Wrapping Up Great Expectations

After reading Great Expectations, there are many themes that could be taken out of it. Which theme is the most important is completely a matter of opinion. Personally, I think the most important theme is this: appreciate what you have because you won't realize how great it is until it's gone. This is an idea I think that virtually anyone can relate to. Almost everyone has had an experience where they had something great, but they didn't know how special it was because they were too busy longing for something else. And by the time they'd noticed how amazing it was, it was too late and it was gone (like Pip, wishing so desperately to be a gentleman that he didn't see just how great his life with Joe was until all his ties to home were broken). I think that I identified with this theme very strongly because this is a lovely little life lesson that I seem to keep having to revisit. While I was reading, I can't say that it really jumped out at me immediately. But once I began to think about it, and tired to find something meaningful in this story that I could relate to. This by far overpowered themes like keeping those you love close to you, or monetary wealth is no substitute for happiness because those seem like obvious, regular life no brainers. But appreciating what you've got while you've got it is something people genuinely struggle with, and can be a very hard learned lesson. So I think readers, if they are going to take anything away from Dickens' novel, should take Pip's struggle with this idea to heart and learn to love what they have and not spend time pining over what they can't and/or don't have.