No Love in Return

"Heaven knows we would never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts. I was better after I had cried, than before--more sorry, more aware of my own ingratitude, more gentle." In the novel, Great Expectations, love is displayed in many different ways—love of power, love of money, love of pain, love of self, and love of fear. Pip’s love is not like the other types; he has love for others, but he doesn’t get any love in return. His love for Estella grew on him ever since the day he met her. In the beginning he seemed to be forced to love her when he really did not feel any love towards her, but as he got to know her he noticed his feelings for her had changed. Maybe it was love. Maybe it was infatuation. Pip is just a young boy, a young boy with a complicated life, a young boy still experiencing innocence, a young boy with a great expectation. Sometimes what you expect is like taking things for granted. Things are not just sent from the sky and dropped right into your hands; love is not an expectation. It takes effort and heart to love someone, and you can’t assume that they love you back. Pip knows what it is like to have his heart broken, and the best thing you can do is leave it behind you and get back up on your feet again and move on.