Pip’s stuttered answer shows us this young child’s fear of this large man towering over him.
Magwitch then starts to insult pip,
“What fat cheeks you ha’ got”
Pip then thinks about this in his head for a moment
“I believe they were fat, though I
was at the time undersized for my
years, and not strong.”
This shows Pip’s insecurity. Magwitch then scares Pip even more by acting as if he were a cannibal,
“Darn me if I couldn’t eat ‘em
“said the man with a threatening
shake of his head, “and if I han’t
half a mind to’t”
This scares the young boy even more as this is the stuff from children’s nightmares it’s like a bogeyman figure.
Pip is afraid as you can now make this out clearly,
“partly to keep myself from crying.”
This is a physical sign of fear on Pip’s part and makes Magwitch have a much higher status than Pip.
Magwitch is your typical criminal but as it explains to you he is easily frightened by others,
“He started, made a short run, and
stopped and looked over his shoulder.”
This shows that Magwitch is not the hardened criminal as another adult easily frightens him.
Magwitch then continues to bully Pip even more,
“Ha!” “who d’ye live with- supposin
you’re kindly let to live, which I han’t
made up my mind about?”
Magwitch is continually bullying pip. He continues to psychologically bully Pip, which asserts power over Pip.
Later on in the first chapter Dickens uses repetition to show the fear of the young child Pip,
“He tilted me again.”
“He tilted me again.”
“He tilted me again.”
“He tilted me again.”
The use of repetition and the fact that Magwitch is tilting Pip so that he is left only to be able to look at Magwitch’s face is very uneasy for him.
Pip then starts to talk back to Magwitch politely,
“If you would kindly please
to let me keep upright sir,
perhaps I shouldn’t be sick
and perhaps I could attend more.”
Pip is being really polite, as he is desperate to please Magwitch. This is frightening for a child because it shows how easily children can be scared and still attempt to please their abusers. (Child cruelty and neglect was a pre-occupation of Dickens.)
Near the end of chapter 1 the last piece of dialogue passed is by Pip,
“Goo-good night, sir.”
The fact that Pip is still stuttering after such a long time now shows not just fear but shows extreme fear on pip’s part.
In chapter 1 Magwitch is portrayed as being a horrible convict who abuses children to get what he wants. This is a very uneasy picture to create in your mind, as you would not want things such as this to happen so you start to sympatheize with Pip.
In chapter 39 a lot of role reversal goes on with Pip and Magwitch.
The first piece of dialogue in chapter39 is again as chapter1 it is between Magwitch and Pip and again Magwitch is the first to speak,
“Mr. Pip.”
This shows reversal of roles, Magwitch is now the one being polite like pip was in chapter 1.
Magwitch appears to have changed in a very unexpected way from chapter 1,
“Holding out both his hands to me.”
Magwitch is now being very welcoming instead of being abusive like in chapter 1.
When Magwitch finally tells Pip the reason why he is in pips building he says it with such gratitude,
“I wish to come in, Master.”
This shows that Pip has a higher status than Magwitch and shows that Pip has more power therefor reverses the power from chapter 1.
Pip now has the figure that Magwitch was in chapter 1
“as civilly as I could.”
This now reverses the roles from chapter 1 as pip is now the one who is finding it hard to be polite to Magwitch this in turn Reverses the roles as Magwitch is finding it very easy to be polite to pip.
Pip is now portrayed as the hurtful one,
“course broken voice.”
This now shows how hurt Magwitch is by Pips rejection and the reader starts to feel sympathetic towards Magwitch and therefor is still role reversing as in chapter 1 the reader sympathised with Pip.
Magwitch has got 1 thing in common with himself as he did in chapter 1,
“There’s no one nigh,”
This shows that Magwitch is still afraid of people as he was in chapter 1.
Although Magwitch appears to have changed he still has the power to harm Pip at anytime,
“You’d be sorry afterwards”
This shows that although Magwitch has changed he still has the power to hurt Pip if necessary but not out of aggression but out of defence.
Even though the two chapters are different in some ways they are linked,
“I am Glad.”
“I am Glad.”
“I am Glad.”
The use of repetition is similar to that in chapter one except in this chapter it shows happiness instead of fear.
Even though Magwitch is portrayed as a monstrous beast in chapter 1 he is just as human as the rest of us,
“eyes were full of tears.”
This shows that Even though Magwitch is portrayed as a monstrous beast in chapter 1 he indeed is not a monster but is human and is as susceptible as the rest of us and can suffer just as easy.
Magwitch and Pip can get confused from time to time,
“with a smile that was like a frown,
and with a frown that was like a smile.”
This shows Magwitch’s confusion and disorientation by Pip’s hostile treatment of him.
Even though Magwitch has changed he still has the power to make Pip as scared of him as he was in chapter 1,
“It was only then that I began to tremble.”
This shows that Magwitch is still a frightening man and that Pip is still as afraid of him as he was in chapter 1.
Pip is still susceptible of being scared by Magwitch,
“With my heart beating like a heavy
hammer of disordered action.”
This simile shows that pip is still afraid of Magwitch and is as scared as he was in chapter 1, this also has the inner connection of his childhood meeting with Magwitch.
In this chapter a lot of it echo’s chapter 1 but in the opposite way so instead of Magwitch making Pip fear him he is trying to make him care for him,
“He caught me, drew me to the sofa,
put me up against the cushions,”
This echo’s Magwitch placing Pip on the tombstone as a child in chapter 1 but by contrast he is now comforting Pip.
Later on in this chapter the reader starts to have sympathy for Magwitch instead of Pip so the roles are reversed from that of chapter 1,
“The abhorrence in which I held the man,
the dread I had of him, the repugnance
with which I shrank from him, could not
have been exceeded if he had been some
terrible beast.”
The start of this Quote “The abhorrence…” shows that Pip dislikes Magwitch very much, but at this point the reader starts to feel sympathy for Magwitch and they dislike Pip very much. So once again this is role reversing that in chapter 1.
Even after this Magwitch is still being as polite to Pip as Pip was to him in chapter 1,
“Look at these her lodgings of yourn,
fit for a lord.”
This shows just how proud Magwitch is of Pip.
But even though Magwitch is being very polite to Pip and is showing love and care for him he still scares pip,
“as the click came in his throat which
I well remembered.”
This shows that even though Magwitch is being very polite to Pip, Pip still fears him very much and this make shim think back to his first encounter with the convict Magwitch. This also shows that the smallest detail reminds Pip of that very fearsome encounter he had with Magwitch in chapter 1, and shows just how scared Pip was in chapter 1.
Magwitch was completely evil to Pip in Chapter 1. But as Pip was the person who helped him to escape he feels that he owes Pip his life, and therefor has devoted his life and wealth into making sure Pip is well looked after,
“In every single thing I went for,
I went for you.”
This shows Magwitch’s complete devotion to Pip.
Later on in the chapter Magwitch explains to Pip that he is risking his life him,
“I should of a certainty be hanged if took.”
This shows that Magwitch is risking his life just to see Pip and will be hanged if caught.
Magwitch has now reversed his portrayal of chapter 1 into the complete opposite picture,
“when he again took me by both hands.”
This repetition of action echoes the tilting gesture in chapter 1, Magwitch is now gentle and affectionate instead of violent and abusive.
Magwitch has completely reversed his portrayal from that in chapter 1. So instead of being a horrible convict who abuses children he is now a gentle affectionate and loving man towards people.
I have learnt that even though Magwitch at the start of the novel was a very uneasy person to understand. He changed and is now very easy to understand, I myself would not mind meeting him, but if it were chapter 1 I was meeting him in I would stay well clear of him, as he was in fact every child‘s worst nightmare come true but then turn in to every child’s ideal father, Loving, affectionate, and cares only about making his child happy in life.
Valentina Parker
10TU
English 10S1
Filename: Essay Of Great Expectations
05/05/07
