Great Expectations · Chapter
XIV explained
Pip reflects on his deep shame and dissatisfaction with his home and apprenticeship at the forge, contrasting his former pride with his current misery.
What happens
Pip reflects on his deep shame and dissatisfaction with his home and apprenticeship at the forge, contrasting his former pride with his current misery. He feels coarse and common, haunted by the fear that Estella will see him in his lowly state. Despite his discontent, he acknowledges that Joe's faithful and industrious nature kept him from running away.
Themes in this chapter
Social Class and Ambition
Pip's shame about his common home and his fear of Estella seeing him at the forge highlight his growing ambition to escape his low social class.
Identity and Self-Discovery
Pip grapples with his changing identity, feeling alienated from his former self and his home, as he becomes aware of his discontent.
Characters to notice
- Pip
Pip is the narrator, feeling ashamed of his home and apprenticeship, haunted by Estella's imagined scorn.
- Joe Gargery
Joe is portrayed as faithful, honest, and industrious, whose influence keeps Pip from abandoning his apprenticeship.
- Estella
Estella appears in Pip's imagination and fears, her scornful face haunting him as he works at the forge.
- Miss Havisham
Miss Havisham is mentioned as one of the influences that changed Pip's perception of home.
- Mrs. Joe Gargery
Mrs. Joe is referenced as the source of the unpleasantness at home due to her temper.
Key passages
“It is a most miserable thing to feel ashamed of home.”
Feeling ashamed of one's own home is deeply painful.
Pip expresses the central emotional conflict of the chapter.
“I was quite as dejected on the first working-day of my apprenticeship as in that after-time; but I am glad to know that I never breathed a murmur to Joe while my indentures lasted.”
Pip was just as unhappy on his first day as a blacksmith's apprentice as he was later, but he takes pride in never complaining to Joe.
Pip reflects on his silent endurance during his apprenticeship.