'Is Magwitch a criminal or victim of society?'

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‘Is Magwitch a criminal or victim of society?'

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens is set in Kent and London in the Victorian Era during the Industrial Revolution. The main characters in Great Expectations are Pip and Magwitch. Pip is an orphan who lives with his sister and her husband. During the course of the novel, Pip gets a benefactor, who gives him money to become a gentleman. Pip meets Magwitch as a little boy on the marshes of Kent. Magwitch is an escaped convict who threatens Pip and asks Pip to steal for him. Later in the novel Pip finds out that Magwitch was the benefactor who made him a gentleman. In this coursework I will examine and analyse Magwitch's character to determine if Magwitch is a criminal or a victim of society

Great Expectations is set in the 1800’s, better known as the, ‘Victorian Times,’ which is named after Queen Victoria (1918-1901). This era was all about great change. It was the time of the; Industrial Revolution, French Revolution and American Revolution. In particular the Industrial Revolution had a great impact on the London society, as new machinery no longer required man power, which left in particular people such as farmers in the countryside unemployed. People started to move from the countryside to cities. These cities filled to overflowing and especially in London it became bad, as the city was not prepared for this great increase in people. People crowded into already crowded houses. Rooms were rented to whole families or perhaps several families. If there were no rooms to rent, people stayed in lodging houses. However By the mid. 19th century the Industrial Revolution reached Europe and North-America and by the mid. 20th century it became global. The main source of wealth changed from agriculture, backed by commerce, to one in which greater productivity was achieved through new technology, resources, enterprise and capital. The Industrial revolution had a positive impact on the country, but it also brought its problems; Disease accounted for many deaths in  during the . With a chronic lack of hygiene, little knowledge of sanitary care and no knowledge as to what caused diseases or even cure them, diseases such as cholera, typhoid and typhus could be devastating. As the  became more populated this caused a lot of pollution which made the problem worse. People disposed their litter in the river Thames, leaving the water contaminated and therefore health hazardous for people to use the water or catch fish from it. Cholera was given a chance to spread and 30,000 Londoners got the disease in 1849 with 15,000 dying as a result. However there were some people who improved the quality of life for Londoners e.g. Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing improved the conditions in hospitals. Joseph Lister who improved surgical treatment and there were some great writers and poets who saw the problems which were going on. e.g. Charles Dickens and William Blake. However also the lower class children were badly affected by the Industrial Revolution; Children aged from five already had to do heavy adult jobs, such as working in a coal mine. They were made to work long hours with very little pay and there were no laws to protect them and let them go to school as there are today. Some orphans and homeless children were sold to employers as chimney sweepers. However children from wealthier families did have the chance to get a proper education. The girls stayed at home to do the household and learned to become a housewife. Boys went to school and had the chance of learning how to become for example a doctor or surgeon. There was a great difference made between female and male, as women had to obey to their husbands and could not divorce their husband if they wanted to. Also the city of London suffered from a lot crime. Offences went up from 5000 a year in 1800 to 20 000 per year in 1840. The court was a firm believer of punishment, however prisons were overcrowded and in a bad condition. Therefore as a solution to that, the court banned convicts to Australia. However by the 1840’s Australia complained they no longer wanted to be the dumping ground of Britain’s criminals. Another form of punishment which was often given, was the death penalty. Magwitch’s character lived during a great time of great change, but also hardship.

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The first impression we get from Magwitch is that he acts like a criminal by yelling and frightening Pip and taking food from his pockets. Also he commands Pip to bring him wittels and a file. He intimidates Pip by telling him that he is in company with even a hastier man than himself. He tells Pip if he talks with anybody or the calls the police, then the man will get Pip ‘and’ says Magwitch, ‘Your heart and your liver shall be tore out,’ which tells us that Magwitch is threatening Pip with physical violence. However the ...

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