“'It were a bit lonesome then,' said Joe, 'living here alone, and I got acquainted with your sister. Now, Pip;' Joe looked firmly at me, as if he knew I was not going to agree with him; 'your sister is a fine figure of a woman.'"
Joe the blacksmith often has to talk himself into things, he wants to believe things that aren't necessarily true, and more importantly wants to convince Pip that they are true. In this instance, Pip and Joe are sitting by the fire together and Joe is telling Pip about his life. Joe talks about how he was beaten as a child by an abusive father, and how when he met Mrs. Joe (Joe's wife and Pip's sister/guardian) he welcomed Pip into his home. Joe then tells Pip that Mrs. Joe is "a fine figure of a woman". We can see that Joe is trying to convince Pip that his sister is "a fine woman" because of the way Joe "looks firmly" at Pip, as if to stop him from protesting so he isn't allowed to argue the point. The fact that he is aware that other people don't agree with him about Mrs. Joe, suggests that he might not believe what he is saying about his wife. I think he feels like he should feel that way about her because he talks about how lonely he was without her. And how as he became used to her, he felt less lonely, which means he didn't necessarily love her, he just liked her around. I feel like because of this, Joe wants to convince himself, and Pip, that he thinks of Mrs. Joe as a wonderful, fine figure of a woman.
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