Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, "For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else." In his novel Great Expectations, Charles Dickens exemplifies Ralph's belief and conveys that when a person has made mistakes in life, trauma or pain can help them get back on a better path. Throughout the novel, characters such as Pip, Miss Havisham, and Magwitch illustrate this theme through the decisions they have made in life and where those decisions have taken them. Throughout the novel, Pip goes through many events that transform him as a person. At the beginning of the novel, Pip, an ignorant and naive boy, does not care about social class and is happy with what he has. But as he grows up, he meets people from both social classes, who change his views and cause him to think things like: “…deeply upset that I was an ordinary working boy; that my hands were rough; that my boots were thick; that I had acquired the despicable habit of calling scoundrels scoundrels; that I was much more ignorant than I thought myself last night; and in general that my life was miserable” (Page 67). This alludes to the Garden of Eden, where the serpent tricked Eve into eating the apple and caused her and Adam's fall. However, in Great Expectations, the snake would be Estella, who influences Pip to change his opinions and makes him believe that money and social class are everything. Dickens also uses terms such as "common working boy", "the hands were coarse", the boots were thick", "despicable habit" and "ignorant", to show that Pip thinks it is a bad thing to belong to an uneducated family However, as he grows up and goes through many experiences and events, he becomes aware of what his mistakes are. After Pip loses everything he has earned, he becomes aware of what he has neglected and understands what the true value of family is and friendship. Miss Havisham transforms her adopted daughter from human to a "beautiful creature" to seek revenge on the male species, but her influence on Estella backfires and causes her destruction revenge is not the answer and he redeems himself by helping others. Finally, Magwitch, a character who grows up as a criminal and tries to keep himself away from society, meets Pip, a naive boy who changes Magwitch's way of life and gives him a reason. to do something in life. Through these characters, Dickens illustrates a universal truth that one can go astray, but going through a traumatic event or pain in life changes a person as a whole and puts them back on track..