In Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, the character of Pip, shows the working class and its restrictions. Dickens uses Pip and various other characters to demonstrate that class mobility is almost impossible in Victorian society. If one were able to change to another class, it would change him for the worse and he would end up where he started. At first, Pip is barely aware of his social class and educational level, but as he comes into contact with Estella, he becomes more discerning and desires self-improvement. He moves to London thanks to the kindness of an unknown benefactor and tries to become a "gentleman". Philip Pirrip or Pip had no deep desire to improve himself or achieve educational, moral or social advancement, until he met Miss Havisham and Estella. At the beginning of the story, Pip was alone in a graveyard and reveals that he had never met his parents. When he is older in the story, he remembers his misconception about the carvings on tombstones; “I read 'Wife Upstairs' as a complimentary reference to my father's exaltation of a better world” (Dickens 38). This shows that Pip's confusion about the structure and definition of class leads to the possibility that his story is one of self-discovery (Brooks). Pip begins to see the world differently when he meets a rich woman named Miss Havisham and her adopted daughter Estella. Miss Havisham is a rich old woman who lives in a manor called Satis House near Pip's village. Pip's opinions change when Estella begins to point out and criticize Pip's low social class and his unrefined ways. Estella calls Pip a "boy", implying that Estella considers herself superior to Pip. For example, when Miss Havisham asks her to play with... middle of paper... humbler man. Works Cited Brooks, Peter. "Repetition, repression, and return: Great expectations and a plot study." On narrative and narratives: II. New York: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994-98. 503-26. Press. vol. 3 of New York Literary History. 11 vols. Capuano, Peter J. “Managing the Perceptual Politics of Identity in High Expectations.” DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. University of Nebraska - Lincoln, September 2010. Web. January 27, 2014. Cody, David. "The gentleman." Victorian Web. Hartwick College and Web. 24 February 2014. Crossick, Geoffrey. "Classes and Masses in Victorian England." History today. History Today, nd Web. 3 February 2014.Dickens, Charles. Great expectations. New York: Random House, 1992. Print. Loftus, Donna. “The Rise of the Victorian Middle Class.” History of the BBC. BBC, 17 February 2011. Web. 3 February. 2014.