Pip’s identity as an orphan has a significant impact on his character, making him the typical Dickensian child who is a victim of life and of the failures of the adults around him. His sister, Mrs. Joe, is the person responsible for rearing him, but she has made it clear that he is a nuisance and a bother. Her husband, Joe, is more of a companion to Pip, rather than a father figure. He joins with Pip in their sufferings under the hand of Mrs. Joe. Joe’s occasional attempts to be a moral influence, however, weigh heavily on Pip's conscience, especially when he seeks the life of a gentleman in London. Abel Magwitch, the convict, has yet to make a significant impact on Pip, other than a figure of fear, but this will become important at a later date. It is Miss Havisham and Estella who have a profound effect on Pip in his persona and especially his shame. They have made it clear that he is “beneath” them socially. Never having known shame of his condition, Pip begins to see aspects of himself that are not “gentlemanly,” which make him unacceptable to Estella. As the child makes the man, these people and incidents set him up for a futile dream of becoming such a gentleman as he has in his mind. However, they will also help him to overcome that dream to find a reality where he is his true, noble self.
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