Motif
One of the more profound and effective motifs in Great Expectations is Crime, to be more specific, robbery. Throughout the novel, Pip is either being robbed of something or perpetrating a robbery himself. Our protagonist seeks to be robbed of his past and to be brought up as a gentleman, however in doing so he would rob Joe of their friendship together. Miss Havisham sought to rob Pip of his emotional security in order to quench her vendetta against men. As Pip has no knowledge of the consequences his actions will cause, he ignorantly strolls into a stream of unfortunate events that ultimately steer his life towards failure. However, many symbols inside the novel lead readers to question whether or not Pip was in control of his actions, thereby implying that his crimes were not of his doing, but simply the actions of fate. This is where existentialism comes in, Dickens writes Pip as a character who is constantly caught betwixt a battle of fate and free will.
Symbols
The Ships: In Part I, Pip is discusses whether to leave his family and become a gentleman or to stay and become a blacksmith with his friend Biddy. As he does so, he watches a few distant ships sail further away from him and Biddy. Because Pip is constantly observing the ships, it is safe to assume he is imagining himself drift away on one of the ships. Wind is a universal symbol of fate and since the ships are powered by such a force, they are controlled by fate. Pip fantasizes that he is destined to leave his current life of low-class to join the gentlemen class in London. As the ships move further from the shore, Biddy becomes more desperate in her attempts to keep Pip home. Although, because they continue to drift further away from her, so does Pip.
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Fire: Fire, it is one of the most necessary things for human life, and also one of the most common causes of death. In almost every chapter of Great Expectations, fire is referenced significantly, as force that is both constructive and destructive. In Chapter 36, before Jaggers advises Pip of his destructive recklessness with his allowance in London, he leaves his chair to stir the fire, just as Joe has stirred the fire before he counsels with Pip as a child. Fire ultimately follows the path of destruction as seen in Chapter 49, wherein Miss Havisham is burned to death. Her gown she wore for as long as can be remembered was lit on fire, thereby it is implied her demise was caused because of her own denial. The gown also represents her sin; because it was burned, she is now cleansed at the price of her life.
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Weather: Throughout the depressing setting of the story, the weather always follows suit. The weather patterns also mirror events in Pip's life. For example, when Pip enters his lodgings to find Magwitch lurking in the shadows, a severe storm takes place outside; this signals a huge shift in the plot-line, as Pip previously thought his benefactor was Miss Havisham. During this encounter, the wind blows quite heavily bringing to attention the implication that Pip is neither in control of his actions or what happens to him. Another instance, in which weather plays a pivotal role, is when after his sister's funeral, Pip promises Biddy that he will return, but she doesn't believe him. Her mistrust in him devastates him and he therefore looks to the mists for direction, but "once more, the mists were rising as I walked away. If they disclosed to me, as I suspect they did, that I should never come back, and that Biddy was quite right, all I can say is—they were quite right, too" (Dickens 223). The movement of the mists tell Pip what he already knows, however this is also a way for readers to observe how Pip feels about recent events.
The Clocks: The many intentionally stopped clocks in Satis House represent Miss Havisham's resistance to change. Betrayed by a deceitful lover, she has decided to live in the moment of her misfortune forever and to deny the relentless request of time. While do so, she decides that her only option to reach redemption involves robbing a child of her ability to love in order to wreak revenge on the male sex. Such a heinous crime could only be committed by one who wishes to deny their past. Because Miss Havisham is defined by her repudiation, she qualifies as an evil character who wishes to play the role of fate. This is evident as she brings up Pip to love Estella, then to have his heart broken.
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Fire and Wind: In a certain important passage, “the coal fires on barges on the river are being carried away before the wind” (Dickens 145). Normally fire is a metaphor for hope but in Dickens’s novel it represents ignorance as supported by the Allegory of the Cave. Because the fires hold the image of being carried away, it foreshadows that even though Pip will still live in a world of darkness and deception, he will become less ignorant concerning his expectations. The use of wind, implies that this is an unavoidable incident.
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The Black-Current Leaf: In context of Great Expectations, Biddy and Pip both interact with the black current leaf in order to disclose its deeper meaning to the reader as well. Here, for instance, when Biddy “[rubs] the black current leaf to pieces between her hands” (Dickens 116) she shows Pip how he is ashamed of his upbringing only because of the pride of others; the leaf which symbolizes Pip’s home, is being crushed in front of him. The crushed leaf is meant to bring awareness to Pip's meager self confidence; the more time he is around those of a higher social class, he resents his upbringing increasingly so.