Great Expectations Chapter Thirty-Four Summary

Pip can’t stop thinking about Estella. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What’s new? He also feels pretty bad about the way he’s been treating Joe, neglecting him and all.
Pip imagines how nice it would have been never to have met Miss Havisham and to be working in the forger with Joe this very minute, without the anxieties and worries that plague him now.
Pip is living the life of a London playboy – meaning that he’s spending money that he does not have (yet). The debts are piling high, and, what’s worse is that he’s had a negative influence on Herbert, his best friend in the world.
We all know Herbert is pretty awesome. If he were not Pip’s friend, he wouldn’t be drawn to the high life and he wouldn’t be spending so much money. Pip blames himself for Herbert’s money woes and anxieties.
How are the boys spending so much money? On booze, jewelry, food, and the Finches.
Oh yes, the Finches. The Finches eat dinner every two weeks and get really, really drunk. They are a society of men. When Pip first encounters them, guess who he sees? Bentley "the spider" Drummle. Boo. Bentley likes to get so drunk that he runs into streetlamps. He’s a charmer.
Pip and Herbert start having to eat less and less, and, while Herbert keeps a positive attitude about his career, things just aren’t looking good.
So the boys resort to the age-old stand by that always makes them feel better: they calculate their debts.
Herbert’s not so good at staying on task, but Pip helps him. They order a delicious dinner and a good bottle of wine, and they add up all of their debts. Afterwards, Pip arranges the bills in neat little piles, and he feels really good about himself. He feels like he has accomplished something, he feels smart, and he feels like he has helped his good friend.
Suddenly, a note is slipped through the door. Pip opens it and discovers that his sister, Mrs. Joe, has died and that her funeral will be on Monday. Guilt-city, here we come.

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