Great Expectations: Charles Dickens on what the world owes to us

The story of a poor and abused child suddenly, as if by magic, gaining incredible wealth, is not a new or unique story, but it is one that we are all interested in. This is because this kind of story offers a radical, fantastic hope for the least fortunate among us. Human beings are attracted to stories of hope like moths to a fire in the darkness. Dickens shows us what happens to those moths when they get too close to the fire, and when it burns their wings.