Great Expectations shows how it is sometimes necessary for a person to endure a series of humiliations in order to grow, with each humiliation forcing the humiliated to redefine themselves in order to become whole. At the beginning of the novel, Pip is innocent, with no sense of "great expectations" because no one has ever suggested to him that he is in any way unusual. After Pip goes to Satis House, he hopes to become a gentleman and begins to appreciate this opportunity more than anything else in his life, including Joe. Pip abandons his old life in search of gentlemanly status. Throughout Pip's quest to become a gentleman, he is humiliated and with each humiliation he grows. This growth causes him to value those who love him more than social status and wealth, just as he did before he had the idea of ​​"high expectations." Pip values ​​those who love him at the beginning of the novel not because he has grown up. but because that's all he experienced. When he visits the Satis House, he is exposed to those who value money and social status over family. This exposure causes Pip to desire money and social status. Pip becomes dissatisfied with the life he led. Pip's love for Joe before Satis House is demonstrated by Pip's thoughts when he looks back to the moment when Joe explained to Pip why he had not learned to read: "Young as I was, I think I came away with a new admiration for Joe from that night on. We were then equal as before; but then, in quiet moments, when I sat looking at Joe and thinking about him, I had a new sensation of feeling conscious that I admired Joe in my heart” (48). Pip's first visit to Satis House corrupts his character by disgusting him with the medium of paper... just as Joe was from the beginning of the novel. Through a series of humiliations, Pip grows up and overcomes the corruption inflicted on him by his childhood visits to the Satis household. He learns to appreciate those around him more than wealth or social status. At the beginning of the novel he did not wish to be seen talking with Joe and Biddy, but by the end of the novel Pip was able to hold the hand of a man on death row. He admits that while he may not be elevated to the status of "gentleman", he has Herbert, Joe and Biddy. He realizes that while he may not be special in the grand scheme of things, his small action of stealing a file and some food for a desperate convict meant everything to Magwitch. He learns that although he is not a great London gentleman, he is the most important thing in Magwitch's life, and is therefore important and loved..