Pip’s
Moral Troubles
-Blog
Post #1-
Topic
B
April
16, 2015
By:
Brian Arata
Young
Pip struggles to define right from wrong early in the novel. At the beginning
of the novel when the escaped prisoner demands that Pip give him food and find
a file to break his chains, Pip does not think twice about it. He is blinded by
his fear of the man, and his fear is what guides him to do what the man says.
After he gives the man what he asked for, Pip worries and thinks about what he
has done. He realizes that the man he helped is a very bad person. He recognizes
that he helped an escaped prisoner, and this makes Pip regret his actions. He
begins to question why he even thought of helping the man. He is struggling to
find what is morally right and what is morally wrong. Since he has no one who
can define it for him, he must make this decision on his own. Pip begins to
wonder if he “had insisted on being born in opposition to the dictates of
reason, religion, and morality” (23). He is beating himself up over the fact
that he helped an escaped prisoner, and he is questioning everything he does
now. From the very beginning of the novel to this point, Pip’s view on his
actions has drastically changed. At the beginning, Pip makes decisions without
thinking and on the fly. Now, after helping an escaped prisoner, he realizes
that he must carefully examine each situation to decide what the right thing to
do is.
I agree with Brian that Pip has changed his decision making process, however I think if he is put into the same scenario again, he will still help the prisoner. I don't think his morals change, but how he decides what is moral changes. He still believes in helping people, but he just starts to question whether it moral to help someone who has done something bad. I think his questioning returns back to his fear. Instead of being afraid of getting hurt (his reason for helping the convict), it is now his fear of getting in trouble with the police that makes him wonder he if made the right choice. He is just starting the understand the consequences that come with each decision, which make him return to his morals for guidance, but I do not believe they changed.
ReplyDeleteI do not think Pip's fear is the only factor in his decision. If Pip had left and not returned to the prisoner, the prisoner would not have been able to find him. Pip made a conscious decision to help the prisoner. He does seem to question his morals, but only after he has helped the escaped prisoner. Pip seems to be well intentioned in helping people but unsure if it is morally right to help someone like the prisoner.
ReplyDeleteI do not think Pip's fear is the only factor in his decision. If Pip had left and not returned to the prisoner, the prisoner would not have been able to find him. Pip made a conscious decision to help the prisoner. He does seem to question his morals, but only after he has helped the escaped prisoner. Pip seems to be well intentioned in helping people but unsure if it is morally right to help someone like the prisoner.
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