9- Mrs. Joe's Funeral

Pip really is surprised by the intensity of his emotion when he receives the news that Mrs. Joe has died. Perhaps more than anything else, Pip feels that he has lost all connection to his immediate family, and that now he is truly on his own. Pip's relationship with his sister, Mrs. Joe, was one that was very strained. Pip was constantly scolded and needlessly punished by his sister, who legitimized her actions by telling Pip that "she raised Pip by hand," after her mother passed away. Regardless, Pip still felt pain when Mrs. Joe was injured, because Pip is a loyal and forgiving person. At the funeral, Pip starts to feel an intense urge to find out who the attacker of Mrs Joe was. His first thought was Orlick, and he immediately starts to reprimand himself for not sending him away from the forge earlier. After the funeral, Pip promises to Joe and Biddy that he will visit more often. At this point, Pip really starts feel terrible for treating Joe and Biddy so snobbishly, and constantly narrates how much of a mistake it was to do so. Biddy is exceptionally skeptical of Pip's pledges to visit more often, and conveys her feelings to Pip. Pip answers as honestly as he could to Biddy, not wishing to hurt her further, and tells her that he really will visit more often. As Pip walks away into the mist the next morning, he is confident that he will try to visit Joe and Biddy more often.

After this event, Pip really begins to value the people who love him the most, and it is evident in the way that he sincerely told Biddy that he would be visiting more often. Yet the promises he can made to Biddy would be a challenge for Pip to uphold, and Pip knows this all too well. This event marks an important point in his maturation toward adulthood and the development of his character.