“Dear Joe, I hope you will have children to love, and that some little fellow will sit in this chimney-corner of a winter night, who may remind you of another little fellow gone out of it for ever. Don’t tell him, Joe, that I was thankless; don’t tell him, Biddy, that I was ungenerous and unjust; only tell him that I honoured you both, because you were both so good and true, and that, as your child, I said it would be natural to him to grow up a much better man than I did.”
– Charles Dickens
Great Expectations, Chapter 58. After learning that his two friends Joe and Biddy have just wed, Pip delivers this moving speech filled with repentance and remorse. Wishing them the blessing of children, he hopes one will remind them of Pip as a child growing up in the forge. But he asks them not tell their child of Pip’s selfishness and ingratitude, but that he honored them both for their goodness. His words are all the more poignant because Joe acted as a father figure to Pip, raising him after the death of both of his parents. Pip’s deep affection for Joe and Biddy is seen here, also his remorse and wish for redemption as he admits past failures and neglect of his true friends. This is an important step on his journey of self-improvement.