Question

Why does Dickens often compare joe and pip to one another?

Answer 1

Answer:

To compare the social classes and reflect the division.

Explanation:

Charles Dickens wrote "Great Expectations" in bildungsroman depicting the personal growth and development of Pip(an orphan). Dickens portrays the relationship between Joe and Pip as quite heart-warming and affectionate at the beginning where Pip calls Joe as his "dear fellow" and "fellow sufferers", but towards the end they are drifted apart from each other. This signifies the two phases of human relationships(reminiscent of Blake's "songs of innocence and Experience"). Dickens compares both of them to display the two different states of human nature where one (Pip) has a sense of longingness to the other and the another(Joe) calls their meeting awkward. He also compares them to depict the division between the classes after Joe moves to London and turns into an educated individual that fills with pride and social differences. He hereby, depicts the effect of social class onto their relationship.

Answer 2

I'm not completely ure but I think it is to explain why Pip and Joe have a close relationship.