The Virtual Coffeehouse

As basic characters I've noticed that both Kim and Pip are orphans, growing up poor and having minor adventures in their hometowns before their real adventures begin. When Kim meets the Tibetan Lama and accompanies him on his journey, you could say the Lama is Kim's Miss Havisham. At any rate, this meeting with someone new and his leaving on a journey is much like the beginning of Pip's journey to become a gentleman. Kim is even sent to an English school at one point to, basically, become more of an English gentleman.

I agree with much of what Amanda has said in comparing the two main characters. Both begin their stories as poor orphans in the care of someone who really doesn't want to raise them. Also, as Amanda pointed out Pip and Kim both leave the world they are accustumed to in order to go on a journey. In both of the boys' cases they are searching for something to to help them figure out who they are and develop an identity.Just as Pip becomes part of two worlds (the poor one he was raised in and the rich one he was brought into), Kim is stuck between being both British and Indian. Both boys seem to be looking to somehow identify themselves, which is the similarity which stood out the most to me.

in both stories the main characters are trying to define themselves. pip and kim are both young and are trying to be apart of two different worlds as abbie was saying. pip has miss havisham to show him how to be a gentelman and kim uses the lama in the same way. they both set out on journeys that change their lives from what they knew growing up.

I agree with what has been said previously. Kim and Pip have both been orphaned and create their own adventure stories. Also both have a 'benefactor' or sorts that helps them grow up and guide them on their way. However Kim is far more independent than Pip. Being orphaned has caused Kim to learn how to fend for himself, to get what he needs and wants. Pip's childhood did quite the opposite. Pip was so afraid of his sister that he rarely took risks or disobeyed her and when he did was so afraid that he imagined the police after him.

I agree with all of the above posts and the comparisons regarding the orphans setting out on a strange path into a new world with new rules and customs. Also, both boys' journeys involve some form of education - whether it is a more formal one in which Pip became a gentleman or a spiritual one that Kim receives from the lama's teachings. There definitely a few differences between the two characters as well though - first of all, Kim chooses to follow the lama because he desires and adventure all on his own accord (actually he almost forces himself upon the man) while Pip is thrust into the care of the number of adults involved in taking him from his sister's home. In addition, Kim is very-self confident from the start and seems to have a lot of power/control over the adults around him (the lama who depends on him for survival, the Arab trader who needs him to relay messages, the other people whom he tricks into giving him food/money/shelter/etc). Pip, on the other hand, was almost completely manipulated by his elders throughout most of his childhood and had very little control over what happened to him.

Both Kim and Pip are searching for their true identities. The fact that they are both orphans helps to tie the two stories closer together, especially when they both decide to leave their natural state and world that they are used to, to search for something new within themselves. Both of their lives are greatly effected by their journeys completely changing each one of their lives.

I agree with what everyone has posted so far, especially what Sarah and Maria pointed out about how Kim is more independent and proactive than Pip is in his adventures. From the very first page, Kim is described as being defiant. Pip, on the other hand, is passive and reluctant as adults use him for their own ends. Pip's adventure begins when he encounters Magwitch, which is by accident on Pip's part. Kim, however, purposefully decides to accompany the lama as his disciple, seeing it as his fate (p. 65). Also, Kim is sent to the English school because Father Victor recognizes the amulet from Kim's father, which he calls "predestined" (p. 138). In contrast, Pip's first encounter with Magwitch seems like random chance rather than there being anything particularly different about Pip.

Like Pip, there seems to be a degree of "passing" in which Kim tries to pass himself as someone else. He assumes the identity of the chela to gain advantage with those around him. Pip puts on the pretension that he is high class, when he really is not, so others will like him.

In Kim's desire for greater things, he is more boastful and outwardly self-centered than perhaps Pip is. While Pip hurts Biddy and Joe by acting sophisticated and wanting to achieve his great expectations, Kim outwardly displays his superiority. He demonstrates this when he mocks the people around him and says, " ' I am a town-crow, not a village-crow!'" (109). Here, Kim brags about himself.

He is proud to be from the big city, which seems to be different from Pip who is ashamed of the marshes.

Like a lot of the posts so far, the big similarity is that both Kim and Pip are trying to identify themseleves in societies that are dominated by class structure. The desire to move up to higher class in society drives both of their motives and results in selfish, egotistical behavior. Kim's drive to either remain close to his Indian roots or assimilate with the imperial British seems more self-centered than Pip. He is focused on not being looked down upon in society and is offended if anyone tries to refer to him as being a member of a lower class.

i agree with the previous posts, however when i was reading i noticed the differences between the boys rather than the similarities. Mostly i noticed that Kim seems to be the ring leader of the journey, the mastermind behind where they go what they do and he is also the smart one who gets them food and shelter for the most part. Kim seems to be very intelligent and calculating. Whereas to me Pip seemed to be the follower and to do thing out of fear or just to please someone rather than because he thoughtfully addressed how it could benefit himself.

Both Pip and Kim are trying to attain an identity of importance. Through this identity they are also trying to increase their status. Pip seems to have a more assertive attitude towards creating his identity, while Kim seems to have a more passive attitude.

I also agree with everything stated before about the similarities of them being orphans, curious, the benefactor in their lives, and how they are trying to find their identity in the world. I thought Tara's post was insightful, where she spoke about Kim's passive but more independant attitude vs. Pip's most determined aggressive nature, even though Kim seems to be a more self centered then Pip.

Everyone has already done a pretty solid job of comparing, so most my points will have been covered already.

I found that both came from a poor background and suddenly were given opportunities to achieve higher standings in life, but in Great Expectations, Pip was finding the means to become a gentleman of the upper class while Kim is struggling to survive, and later become a man and find his true spiritual path.

Pip and Kim both grow up in as these poor little orphins in search of who they really are. The idea of "identity" when Lauren brought up a good point in her post during great expectations and the ideas of finding and discovering one's identity. Both boys end up on this journey to be these so called "gentelmen" the lives are so very different than what both are used to in terms of poor orphins. There is this upper class and rich end to the journey that will create this different atmospher and there will be a different impact on their identity they have created. There are many different similartities that some of the other classmates have already pointed out in their posts throughout the book. I hope to find more connections to the story as i read further between Pip and Kim.

Identity is a crucial component to Kim much like it is for Pip, like many have mentioned. I find both to find their place in the middle of extremes. They both provide a link between opposites. Kim is the meeting point between the British and Indian, like Pip finds himself in the middle of high and low classes, the rich and poor, the humble and the proud, the successful and the failures. Both are compromises to groups who are unable, it seems, to fully see the other perspective.