A Classist Society Drives Two Brothers Apart

In Victorian England, society was ranked by their money and their inheritance. In the novel, Great Expectations, Charles Dickens expresses his hatred towards the way society was run; he believes money is the root of all evil. When Joe comes to visit Pip in London, they -- this once simple and common pair -- have a conversation that creates a barricade between the two of them. “Pip, dear old chap, life is made of ever so many partings welded together, as I may say, and one man’s a blacksmith, and one’s a whitesmith, and one’s a goldsmith, and one’s a coppersmith. Divisions among such must come, and must be met as they come.” (p. 223) With this quote, Joe tells Pip that he does not blame him for the awkwardness of their meeting but instead blames it on the natural divisions of life. He tells him that some men are blacksmiths, such as Joe, and others are goldsmiths, such as Pip. Joe’s wise and resigned attitude toward the changes in Pip’s social class -- though they have driven them apart -- shows his loyalty by faulting their separation on the unalterable nature of the human condition. Through Pip’s journey from a common boy to a gentleman, Dickens illustrates the concept that people who lived in a classist society believed that climbing up the social class ladder brought them success and happiness, but that they were wrong and the true answer to contentment is love and a loyal family.