What's The Story?

(I wrote this while listening to the Brain Food playlist on Spotify. I really like it.)
     Reading Great Expectations is like reading society itself. Fiction is reflective on society and human nature. In dreams when you see people, they have all been seen before at one time or another. You may not recognize a face but subconsciously you remember them. In fiction there are many themes that seem new, but they have all been seen before. The author may intend to write for the sake of writing yet meaning is conveyed subconsciously just as faces in dreams are seen subconsciously. The themes that we read about have been seen in society and copied down in a book. Dickens wrote Great Expectations because he wanted to reflect on how when the human instinct is to want and be greedy, it will lead to a state of decay and corruption by the fortune one craved dearly in the beginning until simplicity is craved instead.
     "So imperfect was this realization of the first of my great expectations, that I looked in dismay at Mr. Wemmick. "Ah!" said he, mistaking me; "the retirement reminds you of the country. So it does me."" Through the use of foreshadowing Charles Dickens exploits a child's dreams/expectations of becoming something great and better. Foreshadowing is present in the title, this quote, and the broken phases of Pip's expectations. When a child is asked what they want to be, most will respond with something that would be nearly impossible to attain. Pip wants to be a gentleman. He craves something more than the simple life that he has had no choice to live with. Pip's desire is the first stage of his false expectations that wealth is perceived to bring.
     The two men that develop Pip's expectations are foils. Most of these expectations are derived from shallow and materialistic perceptions of the lifestyle and personality these people represent. Joe has a colloquial diction and tone. It is very clear that he is uneducated, yet he is satisfied with his lifestyle. If he wasn't, he wouldn't have sacrificed his position in society to save Pip. Unfortunately, all Pip sees is a man who is kind, yet ignorant of the life he could have. Jaggers is an educated, wealthy man. He could buy just about anything that he wants, except for the happiness he had lost from the power he got from his wealth.  He abandoned his daughter Estella and feels no remorse. His diction and syntax is formal and has a business-like connotation because his business is what gets him power. From the drastic foil comparison Dickens created, wealth comes to represent a poison of decay.
     Wealth symbolizing corruption is a cliché that may seem unusual for a great author to use. Dickens used this cliché because it is a thought that can be seen in society through various rulers throughout history. By using something that is incredibly mundane, Dickens allows the audience to focus on the decay of Pip and his returning want for simplicity. In doing so, the audience is able to connect to Pip on a more emotional level.