The Theme Of Lying In Great Expectations By Charles Dickens

Improved Essays
The Truth About Lying Elementary schools teach that honesty is the best policy, but that lesson rarely sticks with people throughout their lives. Many believe that honesty is not the way to go and that is the sad reality that many live with. This is not the life that Charles Dickens believes people should lead. In his satirical novel named Great Expectations, he tells a long story of lies, love, and loss. Through his work, Dickens teaches his audience that deceit will never lead to happiness. The truth will always overpower the means of deception. There is not much grace in series of events that follow the grand overthrow of lies. Wemmick, the law firm’s clerk, is a perfect example of someone who has a considerable amount …show more content…
Seeing the path ahead is an important part of complementing life. Joe, a common blacksmith, uses small, harmless lies to please others but even small lies can hurt the people around him. He had a good, stable, common life and never wanted anything. "[Joe] may be too proud to let any one take him out of a place that he is competent to fill, and fills well and with respect” (150). This goes to display how much happier he is when he is not suppressing a large part of his identity. One’s personality should be more important than the ability to fit in because conforming is a product of fear. No one should fear being different because being different is what makes people, Human. Being true to oneself is the key to acceptance and acceptance is the key to happiness. These lessons are put to the test when Joe attempts to reject these ideals on his trip to visit his brother-in-law in London. Pip was happy to see his old friend but is later forced to wonder “Why… a man scrape himself to that extent, before he could consider himself full dressed?” (221). Joe wants nothing more than to please his old friend, Pip. Nonetheless, attempting to fit in leads Joe to a further alienation of himself. The harder he tries to hide himself, the more it seems he does not belong. He is a social pariah and is aware but does not understand that everyone knows as well. Myopia causes weakness and can make effort and hard work topple in a matter of seconds. When secrets are bright enough, their hiding places will be found and the truth will shine

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The character of ignorance and want are personified as two hideous children that Scrooge points out beneath the robe of the Christmas present. The ghost of Christmas present tells Scrooge to be aware of these two creature that are made by the man kind, especially ignorance. Dickens uses these two children to represent the poor in the Victorian era. Dickens uses the girl "Ignorance" to symbolize the the ignorant attitude to the wealthy class toward the poor.…

    • 462 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Glass Castle Analysis

    • 1084 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Today in society many of us tend to do whatever it takes to fit in and keep our true selves locked in. In the memoir entitled The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls experiences a lot of obstacles due to the frequent moving. She often faces trouble with making new friends and having others to fully understand her. At some point one tends to get tired of others not understanding so they hide their past along with their true personality just to fit in. In my cousins experience she once faced the same thing.…

    • 1084 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A Fable of Witchcraft “He who tells a lie is not sensible how great a task he undertakes; for he must be forced to invent twenty more to maintain that one.” (Alexander Pope). Arthur Miller proves this point very strongly in his dramatic work, The Crucible. One of the main themes in this story is that of lying and how a simple lie can create chaos, more lies and overreactions. In the tragedy, The Crucible, Arthur Miller suggests that when people tell a lie that the situation can quickly spiral out of control and more lies will unfold to build upon the one already told; as a result of her series of lies, Abigail Williams became so uneasy that she left Salem, proving that liars never win.…

    • 1008 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Author F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote the novel The Great Gatsby in the 1920s, an era where wealth, social status and a glamorous lifestyle were all the rage. This novel introduces many characters who idolize values and goals that will lead them to a better social status. Each character paints their own picture showing the values of the people of this time. They all wish to acquire fortune and wealth, and to live in a high social class, and they do it in very different ways, each method giving us a better understanding the underlying theme of deception throughout the novel.…

    • 801 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    One can define deception as the action of deceiving someone by concealing or misinterpreting the truth. Deception is present in the novel, The Great Gatsby, in the plot, characters, and setting. Though some argue that the themes in the novel are not still appropriate, this idea of perception versus reality is relevant in today’s society as well. Relevant in the 1920s as well as present day, the theme of perception versus reality exposes itself through corrupt lies, the American dream of wealth, and fake appearances. First, corrupt perceptions shade the truth and can produce drastic outcomes.…

    • 991 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    We have all had that moment when lying seems like the best answer… but is it really? In the play “Romeo and Juliet” and the movie “The Emperor’s Club” the lesson that can be taken is lying is never a good option. In both stories lying is used to make what seems like a better outcome but really ends in nothing but problems. The idea is conveyed in each story by characters lying to get what they want.…

    • 803 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Everyone suspects himself of at least one of the cardinal virtues, and this is mine: I am one of the few honest people that I have ever known. " A quote by Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby. The author portrays Nick as a moral guide through a novel filled with deception. Gatsby, the describes his life story, putting together various parts of information. Allowing rumors to be spread regarding his occupation and his wealth, he does not let much of his identity to be known.…

    • 873 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The use of deception to attain one’s desires ultimately ends in the failure to achieve one’s goal. Imagine if you had something you wanted more than anything in the world. You would probably be willing to do whatever it takes to achieve this desire. This is exactly the situation characters face in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. To begin, characters desire different things, from a relationship to a good reputation.…

    • 1137 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    As represented through Pip’s acquiring of a large fortune, he treats his friends with a negative and snobbish attitude. On the other hand, Jeanette’s self-esteem and self-worth lowers due to the fact that her parents are homeless while she prospers in the upper class. The novels teach that snobbishness and guilt are potential outcomes of acquiring a higher social class. Although these negative qualities portrayed in the novel aren’t guaranteed to be associated with social class, it’s necessary to learn the possible outcomes of all actions in life. These are the reasons why the social status of each character impacts their own self-respect, and the respect they direct towards…

    • 2009 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    301617-Great Expectations Essay Growing up, the term do not lie and to tell the truth is very prominent. In the bible do not lie is repeated. It is in the ten commandments as “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.”. The book Great Expectations demonstrates on how lying is considered, and always is considered wrong.…

    • 595 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    That ain’t the way to get out of being common, old chap” (81). Joe suggests Pip use his moral compass to guide his way to the life of an uncommon gentleman, if it’s something he desires, as an alternative to lying his way into it. In this, Joe values hard work and honorable means of achievement. Despite growing up in a hostile environment and without any formal education, Joe doesn’t harbor any resentment either. He further demonstrates his wisdom by rising above anger in the way he was brought up and refusing to dwell in the past.…

    • 1076 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In William Shakespeare’s tragedy, “Hamlet,” deception is an essential element that is used throughout the play. Hamlet continuously seeks for revenge on the murder of his beloved father, and in search of the truth, he plays a game of deception. He uses the appearances of other people, and the dishonesty throughout the world he lives in, to discover whom actually murdered his father. The acceptance of his inability to find out the certainty behind the murder, by himself, leads him to use a different tactic in order to reach the same result, finding the guilty person. Hamlet’s eagerness for the truth relies on deception because of limitations of his perception of actuality vs. appearance.…

    • 365 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “The truth is rarely pure and never simple” (Wilde 1738). There are people in this world who fabricate on their lifestyle just to please others or themselves. However, those tales will catch up to your live and leaving you with question existing. However, the truth will always revel itself sooner than later. In the play, Oscar Wide reveals that it is difficult to tell the truth even if try to, because the truth will never be so simple.…

    • 747 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This is portrayed when Joe and Pip have a parley when Pip returns from the cemetery, and Joe expresses to Pip, “I wish it was only me that got put out, Pip; I wish there warn 't no Tickler for you, old chap; I wish I could take it all on myself.” (38) This exemplifies how Mrs. Joe’s violence and physical abuse is placed upon Joe and Pip, unlike stereotypical traits say that the man is the one who abuses his woman, showing the reversal of gender roles that is evident in Great Expectations. Furthermore, as the novel progresses, Pip recalls his relationship with Joe upon his sick days, when Joe had nursed Pip back to health. Pip says, “For the tenderness of Joe was so beautifully proportioned to my need that I was like a child in his hands.…

    • 960 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As Pip got to know people of hierarchy, he started to disown his upbringing and he slowly began to embrace his status and wealth. Pip’s arrogance and ego led him to forget his past, his cherished relationships. Therefore, social division and economic difference created a distance in their relationship, causing the reader to reflect on the negative effects of wealth causing one to abandon their relationship. Similarly, Pip’s attitude changed around Biddy, just like Joe had experienced.…

    • 787 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics