Immediately after this, we are introduced to Magwitch. As I have previously mentioned that we are seeing this whole novel through Pip, and at that time he would have been just a mere boy. So it would be exceptionally scary and uncanny when Magwitch “started to come up among the graves “ to see a man come up out of the graves would have been really horrifying for a little boy.
The fact that he speaks in dialect makes it even more extraordinary, as Pip could evidently see that he was not local, so to Pip this man was a complete stranger. Also, because Magwitch speaks in dialect, the reader can evidently establish that, he is uneducated, for an example when he says, “give it mouth”.
We can see that Pip scared as he describes Magwitch as, “ a fearful man”. He is “all in coarse grey”, which is a metaphorical comparison, because his appearance matches the environment and the mood of the first chapter. Furthermore we can see that he had a, “great iron on his leg”, this shows the reader that this man is an escaped convict. Pip goes on to say, “that he was a man with no hat and with Brocken shoes, and with an old rag tied around his head”. The fact that Pip says that he was a man with “no hat”, shows the reader that Pip thinks a “hat” makes you look like a gentlemen, and Magwitch was not that.
Pip when describing Magwitch uses one long sentence, with alliteration and lots of detail, and also these adjectives give the audience the impression that Pip thinks of Magwitch as an animal and a Monster.
The audience can all see that throughout this first chapter Magwitch is in control. He threatens and manipulates Pip into bringing him “food” and a “file” and “witless”, so that he can break the iron chain that has been fastened around his legs. If Pip didn’t bring these things then he threatened to “take his heart and liver out”. This makes Pip feels vulnerable and powerless, and we as the audience can evidently see that Magwitch as an adult, abuses his authority, because he very well knows that Pip is only a small child and is very gullible..
Even though this opening chapter may be really frightening, it is still an important and exciting chapter, as Pip has a very unexpected meeting with Magwitch and this one meeting, as we will see later on changes Pip’s life forever.
By the second extract we can see a lot of remarkable changes In Pip, before we see him living with his brother in law Joe in the countryside, however he now lives with Herbert Pocket, in London and is now a wealthy, affluent and prosperous gentlemen. A gentleman in this novel has two ideas. One idea is that a gentleman is made what he is by his social status or class. Another idea that has been addressed by Dickens is that being a true gentleman is a matter of virtue and honesty. In this chapter we can see the first idea displayed of being a true gentleman by Pip.
In the beginning of this chapter, we see that Magwitch turns up at Pip’s room in London. The reader can eventually establish right away some tension between Pip and Magwitch. We can see Magwitch hence again in control when he says, “ as ask you have done well, since you and me was out on them lone shivering marshes?”. Pip must be in shock and doesn’t know what to say as Magwitch is visiting him after a long time. The reader can establish this in his reaction, “I begin to tremble”. This expression shows that he must have been so fearful and anxious that he was shaking slightly. This can also be anticipation of something he might not want to hear.
Now we can see three clues, in which Magwitch tells Pip that he is his benefactor, and one must remember that we as the audience find out the same as Pip does, because we are seeing this whole novel through Pip. Firstly he asks “could I make a guess, I wonder… at your income since you come of age! As to the first figure now, Five”. We can evidently see that Magwitch that is in control and is manipulating Pip just like he did in the first chapter. Right from the beginning of this chapter, we see that Magwitch has been, “ steadily looking”, because he is the one that has created and fashioned this gentleman and he wants to see what he is like. However on the other hand we can see that Pip is now not only shocked but traumatized, as he would have been undoubtedly wondering, how Magwitch knows about this. The audience can establish this when he says “ with my heart beating like a heavy hammer”, this simile shows just how tensed and bewildered Pip must have been, also the fact that his heart was beating like a “heavy hammer”, emphasizes the thunderous noise that an hammer comes, and this likened to how rapid his heart must have been making. Then we see the second step to this revelation, the audience can see this when Magwitch asks, “There ought to have been some guardian, or such like, whiles you was a minor”. Some lawyer maybe. As to the first, letter of that lawyer ‘s name now would it be J”. So again we see that Magwitch having full power over Pip. However Pip’s reaction again is full of fear. “All the truth of my position came falling back to me”. So he is shocked as he is wondering at the amount of information Magwitch knows in his journey to becoming a gentleman, also he himself is starting to remember all the changes that he had to make to turn into a gentleman, “it’s disappointments, dangers, disgraces”. Here we see the alliteration of ‘d’ being used, and also ‘ the power of 3’ to show added emphasis.
However Pip after finding out that Magwitch is his benefactor, he is filled up with, “abhorrence” and “repugnance”. So he is evidently disgusted by this and loathes Magwitch, as he listens to a “terrible beast”.
However further on in the novel we can see great changes within Magwitch and Pip. In the Victorian era, if a person committed a crime, then because the prisons were filled to capacity with wrongdoers, they were sent to Australia, where they could earn money, and have an ordinary life. There was one condition though, which is that they never return to England. However Magwitch breaks this requirement, because the temptation to see Pip gets the better of him, and he escapes to England to see him. Eventually he does get caught and he is sentenced to death.
As Magwitch lire there dying in prison, we can see a distinctive change in Pip. He has gone from being a selfish and conceited gentleman, to a humble, modest and dignified gentleman. The reader can see this, when Pip feels guilty for Magwitch, “once meaning to desert him”. Also Pip is concerned about Magwitch, when he asks, “Are you in much pain to-day”. So from this quote we can see the change that has occurred to Pip. Indeed, Pip has become a true gentleman, in having respect for others, treating others equally, and also looking after other people and family.
