When Fright Misguides the Self: Pip's Insidious Trauma in Charles Dickens's Great Expectations

Abstract: The article examines how Pip in Charles Dickens's Great Expectations undergoes insidious trauma throughout his life. Insidious trauma refers to subtle, cumulative and often invisible psychological harm resulting from ongoing experiences of oppression, discrimination or marginalization linked to aspects of identity such as social status, gender, and color. In the novel, Pip endures others' cruel treatment and continuous impacts of unsettling life events. These experiences instill in him a persistent guilt and feeling of inferiority, ultimately forming a distorted sense of self. His inability to defend himself against such experiences reflects the internalization of a worldview shaped by the oppressive Victorian society. Pip's traumatic development exposes the oppression faced by underprivileged individuals, particularly working-class people and women, due to the patriarchal and class-based nature of this society.