What financial request does Pip make of Miss Havisham in Great Expectations?
In the bildungsroman of Charles Dickens, Great Expectations , Pip exhibits much maturity and integrity in the third stage of the novel. Concerned that Compeyson will try to kill Provis, Herbert and Pip consider Pip's going abroad with Provis. But, before he departs, Pip decides to visit Estella; however, he learns that she has gone to Satis House. Therefore, Pip makes a trip to the melancholy mansion where Pip remarks it would have been better if he had never entered. In his act of going to Miss Havisham in Chapter XLIV, Pip candidly tells Miss Havisham that she has succeeded in making him miserable and reveals that he has learned of his benefactor. With more candor, he informs Miss Havisham that she has wronged Mr. Matthew Pocket and Herbert Pocket, his son; further, he tells Miss Havisham that they are his friends while the other relatives are not. Nor are they of...
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the quality of Mr. Pocket and Herbert.
When Miss Havisham asks what Pip wants from her, he explains that he needs a favor for Herbert's sake, and it must be done without his knowledge: Pip asks for money to help Herbert pay his bills. Having led Herbert into debt, Pip feels obligated to rescue him; now that he may leave the country, he must turn to Miss Havisham. She agrees to aid Herber, and Pip then confesses his misery to Estella.
At this point in the novel, Pip exhibits responsibility as a young man. Before leaving the country, he wishes to straighten his affairs and make amends to his friend Herbert, for whom he will later procure a position in a branch banking office. Clearly, Pip is moving from his selfish and irresponsible conduct of Stage II of Great Expectations.
In Great Expectations, what financial request does Pip make of Miss Havisham and what does it reveal about his character?
Pip asks for a sum close to 900 pounds for Herbert. Being a relative of Miss Havisham's, Pip sees little reason for Havisham to say no and he feels a certain level of guilt for what he's put Herbert through, so he risks a chance encounter with Miss Havisham.
This shows that he is willing to sacrifice for someone he cares about and that he sees a need for equality or a sense of duty in the world. I think he thought he "owed" this to Herbert.
I think that the part you are asking about comes in Chapter 44. It is right at the beginning of that chapter.
In that chapter, Pip asks Miss Havisham for money, but it is not for him. Instead, he is asking her to arrange for Herbert Pocket to have some money without him knowing how it came about. He wants Herbert to be able to succeed in business and he thinks that Herbert has been much nicer to Miss Havisham than the other relatives (so he doesn't deserve to be punished).
To me, this shows that Pip is a generous and unselfish person.