When Pip finds himself in a social class above that of Joe, he immediately begins to act as he thinks a gentleman is supposed to act, which leads him to treat Joe and Biddy snobbishly and coldly. In a private conversation with Biddy, Pip tells his good friend that Joe "is rather backward in some things. For instance in his learning and his manners" (149). .
On one occasion, Pip receives word that Joe will be visiting London and would like to see him. However, Pip is not at all overjoyed to receive this news. In fact, he looks forward to Joe's visit "with considerable disturbance, some mortification, and a keen sense of incongruity," and he states that he "certainly would have paid money" in order to keep Joe away (217). In the strict sense of the word, in Pip's eyes, the crass Bentley Drummle is then the only gentleman in the novel. But according to the values of a true gentleman, only the lowborn Joe is a man of honor, a true gentleman. Even Pip unconsciously realizes this while he is looking down on him. As Pip described, "Utterly preposterous as his cravat was, and as his collars were, I was conscious of a sort of dignity in the look- (222). Joe held a sort of poise and decorum that cannot be hid by his shabby clothing or rural manners. He has no superficial airs about him that puts himself above other people, he simply has sincerity and a genuine simplicity, and no matter what, he does not turn his back those he cares about for selfish means. .
Joe's quiet goodness makes him one of the few completely sympathetic characters in Great Expectations. Although he is uneducated and unrefined, he consistently acts for the benefit of those he loves and suffers in silence when Pip treats him coldly. Joe is uneducated and perhaps a little slow but he understands the important things in life. Even though Joe is Pip's adoptive father, he never ceases to treat Pip as an equal and a friend, always calling Pip "Pip, old chap- (11) affectionately.
