Great Expectations was written by Charles Dickens during the Victorian period and follows the life of Pip, our protagonist, as he works his way up the social hierarchy of Victorian society. It was first published as a series from 1860 to 1861. It is written as a Bildungsroman: a genre of writing that pursues a character's life from childhood to adult life. This novel was enormously influenced by the author's life; who also worked his way up the social ladder. The story is written in a retrospective narrator: older Pip looks back at his childhood and tells the story. Charles Dickens uses characters to represent different classes. The lower working class is shown by Joe. The character of Joe is based on Dickens' father who was also an affable, hospitable and generous man, just like Joe. Pip describes him as a gentle, good-natured, sweet-natured, easy-going and silly dear boy. Charles Dickens is trying to show that the working class is more pleasant than the upper classes. Joe is happy and very comfortable with his class. Pip describes him as very uncomfortable when forced to distance himself from his working-class identity. “Nothing he wore then fit him or seemed to belong to him” shows how “out of place” he felt and looked when Mrs. Joe made him wear formal clothes. In complete contrast to Joe, his wife, Mrs. Joe is very ashamed of her position in society. She keeps referring to the fact that she despises having to be a 'blacksmith's wife'. This shows that she is desperate to move up in society and tries to do so by pleasing other upper class characters such as Mr. Pumblechook in hopes that they will grant her the status she desires. He makes a greater effort... half the paper... another figure. In Conclusion Charles Dickens' life experience and knowledge of the class of his time have largely influenced this novel. Having dealt with some of Pip's problems personally, Charles Dickens put a lot of himself and the people around him into the story. Even though the entire novel is about Pip wanting to be a gentleman and his high expectations for himself; the true gentleman throughout the novel was Joe. Joe has never changed how he fits in with anyone, but he has become very comfortable with who he is. Charles Dickens proves that being a "gentleman" has nothing to do with wealth and status, but with respectful and kind behavior. Dickens related a lot to class in the novel as it was a very important part of society back then. However, class is not that important in our society today as most of it is based on meritocracy rather than our social status.