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Since Pip is a child, Joe has been ¡°a mild, good-natured, sweet-tempered, easygoing, foolish, dear fellow¡± to him for a long time, and Joe is also the light and warmness in his dark and cold world. It seems Pip is very content with his status quo for he gets enough recognition from whom he loves and cares about. However, when he begins to get in touch with two totally unfamiliar worlds with his own£*one of which is represented by Miss Havisham and Estella, symbolizing money and power, and the other is represented by Mr. Herbert Pocket, standing for knowledge and dignity£* namely, he begins to frequently get involved in the complex relationships with strangers, his little world of peace is broken. While standing in front of those strangers, with his intimate friend Joe¡¯s lack of sociability when speaking to them, Pip feels ashamed and embarrassed, though he loves Joe. It is because of the frequent and sudden changes in relationships between people, which symbolize a change in the society, that he is lost and falls into fear and confusion. Nevertheless, that he feels uncertain and instable is in the line with the psychological features of the Victorian period, which is induced by the change of society. His dissatisfaction with status quo arouses his desire for a new recognition and ambition for happiness in a strange world. He denies his present self and even his friend, Joe, because he wants to free himself from the shadow of the past and be able to freely embrace the great expectations in his imagination. Therefore, the spirit of the Victorian period£*striving for recognition£*is gradually emerging before us, with Pip¡¯s adventures and changes. <br> According to the whole story, Pip is not the only person striving for recognition in the novel, but also the other characters around him in diverse ways. Though Miss Havisham is a misanthropist, she is keen on recognition from Estella, who is becoming colder and colder, while the proud and ruthless Estella wants to get a new position by marriage to Drummle in order to escape from the world built by Miss Havisham. Joe tries to be accepted by the changed Pip. Herbert Pocket pursues his happiness in the business world, which is changed every day. All of the characters in this novel divert themselves to different ways. But one thing is similar that they are striving for recognition£*a kind of new position for themselves£*in the changing society.<br> However, the last phase of transition in Pip¡¯s life should be paid attention to. Why does Pip finally head to overseas to realize his dream as a real gentleman after so many adventures? Because in the last stage he does not live for others, but for himself, that is to say, he strives for recognition of himself so that he can come to be a changed person he longs to be and find a proper position in the new world.<br> Generally speaking, Great Expectations is profoundly concerned with the spirit of striving for recognition in the Victorian period. It seems that Charles Dickens wants to conduct people rightly, who are lost in this period through the story of Pip. However, depending on the ending of the novel, it can be easily summed up that a person should not live as a social animal, who blindly wants to get recognition by other, but lives as an independent person, who lives for himself, finding a proper position in the world, and at last can be recognized by both society and the individuals.<br>