The Rehabilitated Magwitch in Great Expectations Essay

Dickens emphasizes this with Magwitch's brutal behavior, his threats of death if Pip does not do his bidding, but, as is a recurring theme in the novel, we need only the proof of his appearance to pass judgment upon him. Pip in contrast is defenseless, for in the inverted position Magwitch holds him, Pip can be likened to a new-born; Pip is innocent, naked, and ignorant of the world. It is from this point Pip begins the long journey toward the "identity of things" (24; ch.1).

Throughout Dickens’ novel Great Expectations, the character, personality, and social beliefs of Pip undergo complete transformations as he interacts with an ever-changing pool of characters presented in the book. Pip’s moral values remain more or less constant at the beginning and the end; however, it is evident that in the time between, the years of his maturation and coming of adulthood, he is fledgling to find his place in society. Although Pip is influenced by many characters throughout the novel, his two most influential role models are: Estella, the object of Miss Havisham’s revenge against men, and Magwitch, the benevolent convict. Exposing himself to such diverse characters Pip has to learn to discern right from wrong and chose

Pip’s early life is detailed to show that it is not an ideal one. With both his parents deceased, he is brought up by the hand of his sister Mrs. Joe, and her husband Joe the blacksmith. While visiting the cemetery one day, Pip meets Abel Magwitch, an escaped prisoner who hides in the marshes nearby. He is a “fearful man, all in gray, with a great iron on his leg. A man with no hat, and broken shoes, and with an old rag tied around his head.” (Dickens 2) In addition to his unruly looks, he “limped, and shivered, and glared, and growled” (Dickens 2) which added on to his menacing aura. He threatens and demands Pip to get him a file and “wittles.” (Dickens 5) Fearful and obedient, Pip does so. Stealing these items

Mysterious and misunderstood, always captured and imprisoned but never free. At first glance he was starved and chained, deprived of his freedom. When he gains freedom he runs off to chase Compeyson. His actions caused him to be captured once more. His backstory is quite unfair compared to the 21 century. In fact he was punished more heavily than Compeyson, enraged he seeks revenge. To carry out his plan he turns Pip into a snob with high rank. Lastly when he tries to obtain freedom he is imprisoned once more. Thus Magwitch was destined to be imprisoned even during his last

at first "A fearful man, all in coarse gray, with a great iron on his

This feature is recognized when Magwitch admits that he has worked hard to become Pip’s benefactor: “I’ve put away money, only for you to spend. When I was a hired-out shepherd in a solitary hut, not seeing no faces but the faces of sheep till I half forgot wot men’s and women’s faces wos like, I see you yourn” (Dickens 320). Magwitch worked tirelessly for money to give to Pip. His main goal was to make Pip a gentleman. This quotation also emphasizes how Magwitch thinks of Pip often. The reason that Magwitch escapes prison and goes off to work is to repay Pip for helping him as a child. Instead of simply thanking him for his help, Magwitch invests his time and all of his money into helping Pip get a better life. Magwitch’s undeniable selflessness reveals that he good-hearted individual, even though he is viewed as a

The paragraph above just explains of one of the numerous ways Magwitch influences Pip. Not only does Abel support Pip as a benefactor, but he also supports Pip as if he were his own son, "more to me nor any son [Magwitch]" (Dickens 340). Although Magwitch seemed to have been a criminal who bullies Pip at the marshes just for "wittles", he isnt as shallow or cold as the reader views him. For when he thanks Pip for the food he shows the reader that he isnt just a simple heartless criminal, but a kind hearted individual pressured by the circumstances he's in. After seeing that Compeyson's smooth, gentleman-like talk "softened" his sentence, Abel learns, then "makes himself a gentleman" working hard as a benefactor so that Pip can succeed in making

Beginning in the second stage, Pip goes off to London with his newfound fortune to become a gentleman, though all that he would truly become is a rich, wealthy snob. Upon arriving at Barnard’s Inn, Pip rudely talks about the shabby conditions of the place, even saying, “So imperfect was this realization of the first of my great expectations that I looked in dismay at Wemmick,” showing that now that he is rich, he feels he should be treated like a king (181). Wemmick even mistakes his look of contempt, demonstrating that already he is becoming a snob, but at this point others don’t take him to be one. Although this passage only talks about the ‘first’ of Pip’s expectations, one can see that they are already set too high. Pip accompanies Wemmick to Newgate prison, but afterwards says, “I wished Wemmick had not met me, or I had not yielded to him and gone with him,” because he feels he is too far above the prisoners there (279). This is very ironic, because the person who has made him ‘rise’ above all these people is a convict. Pip didn’t want Newgate to be ‘on’ him because he felt it would detour Estella, when in fact her father was a convict as well. When Pip finds out that Magwitch is his benefactor and not Miss Havisham he says, “The abhorrence in which I held the

The convict is a character in the novel Great Expectations who has taken initiative to better himself. After Pip helps him when he is poor and without means he decides to change and takes initiative to change. When he is banished to America he works as a farmer and becomes an honest man. As he becomes a wealthy man he funds Pip and makes Pip a gentleman, which one would think that Pip would appreciate, once he finds out. However Pip does not appreciate it because of the fact that the convict was a criminal.

To debtors, thieves, and murderers in the time of Charles Dickens, prison posed a realistic threat. He depicts several prisoners in his novel, Great Expectations. Abel Magwitch is a lifelong thief who spends years in prison for his crimes, Compeyson a cunning con man who faces the reality of prison, as well. However, some of the prisons portrayed are metaphorical. While Magwitch and Compeyson are sentenced to literal prison sentences, other characters find themselves trapped by other aspects of their lives and similarly to the literal prisoners, their freedom is lost and can only be gained again by doing hard time. Two characters who live in metaphorical prisons are Pip and Estella. Throughout the novel, Pip finds himself trapped in unrequited

The entire story is told through the eyes of an adult Pip, even though Pip is a small child during parts of it. In his early years, Pip was strongly influenced by his guardians, Joe Gargery and his wife, Mrs. Joe. Joe instills a sense of honesty, industry, and friendliness in Pip, while Mrs. Joe does a great deal to contribute to his desires and ambitions through her constant emphasis on pomp and property. Pip is generally good-natured and thoughtful, and very imaginative. His false values, which are bolstered by his love of Estella, decrease the amount of respect that he has for Joe. His alienation from Joe and Joe's values builds through the second part of the novel, as Pip becomes selfish, greedy, and foolish. During the period when his expectations are intact, his only morally positive act was to secretly help Herbert Pocket into a good position. Upon discovering that Magwitch is his benefactor, a new phase begins in Pip's moral evolution. At first, Pip no longer feels the same human compassion for Magwitch that he did the first time he saw him out on the marshes. Gradually, Pip changes his perception of Magwitch, unlearning what he has learned. Pip becomes concerned with the man, and not the expectations that he could provide. When Jaggers presents the thought that there may be a way for Pip to get his hands on Magwitch's property, the idea sounds hollow and utterly empty to Pip. Pip learns about Estella's parentage through

“Look'ee here, Pip. I'm your second father. You're my son—more to me nor any son. I've put away money, only for you to spend” (Dickens 321). This quote from Magwitch in Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens, illustrates how Magwitch treats Pip like his son and even gives him money to start his education as a gentleman in London. While Pip may not return Magwitch’s sentiment at first, he eventually becomes more appreciative of Magwitch as they grow closer. By finally finding out the truth about his expectations, Pip matures and grows as a character. A pivotal moment in Pip’s psychological development is when he finds out that Magwitch is his benefactor because it exhibits an important theme in the novel, it develops

Pips fear of Magwitch grows when Magwitch says 'I ain't alone, as you may think I am'. Dickens does this to intimidate Pip even more and to make Pips experience with Magwitch as fearful and as memorable as possible. Magwitch then starts to go into great detail about what the other man can supposedly do. The description of the man kind of sounds like a ghost or horror story and Magwitch refers to himself as an 'Angel' compared to the other man. '

One of the most important and common tools that authors use to illustrate the themes of their works is a character that undergoes several major changes throughout the story. In Great Expectations, Charles Dickens introduces the reader to many intriguing and memorable characters, including the eccentric recluse, Miss Havisham, the shrewd and careful lawyer, Mr. Jaggers, and the benevolent convict, Abel Magwitch. However, Great Expectations is the story of Pip and his initial dreams and resulting disappointments that eventually lead to him becoming a genuinely good person. The significant changes in Pip's character are very important to one of the novel's many themes. Dickens uses Pip's

As Magwitch eats, Pip describes him as the following: “the man took strong sharp sudden bites, just like the dog. He swallowed… too fast; and he looked sideways… while he ate, as if he thought there was danger in every direction of somebody’s coming to take the pie away,” (Page 19). With the use of alliteration on the “S”s and the use of harsh assonance when it says that “[he] took strong sharp sudden bites”, Dickens proves that Magwitch has a very aggressive nature as well as being very strong and threatening. Describing him as looking around every time he ate does not only show that it is the behavior expected of a convict while on the run, but also to emphasize the distance Magwitch keeps from society because of his distrust in everyone and everything. However, as a result of the concerns Pip had for Magwitch, Magwitch becomes humanized. In court, where Magwitch is denoted as a desperate criminal, he looks at Pip “with a trustful look, as if he were confident that [Pip] had seen some small redeeming touch in him, even so long ago as when [Pip] was a little child. As to the rest, [Magwitch] was humble and contrite, and [Pip] never knew him to complain” (Page 486). Using diction found in “redeeming touch”, Dickens verifies that Magwitch is redeemed from all of his criminal acts by his inner dignity and love for Pip.