In Great Expectations, Joe is both
father and friend to the orphaned Pip. He is protective, shielding Pip from the wrath
of Pip's sister, his wife, who rushes at Pip with "Tickler," a switch with which she
whips Pip. He carries Pip with him on the marsh, throwing him on top of his broad
shoulders; he holds Pip tenderly by the fire as Pip works on his letters, complimenting
Pip's efforts. Early in the novel, Joe indicates his tenderness and love for Pip as he
relates his meeting of Mrs. Joe:
'When I offered to your sister...to be asked in
church, at such times as she was willing and ready to come to the forge, I said to her,
'And bring the poor little child. God bless the poor little child,...there's room
for him at the
forge.'
After this evening
with Joe, Pip declares,
Young as I was, I believe that I dated a new
admiration of Joe from that night. We were equals afterward, as we had been before; but
afterward, at quiet times when I sat looking at Joe and thinking about him, I had a new
sensation of feeling conscious that I was looking up to Joe in my
heart.
When he returns from
his first visit to Satis House, Pip complains to Joe that he is "common," as Estella has
labeled him, and that he wishes he were that common. Disturbed by hearing Pip's words,
Joe tells him,
'As to being common, I don't make it out at all
clear. You are oncommon in some things. You're oncommon small. Likewise you're a
oncommon scholar.'
On the
occasion of Pip's being apprenticed to Joe, they go to Satis House together where Miss
Havisham, who has requested that Joe bring Pip's indentures with
him:
It was
very aggravating; but, throughout the interview, Joe persisted in addressing me instead
of Miss Havisham. It was quite in vain for me to make him sensible that he ought to
speak to Miss Havisham. the more I made faces and gestures to him to do it, the more
confidential, argumentative, and polite he persisted in being to
me.
Joe's behavior in this
scene indicates his feelings of inferiority to Miss Havisham. Like a commoner in the
presence of royalty, Joe does not directly address Miss Havisham out of respect for her
higher social status. Instead, he speaks through Pip. This action also indicates that
he perceives Pip as socially higher than he, now.
Joe's
integrity, however, is insulted when Miss Havisham implies that he wishes a "premium
with the boy." "Cutting me [Pip] short as if he were hurt," Joe
responds,
..."which I meantersay that were not a question
requiring a answer betwit yourself and me, and which you know the answer to be full
'No.'"
Joe Gargery's love and
loyal friendship for Pip know no bounds as he continues to love Pip even when the
snobbish Pip neglects him. Rushing to his aid after he is burned, Joe tenderly nurses
Pip back to health, mitigating Pip's apologies for his behavior with his signature
phrase, "Ever the best of friends, Pip, ol'chap!"
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