Question

What are Pip's "expectations" in chapters 3 and 4?

Accepted Answer

At this point in the book, Pip really has just about nothing in the way of expectations.  At this point, the only thing that he can realistically expect is to be Joe's apprentice and later become a blacksmith himself.  He can hope to survive Mrs. Joe for that long...
In Chapter 4, Pumblechook is characterized as sort of boring guy who is constantly telling Pip that he should be more grateful.  Wopsle is portrayed as sort of a show off who loves to try to impress people, especially with the way he can talk.

Answer

In Ch. 3 Pip is on his way with the stolen food items and the file to meet Magwitch on the marshes. He loses his way because of the heavy mist. It is then that we come to know that Pip's expectations are limited to his desire to be apprenticed as a blacksmith to Joe:

I knew my way to the Battery, pretty straight, for I had been down there on a Sunday with Joe, and Joe, sitting on an old gun, had told me that when I was 'prentice to him regularly bound, we would have such Larks there!

In Ch.4 on Christmas day, Pip is very nervous and anxious. He is certain that the theft of the food items will soon be discovered and that the police will arrest him. The chapter begins with Pip 'expecting' to be arrested by the police:

I fully expected to find a Constable in the kitchen, waiting to take me up. But not only was there no Constable there, but no dis- covery had yet been made of the robbery.

Great Expectations

What are Pip's "expectations" in chapters 3 and 4?

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