Moral themes include good versus evil, moral redemption from sin, wealth and its equal power to help or corrupt, personal responsibility, and the awareness and acceptance of consequences from one’s choices. Psychological themes, explored through Pip’s personal and moral growth, include abandonment, guilt, shame, desire, secrecy, gratitude, ambition, and obsession/emotional manipulation versus real love. Social themes that show up in the book include class structure and social rules, snobbery, child exploitation, the corruption and problems of the educational and legal systems, the need for prison reform, religious attitudes of the time, the effect of the increasing trade and industrialization on people’s lives, and the Victorian work ethic (or lack thereof). With regard to work, it is interesting that the story takes place in people’s “off time.” Rarely is anyone ever shown working, especially the gentlemen of the story. Herbert seems to be able to take a lot of time off from work to do things with Pip. George Orwell attributes this to Dickens’ Victorian view of life. A gentlemen, in Dickens’ view, should strive to get a lot of money, then settle down in an ivy-covered house with servants and children all around. The desire is complete idleness except for the activities of sitting around the fire talking to friends, eating, or making more children. Cultural trends aside, the turbulence, abandonment, and insecurity of his childhood years no doubt made the theme of family hearth and home a strong one for Dickens.
