Pip— the orphaned hero of Great Expectations— is one of Charles Dickens's best-loved characters. Young Philip Pirrip— nicknamed Pip— is apprenticed to his blacksmith brother-in-law, but an anonymous benefactor changes the boy' s future. After he is lifted to what seems a higher station in life, Pip shuns his kind friends and slips into debt. But as he matures, he progresses from thoughtless selfishness to humble industry.