Guilt in Great Expectations

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(sorry, I couldn't get the picture to load so I posted the link)

In both the first and second stage of Great Expectations there is a major theme of guilt. In the first stage, Pip, because he is a young child, feels guilty for aiding a criminal and for wishing for a richer lifestyle than the one he is currently living in. In the second stage, once Pip has received everything he's ever wanted and learns that he's gained it with the help of a criminal, Pip once again feels guilty, though this time it's for leaving the life he once had.
This picture portrays a feeling of guilt, which I thought summed up the theme of the book.

Themes and Motifs in Great Expectations

There are many themes and motifs in Great Expectations. An example of a motif in the novel is convicts. Convicts have appeared scattered throughout the book since the very beginning of the story. They may relate somehow to the novels theme of crime and punishment. In chapter 27, Pip encounters two convicts riding in the coach with him. They make him feel guilt, another theme in the story, for another encounter Pip had with convicts earlier in the story.
At the beginning, Pip meets a convict and helps free him. Throughout most of his life in the first stage, Pip feels terrible guilt for helping free him. Pip doesn't feel any guilt for most of the second stage until he encounters the two convicts in the coach. This brings back both the motif of convicts and the theme of guilt back into the story and back to the reader's attention.

Chapter 9

Pip is referring to how one day can change your life forever. His day with Mrs. Havisham and Estella has made him realize that the life of a blacksmith is not as revered as he thought it was, and he now no longer respects Joe as much as he once did and he feels dissatisfied with his social class. In chapter 14 Pip says, "It is a most miserable thing to be ashamed of home." Pip has never been particularly happy with his home life, due to his sister's abuse, but the prospect of Joe teaching him to become a blacksmith has always made him happy. Now that Pip has learned that being a blacksmith is not the most respected profession, he no longer feels happy about becoming one. His depressing narration in chapter 14 is very different from his more childlike approach to life and hopeful outlook Pip had before chapter 9.
When I was very little I thought very highly of my grandfather. He didn't visit very often, still doesn't, but one year he promised to come and visit on my birthday. I was very excited, but on my birthday he never came. On that day I learned two things. One, my grandfather was not the perfect human being I thought he was. He lied to me and never apologized. Two, you can't always trust people to do the right thing, even those who are close to you.