Character Analysis — Supporting Characters

Great Expectations is populated by some of the most memorable characters in English literature. Each supporting character serves a specific purpose in Dickens's exploration of class, morality, and identity. This lesson analyses the key supporting characters, their functions, and their thematic significance.

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Joe Gargery — The True Gentleman

Joe is Pip's brother-in-law and surrogate father. He is a blacksmith — working-class, uneducated, and socially awkward. Yet Dickens presents him as the novel's moral heart.

Key qualities

Quality	Evidence
Kindness	Protects Pip from Mrs Joe's violence
Loyalty	Never abandons Pip despite Pip's snobbery
Forgiveness	Nurses Pip through illness; pays his debts
Dignity	Refuses to stay where he is not comfortable (London visit)
Selflessness	"Ever the best of friends, ain't us, Pip?"

Joe as a "foil" to Pip

Joe highlights everything Pip gets wrong. While Pip chases wealth and status, Joe remains constant, kind, and genuinely good. Joe does not need to become a gentleman — he already is one, by Dickens's moral definition.