Forgiveness in Miss Havisham
Most people in our world have the ability to forgive, giving them the ability to live, the ability to have happiness, and the ability to love. Without this ability, the world turns upside down. In the novel, Great Expectations, Dickens shows, through Miss Havisham, how some people can't forgive and refuse to let go of their past.
Fire symbolizes starting over—something Miss Havisham should've discovered earlier in life. As Pip forgives Miss Havisham for all her wrong doings, a sense of relief, a sense she has been desperately craving all her life, washes upon her. "Though every vestige of her dress was burnt, she still had something of her old ghastly bridal appearance; as she lay with a white sheet loosely overlying that, the phantom air of something that had been and was changed, was still upon her." (pg. 404) She once was a lady who lived for pain and breaking people's hearts, but now she lives for happiness and loving. Like Dickens said, the answer to the question, “What is the greatest expectations any of us have of life?”, is to love, and be loved by another. Miss Havisham shows this at the end of the novel.
The change that takes place in Miss Havisham is one similar to a process for metal. As Miss Havisham enters her own, vital crucible, change takes place within a moment, separating the impurities from the superior. Crucibles were used to sunder the cherished metal from the impure metal. This reflects exactly what happens to Miss Havisham. When the fire surrounded Miss Havisham something had changed; the inability to love and forgive had found its way into Miss Havisham's heart.
While the majority of people in our world do own the strength and courage to forgive, the minority don't. Some think it's a sign of failure, or even a sign of weakness. Love comes with forgiveness, and when you love, someone will return the favor and love you back—showing Dicken's answer to the question, “What is the greatest expectations any of us have of life?” The people in our world who are unable to forgive are shown through Miss Havisham in the novel Great Expectations.
