In the novel Great Expectations, Charles Dickens focuses on the life of the main character Pip who is an orphaned boy. After the death of his parents, Pip is sent to live with his sister Mrs. Joe Gargery. Pip meets the strange Miss Havisham at Satis House, and falls in love with her ward Estella. Later in the novel, Pip is apprenticed as a blacksmith. Pip faces many hardships
while growing up as an orphaned boy, and he is subjected to abuse and harassment. However, a sudden stoke of luck enables Pip to go to London and receive a gentleman's education.
In this Bildungsroman, Dickens charts Pip's emotional and psychological journey from childhood to adult life. The novel paints a bleak picture of the plight of an orphaned boy in mid-nineteenth century England. It also highlights Pip's unreciprocated love for Estella. It could be interpreted as partly autobiographical. The novel is open-ended.