Great Expectations Essay Example for Free

Great Expectations Essay Describe the character of Magwitch. What do you think Dickens has to say about crime and punishment in the sections of the novel where he appears? The following essay and the content of it are about the story of Great Expectations, its plot and what Charles Dickens was really trying to say. Great Expectations is the tale about a young man, Phillip Pirrip nicknamed Pip for short, came to build up and have his great expectations dashed. The novel begins with Pip as a young boy out on the marshes and as the novel continues, it follows Pips journey to a gentleman and then later on into a businessman. Throughout the novel, Pip is involved in a few rather dramatic events and with some rather colourful characters alongside him. At the beginning of the story we see the young Pip, an orphan being brought up and looked after by his horrible, hard sister and her husband whose character is defined as being a gentle giant, Joe Gargery, the blacksmith. While upon on the marshes, Pip comes into contact with an escaped convict by the name of Abel Magwitch. As the novel reads on, it proves that Magwitch seems to have a profound effect on Pips life. Pip is influenced also by Miss Havisham, an eccentric and reclusive old woman. It turns out o be that there are two young women in Pips life: the very understanding and kind and gentle Biddy and the proud and perfectly beautiful Estella. It comes about one day that Pip has come into a generous fortune. A benefactor, who to Pip is unknown, wishes for Pip to travel to London to become and succeed as a high class gentleman. This is the answer to all of Pips dreams, its like his Christmases have all come at once but all doesnt go as well as Pip would have hoped and he becomes involved in quite a few adventures. Also, when he is handed his fortune, Pip becomes a snob and the money changes him totally and its all for the worse. At the beginning of Chapter 1, we meet Magwitch. While Pip is in the graveyard, where his mother is buried, he meets Magwitch. Magwitch puts a great fear into Pip demanding food, drink and a file as he still has chains around his ankles since he has escaped from prison-You bring me, to-morrow morning early, that file and them wittles, Magwitch, page 8. Before Magwitch demands these sources, he rummages through Pips pockets for food and takes him by his ankles and absurdly shakes Pip upside down. Pip is scared into such a fright by Magwitch firstly telling Pip whether he should live or not-The question being whether youre to be let to live-Magwitch, (page 7. ) Magwitch tells Pip that there is a man a lot worse than him-Theres a young man hid with me, in comparison with which young man I am a Angel, Magwitch, page 8. After this, Pip is determined to go home, gather the things Magwitch needs and return to meet him the next day. An immediate view of the relationship between Magwitch and Pip is one based completely on fear and power, to which Magwitch has the upper hand so Pip cannot compete with him. It seems though that Magwitch and Pip share an unlikely but yet common loneliness. This is such because Pip was alone in the churchyard with the tombstones of his parents, who had passed away many years before and Magwitch has never really had any family around and the very unfair and unjust way Magwitch has been treated and punished, it is like the crime and punishment system in the 1900s was too unjust and was almost like it turned men into beasts and are not treated in an orderly fashion. Magwitch returns in Chapter 39. It is Pips 23rd birthday and he seems to be doing extremely little with his life. He is still on good terms with Mr Pocket, even though Pip is no longer being tutored by him and even though he keeps trying occupations, he isnt sticking to them long enough to develop further in them but he is finding that he is reading a lot. On a stormy night in London, Magwitch comes to Pips home and Pip invites him in and treats him with courteous disdain-Do you wish to come in-Pip, page 289. Pip welcomed him in to talk about Magwitchs business and only then does Pip gradually begin to recognise this visitor as the convict that he had met and given him a file and some food up on the marshes when Pip was just a young boy. It is only then that Magwitch reveals himself as being Pips mysterious benefactor and that he had been living in Australia all these years previous, working as a sheep farmer and the money he was earning from that would go to Pip-I lived rough so you could live smooth, page 313, Magwitch said this to Pip to prove that everything he had done in Australia, was for Pip. As Pip thought Miss Havisham was his benefactor, he had hopes of marrying Estella and the two of them becoming a lady and gentleman couple but his dreams have been shattered-Miss Havishams intentions towards me, all a mere dream, Pip, page 317. Pip is repulsed by Magwitch. He is horrified and appalled but luckily Magwitch didnt notice it and is upset that he should owe so much to such a person. Furthermore, to Pips state of shock, it is only now that he realises it was not Miss Havisham who was his benefactor and that Estella, who Pip adores dearly, had not been intended for him at all. While Pip is in a state of turmoil, we learn of Magwitchs past. The reader learns that because Magwitch didnt dress like a gentleman, his punishment was a lot harsher rather than if you look like a gentleman, the justice system would be a lot more lenient on the more vicious criminal. Even though Magwitch had a minimal choice about whether he could afford to turn to crime or not, he had little choice and could see himself not getting anywhere. Magwitch tells Pip that due to the fact that he committed a crime to save himself and he had no choice, it was because he didnt look or dress like a gentleman that he was given a heavy sentence and shipped to Australia where, only then, he was rehabilitated because he was supposedly no longer a danger to society or anyone around him. As Magwitch has come back and risked his life to see him, as much as he feels ashamed and feels as though all his dreams were just that, Pip feels as though in one sense he should still protect him. Pip does have a sense that he doesnt want Magwitch to risk his life and this shows Pip to still be human by having little conscience by not wanting Magwitch to get caught and hung or taken away, even though Pip is thinking he is the lowest of the low because he is associated with a convict and he feels as though he cant touch Magwitchs money anymore.