The Virtual Coffeehouse

I think that Pip is similar to Alice in relation to the types of adventures they have and how adults in general treat them. Alice has the White Knight who she is friendly with and is friendly in return. We could compare the White Knight to Joe, as characters who both show some compassion to Pip/Alice in a world where no one else cares about them.

However, Joe seems to have more of an impact on Pip than the White Knight has on Alice- plus he's around a lot longer. When Pip tells all the lies about what happened at Miss Havisham's, he confronts Joe and tells him he feels bad about it. Joe gives him the moral advive that he shouldn't tell any more lies in order to "live well and die happy" (72). This is absent from Alice and the White Knight's interaction, as Joe seems to be a confidant, advisor, and more of a consistent influence than the White Knight.

I definitely had the same thought about the guiding roles within both stories. Like Elyse said, both Alice's world and Pip's world are full of others who lack good intentions toward the children, often trying to trick them. Right from the start, we meet Pip who is being threatened and shaken by the older man while he is visiting his parents grave. This sets the tone for his childhood experience. Pip is unable to find serenity and stability in his own home, just as Alice is unable to find the serenity she seeks when she reaches the garden. Instead, both characters are confronted with tyrant women who seem to revel in being unpleasant. Thankfully, like Elyse already mentioned, there are some characters with good intentions that help guide these youngins through the trials of childhood in this unforgiving world.