Great Expectations is a novel written by Charles Dickens that illustrates a strong relationship between parents and children. Dickens himself had a very hard life, his father was imprisoned and had to work from a very young age. The title “Great Expectations” suits him well as Dickens always wanted to go far in life and break out of the working class. The novel is set in Victorian England, where major social changes were taking place in the country. Many children worked up to sixteen hours a day trying to earn enough money to help support their parents. The main theme that Great Expectations seems to suggest about parents is that they are not always present and, if they are, they may be unsatisfactory. Many of the main characters in Great Expectations grow up in the absence of their parents. Pip is an orphan who only knows his parents from their tombstone. “For I never saw my father or my mother, and I never saw any likeness of either of them. (1) He doesn't even have a photograph of his parents to show him what they looked like. Mr. Joe, who is "Angle In The House", along with Magwitch would be Pip's substitute parents. Magwitch becomes Pip's secret benefactor by providing him with a steady income, while Mr. Joe offers him sincerity and kindness. The fact that Joe forgave Pip after being so rude to him after traveling to London illustrates a strong parental bond between the two, because parents should always forgive their children. Although Estella grew up with the physical support of Miss Havisham, she also lives with the absence of her real parents. Estella is manipulated by Miss Havisham's inability to love, which ends up putting her to the test. Estella also admits to Pip that she has had trouble with the law in the past. It seems that without parental stability, children are faced with choices that they would normally be able to make with a parent's help. But when the parental figure is excluded, these children are unable to adequately evaluate their actions, which can lead to doing something irrational. Overall it is very important to have a strong parental figure in your life as you develop throughout your life. . Without a strong parental figure, the child's life will be more difficult and challenging as he or she grows up. Pip, Magwitch, and Estella were all characters in the novel who grew up without their parents. While Estella and Pip are given substitute parents, some characters such as Clara and Herbert have had unsatisfactory parents. This absence of parental stability has affected these characters in one way or another.