From the provided passage we know that over the years Joe has come to tolerate Mrs Joe's abuse and even finds good qualities about her. I originally thought that Joe just gave up trying to take leadership of the family but this passage revealed something different. From this specific passage it seems as though Joe is very appreciative of Mrs Joe but if we look at it in context, Joe is sharing his life. Being the child of an abusive and drunk father he and his mother ran away from his father. But that never lasted a long time. He and his mother always came back. It seems that to him, abuse is normal. I find it interesting that he doesn't abuse anyone close to him considering his background, instead he takes compassion on Pip and never talks back to Mrs Joe in a harsh manner.
"Certainly, poor Joe!"
"Though mind you, Pip," said Joe, with a judicial touch or two of the poker on the top bar, "rendering unto all their doo, and maintaining equal justice betwixt man and man, my father were that good in his hart, don't you see?"
I didn't see; but I didn't say so.
This quote occurs during the conversation between Pip and Joe. This show a bit about how he sees his wife similarly as he sees his father. He believed that there really was good in his father's heart. just the same he truly believes there is good in Mrs Joe's heart.
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I too think it very interesting that Joe does not abuse anyone close to him either. It seems the only people that do that are the one that have had it done to them. And especially with his spouse being so abusive too, i would think that he would take this opportunity to kind of "get back at the world", and help Mrs. Joe with making Pip's life a living hell. But i guess that is what makes Joe and Miss Havisham different. Miss Havisham lives based on her past, Joe does the opposite. It seems Joe has always been like this, and this says even more to us about Joe's compassion and wisdom. Pip is lucky to not just have his sister raising him. Joe is kind of a relief from the everyday abuse from his sister.
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