The Virtual Coffeehouse

I agree with Amanda. Pip is being a self-swindler by making all these false excuses for himself. Pip referring to himself as a "swindler" shows that while he is materialistically wealthy, he is emotionally poor. He himself says that this is far worse, because while it is "reasonable enough" to "take a bad half-crown of somebody else's manufacture" (225), it is inexcusable to counterfeit your own emotions and morals.

I also thought it was interesting that Pip uses a metaphor of money to describe this, because it shows that that's what he's preoccupied with. Yet even though he's wealthy and upper-class, he still has to resort to a form of "swindling." Dickens seems to be saying that money doesn't buy happiness, nor can it buy human decency; being wealthy doesn't necessarily make you any better than a thief.

In the beginning of the book we were crafted a picture of what Pip wanted most out of life, and that was to make something of himself. From the start Pip was concerned with money and "making it big." The idea of swindling, I think, continues this idea. However, Pip seemingly makes excuses for himself and the quote suggested, "All other swindlers.." can be proof.

I agree with both Amandas that Pip is emotionally insecure and that although he may have money, his emotions are not in check. When Pip states, "...folding up my bank-notes for security's sake and...pass them on myself as notes," it's as if he's fooling himself with his happiness. His morality is in question and by him always trying to excuse his actions, he's losing sight of the true situation: his theft.

I agree with these girls in that Pip is basically robbing himself of true happiness by exchanging it for material happiness and wealth. When he first learns of the money given to him, he treats Joe and Biddy with complete disrespect and talks very snobbish, ironically looking down on them for their "lower social class" when in reality, he is exactly the same and no better than them. You can see that, that night he does feel ashamed of his actions, and at a few other points in the novel, such as when Joe comes to visit him in London and again treats him very rudely and acts like a snob, Pip yet again feels ashamed and wishes to do something to make up for his actions, however, in both instances, he does nothing. It isn't until the end of the novel that Pip finally realizes where true happiness comes from, and learns that money cannot buy you everything.

I agree with what these ladies have already said. I think the quote means that you have the chance of cheating yourself better than anyone else could. This is true in Pip's case. He is so caught up in gaining social status and becoming wealthy that he ignores his other dreams. He prefers to have more material possessions than any meaningful relationships with others. In the end, Pip realizes the mistake of choosing money over his real dreams, but it is too late to change any of that.

I agree with the things the others have said. Though when I read this part with the idea of self- swindling I was reminded of Dante's Comedia and how the conscious acts of fraud are more sinful than the unconscious ones because you are fully aware that you are committing a sin. In fact conscious fraud is one of the worst sins possible and one that I think Pip is guitly of. I think he knows that his cutting off of Joe and Biddy is wrong and cruel and yet he does it anyway, continually creating excuses for himself as he goes along so he can continue fooling himself into thinking it's for the best.

The swindle is simply the ill-gotten gain. Or at the very least, its gains that are perceived as being ill-gotten, which is sometimes more important. Swindling is critical in Great Expectations because there is this constant underlying theme of both guilt and "rights" in the sense of deserved rewards. The swindle allows one to receive the benefit of something without paying the requisite costs, and in the case of Pip, this could reference his financial relationship to Magwitch or a whole bunch of other things. The self-swindle, in this context, I think refers to character's attempts to punish themselves for their ongoing guilt complexes, specifically Pip's self-deprecation and self-destruction at the whims of his various expectations. They swindle themselves because they make themselves feel better about their guilt without actually making reparations, simply destroying themselves. This suggests that the guilt itself is nothing more than an illusion created by a self-centric attitude.

I don't have much else to add except that I think it's interesting that the Pip's story starts out with him swindling Joe and his sister by taking the food and the file. It seems to be something he carries over into the rest of his life in a sense. He knows in both cases what he is doing and that it's wrong. I'm not sure which one is worse, the literal or metaphorical swindling...

I agree with the ideas that have already been posted. Pip uses many different tactics to convince himself that his actions are for the best. No matter how many long drawn out excuses Pip can come up with, the reality is that his actions are only for his own benefit. It is almost as if Pip believes that he can only get ahead in the world at the expense of others. He thinks that by associating himself with Joe and his backwards ways, people will place him in the same category. As a result, Pip is doing his best to distance himself from Joe, his past, and anything else that would signify that he was not worthy of his current life style. Swindling occurs as a way for Pip too quiet his guilty conscience.

Throughout this story. Pip goes from being poor and really aspiring to make something out of his life, to being given a certain amount of money. After receiving this money, thats basically all the can think about, and he believes somehow that is better than everyone else-- when he really is equal to them and their social class. Because social class is so important in this novel, this is a huge deal for Pip. With this statement he says, I believe he means that he knows that he is cheating himself out of real, true happiness. But he is going to live this way anyways. Because he knows he is cheating himself, he also knows that he can cheat himself out of this better than anyone else could, all because the self is way more powerful than any outside people, sources or influences.

I really don't have much else to add, it seems like everyone has said everything already! I, too, agree that Pip's self-swindling is the reason for his unhappiness. He could be truly happy with the people that he loves, yet he chooses wealth over them. He cheats himself out of real happiness, and therefore, he has no one to blame but himself.

Yup, just like Sarah and Cherilyn I don't have much to add because everybody else seems to have stated it all so well. I wonder if Pip's behavior is almost a kind of defense mechanism against all the forces that he has had to come up with throughout his life - maybe he feels that if he is the swindler (aggressor) then he could avoid being a victim? I definitely don't want to defend him because his development is very frustrating to read about, but I still feel a little sorry for little boy Pip who actually tried to be nice and kind to people. I think this is one of the few books where, at the end, I was actually discontent with the main character.

Everything everyone has said so far I definitely agree with. The cause for Pip's unhappiness lies within his self-swindling, which causes him swindle others that are close to him. Deception of others begins with self-deception and Pip definitely possesses that. He knows that moving to a higher social class will not necessarily make him happy and by going along with this, he is constantly swindling himself.

According to dictionary.com, the definitions of swindle are:
1. to cheat (a person, business, etc.) out of money or other assets.
2. to obtain by fraud or deceit.
3. to put forward plausible schemes or use unscrupulous trickery to defraud others; cheat.

I mostly think of swindle as deception in order to establish a power-hold over another person. For example, a cashier might swindle a customer out of the correct change for themselves. It is easiest to decieve ourselves because we know ourselves the best and therefore it is easy to convince ourselves of whatever idea/notion/etc. we have. I think this connects to our discussions of identity and how we understand ourselves. Think about it: what does that say about Pip's own character if he can lie to himself the best? It suggests that identity is not a hard and fast concept, that it is fluid and malleable in order to support certain ends.

I like everyone who has posted so far agree with all that has been said about the quote in chapter 28. I'll try not to be too repetitive because most of what I think has alreayd been said...It is obvious that Pip feels guilty about the swindling he is doing both to his "family" and to himself. He is so fixed on the idea that money will buy him happieness and despite the fact that he becomes a gentleman and is still not happy, continues to snub those who care about him and pursue a materialistic happieness instead of an emotional one.