Guilt

As Pip is stealing food for the convicts from Joe and Mrs. Joe, he is wracked by guilt based on his theft and is paranoid that he is about to be caught in the act. The stereotype surrounding thieves and orphans is that they are lawless individuals who don’t have any fear for the consequences of their actions. Dickens uses this incident as one of the first blatant examples of how Pip defies convention and attempts to be more than what his humble upbringing might initially dictate him to be.