Great Expectations Overall Theme

After reading Great Expectation, I feel that the overall message that Dickens wanted to send to readers is that it is important to think about the consequences and future effects of acting upon our immediate wants and desires. When people focus only on what they dearly want at the present, and try to achieve these wants mindlessly, they aren't thinking ahead, and don't consider what could happen as a result of what they are doing. In some cases of desires, the consequences of lacking forethought can be devastating. However, many people only realize the truth of the message after experiencing the negative effects of their rash actions, as happened with Pip for his love of Estella in the book (my limited reference to the characters). Once properly considered, the original desires that are the cause of rash actions often can be realized to be foolish themselves. In life, it can be difficult to look beyond the things that we have strong wants for. While they are not always bad, the vital point is to be able to analyze them with an objective mind, and thus determine if they are sensible or not before acting to achieve or reach them. This is the key to using forethought in regard to our desires, and in regard to many other things as well.