Great Expectations Stage 2

In stage 2 of Great Expectations, Pip's surroundings completely change as he moves to London.  He meets new characters and changes a lot himself.  Herbert is reintroduced in the second stage of the novel, as a kind gentleman that we learn is the same boy who Pip fought in the garden at the Satis house.  We know this character as the "pale young gentleman".  Pip becomes bestfriends with Herbet and they end up moving in together.  Herbert teaches Pip the manners that come with being a gentleman.  I questioned throughout the second stage weather Herbert was more of a positive or negative influence on Pip, because although Herbert seemed like such a nice character, he was helping Pip become a gentleman, and Pip was becoming a worse and worse person as he was becoming a gentleman.

Dickens uses the new characters and settings in the second stage of Great Expectations to further develop Pip as a character.  The theme of becoming a gentleman is greatly continued in this stage of the story, and Dickens uses characters such as Herbert to portray this theme and make it into a huge part of the novel.