. In order for tally to fall out in lifetime and earn contentment, he must collar to let go of these fantasies.\r\nHowever, it is apparent that Pip is unable to let go of his fantasies, because he is afraid of what the reality might be. For example, Pip makes himself believe that send a federal agency Havisham is his benefactress and that Estella is intended for him, because if girlfriend Havisham is not his assistant, who is, and is Estella quench for him? To Pip, the purpose to these questions are too scare to recognize, so he fantasises about the answer that he wants it to be. on that pointfore, when Pip discovers that in reality, his benefactor is an escaped convict, he is in inviolate shock and repulsion.\r\nâ€Å"The abhorrence in which I held the man, the dread I had o f him, the repugnance with which I shrank from him, could not train been exceeded if he had been some terrible beast. ” (Page 313) Dickens’s modishly uses language in this passage by repeating the same thing threesome times in different ways, as each of the get downs of the passage that Pip describes Magwitch with all tell of his hatred and repulsive force of him, still the build up of these things adds cristal to the scene, emphasising Pip’s shock at the reality instead of his fantasy.\r\nOnce Pip shows that Magwitch is his benefactor, a reformation begins in Pip, and he becomes a punter, happier, more altruistic individual. â€Å"Where I might go, what I might do, or when I might return were questions perfectly un enjoyn to me; nor did I vex my header with them, for it was wholly set on Provis’s safety. I only wondered for the passing moment, as I stopped at the opening and looked back, under what altered circumstances I should next see tho se rooms, if ever. ” (Page 425)\r\nThis passage ties how Pip has controlled his phobia of lower class status, because he is willing to help Magwitch and develops a self-sacrificing love for him, because, as it says in this passage, Pip is willing to give up e very(prenominal)thing that he has ever consciously wanted, which is being an desirable gentleman, for Magwitch’s (Provis’s) safety. As a way out of his self-centred fantasies, phobias and delusions, Pip becomes very egocentric and self-concerned whilst he is in London, merely when he begins to seek humble forgiveness from Joe and Miss Havisham because his fantasies fix been ruined by reality, he becomes less selfish.\r\nSelflessness contributes to Pip’s happiness at the end of the novel, which is part of Pip eruditeness to become homogeneous Joe, who demonstrates selflessness by means ofout the novel. When Pip seeks after other’s happiness to begin with his own, he becomes more able to bend and develop into a better person: Giving of self makes you unselfish, which in turn makes you happy as you make others happy. This consequences in you being outward looking because you want to look for more opportunities to help others, creating less focus on your own faults and more contentment and satisfaction with yourself.\r\nFor example, when Pip saves Miss Havisham from the fervor, or lends Herbert money for his business, Pip forgets about his own needs and safety. The injury Pip gets as a result of the fire at Satis House does not prevent Pip from wanting to save Magwitch by helping him escape the law and Compeyson by fleeing the rude, instead, he wishes he could do more: â€Å"I felt mortified to be of such little use in the boat,; but there were few better oarsman than my deuce friends. ” (Page 426)\r\nThis shows how instead of domicile on his own unfortunate circumstances, and the fact that he felt â€Å"mortified”, Pip gauges in a complimentary m anner about his two friends: â€Å"but there were few better oarsman than my two friends. ” Pip learning how to become less self-centred and dispel his fantasies and phobias partly leads to the take his contentment at the end of the novel. An supererogatory lesson that Pip must learn before he can strike some level of contentment, and a fundamental lesson for anyone exploitation up, is learning to get a line and take advice from others.\r\nThere are many points in the novel where Pip is offered good advice, usually by someone of trust or expenditure to Pip, and he doesn’t take it. Once Pip learns to take the advice given to him by those superior to him in experience, he can begin to make better and more informed decisions, which consequences in his being happier, more satisfied and more content. The first major turning point in the novel, of Pip desiring to be and becoming a gentleman, could eat up been avoided if Pip had listened to this advice given to him by hen: â€Å"‘Biddy,’ said I, after binding her to secrecy, ‘I want to be a gentleman.\r\n‘ ‘Oh, I wouldn’t, if I were you! ‘ she returned. ‘I don’t think it would answer. ‘ ‘Biddy’, I said with some severity, ‘I have finicky reasons for wanting to be a gentleman. ‘ ‘You know best Pip, but don’t you think that you are happier as you are? ‘” (Page 124) This passage shows how Pip thinks that he knows best, as he speaks to Biddy with â€Å"severity” at not being able to understand why he wants to be a gentleman. When Biddy questions Pip, if he is not happier now, it shows that Pip is striving for contentment, although he attempts to find it in the wrong way, as Biddy modishly picks up on:\r\nâ€Å"‘Do you want to be a gentleman to spitefulness her, or to gain her over? ‘ Biddy quietly asked, after a pause. ‘I don’t know,’ I moodily answered. ‘Because if it is to spite her,’ Biddy pursued, ‘I should think -but you know best- that might be better and more independently done by caring nothing, for her words. And if it is to gain her over- I should think- but you know best -she is not deserving(predicate) gaining over. ‘” (Page 125) Here, Biddy is offering Pip very good advice; that Estella really isn’t worth it.\r\nHowever, Pip thinks that he â€Å"knows best”, as Biddy says, and continues to follow the prospect of becoming a gentleman for Estella. If Pip had interpreted Biddy’s advice, he would have been able to deliver the goods contentment in his life quicker than he does as he pursues the life of a gentleman, because he would have learned to forget Estella, become apprenticed to Joe, and lived the life of Joe, who is content with his life. However, once Pip is in London, it is a hearty new world to him, one that he struggles to cope with at first because of the unearthly difference between London and his â€Å" fen country” home.\r\nAs a result of this, Pip needs to be taught how to hold water in London and he is now willing to learn and listen to the advice of others, which in turn helps him to achieve a arcdegree of contentment. I believe that this is one of the closely important lessons that proofreaders today can get from Great Expectations; that in order to achieve contentment, you need to be able to listen to the advice of those that are older, more experienced and more knowledgeable that you are, because they are more possible to know how to best achieve it.\r\nThe readers can learn from Pip’s ignorance not to make the same mistakes themselves. Dickens cleverly uses setting throughout the novel to depict different qualities of life, or levels of contentment. The marsh country Pip originates from represents a humble lifestyle, but those that live there, such as Joe and Biddy, and Pip at the beginning of th e novel, seem to be more content with their lives than those that live in London, which represents the wealthy, extravagant lifestyle.\r\nDickens uses this irony to show how money and wealth do not necessarily bring contentment, which is a further essential lesson that Pip must learn. Miss Havisham lives in Satis House, which comes from the Latin meaning ‘ passable’ or ‘satisfaction’. This is ironic because from the outside, the reside represents a life of wealth and grandeur, which quite a little often assume to bring satisfaction, but on the inside, the residents of the house lead a bitter, frozen lifestyle, and Miss Havisham is so insatiate with her life that she lives it to wreak vindicate on all men.\r\nThese circumstances are use by Dickens to show how wreaking revenge does not equate to contentment; Pip must learn that if he is to be happy, he must not seek revenge from anyone, even those that have in particular offended him. Nobody’s lif e works out perfectly, and Pip’s is evidently no exception. An example of a situation where Pip would need to learn to ‘forgive and forget’ is when Mrs Joe, his babe dies. On contemplation, Pip reflects: â€Å"Whatever my fortunes might have been, I could scarcely have recalled my infant with much rawness. But I suppose there is a shock of sorrowfulness which may exist without much tenderness.\r\n on a lower floor its influence (and perhaps to make up for the want of the softer seeing) I was seized by a violent indignation against the assailant from whom she had suffered so much; and I felt that on sufficient proof I could have revengefully perused Orlick, or anyone else, to the last result. ” (Page 272) This passage discloses Pip’s thoughts as he moves from feeling bitter toward his sister: â€Å"I could scarcely recall her with much tenderness”, to seeking revenge upon the person that caused his sister anguish: â€Å"I felt that on s ufficient proof I could have revengefully perused Orlick, or anyone else, to the last extremity”.\r\nIt is a successful piece of composing as Dickens’s uses pairs of impelling adjectives such as â€Å"shock of sadness” and â€Å"violent indignation”, which creates more refer on the reader and helps them to empathise with the way Pip is feeling. This then results in the reader feeling more of a fraternity to Pip as he strives to achieve contentment, and so helps them to learn more from the novel. In conclusion, it believe that Dickens’ rite-of-passage novel Great Expectations is successful at presenting useful lessons to it’s readers as to how they themselves can achieve contentment, disrespect being written in the nineteenth century.\r\nThese are portrayed through Pip’s own struggle to achieve contentment, many of the struggles relating to Dickens’ own life, such as the issues like overcoming debt, unrequited love, family problems and unretentive education. Dickens shows in the novel how these things can be overcome, and contentment and satisfaction achieved, through the realisation of moral values, the dispelling of delusions and fantasies, and learning how to respond to people around you.\r\nHowever, despite this, the around important lesson, that comes through the novel, in learning how to achieve contentment in life is living it. Pip says that he was happy at the forge before he went to London, but he was not content (Page 315). Therefore, this suggests that the novel recommends that the best way to gain contentment is to live your life and learn through the experience of it; otherwise you would feel unsatisfied with your experience of life.\r\n'