What happened next was something that I did not predict or expect to happen. This was the encounter with the drunken minister of Justice. This came as a surprise for me but it did serve as an excellent way to portray Pips impressions. The drunk Judge shows the depravity as well as the corruption of the Justice system. Both are shown by the not only the drunken appearance of the Judge but also by the way in which the Judge tried to form a transaction with Pip in order to show him what a court room is like. This shows the level at which the people of London have stooped down to, the level that even those who are to uphold justice, give fairness between people and sustain equality are unable to do that. This has a lasting effect on Pips outlook and the type of person who he becomes later on during the course of the novel.
We even see a small form of a supposed sense of humour from Pip who tells us how the Judge was even kind enough to show him the gallows, the area where people are publicly whipped, the room from which the culprits are brought from and even went on to tell Pip how there was to be four hangings in two days time. This ‘humorous’ perspective is Pips way of being sarcastic in my estimation. He is trying to show how backward London really and truly is. It also showed me the apparent innocence of Pips character at this stage as he narrates, “This was horrible, and gave me a sickening idea of London”.
Another point concerning Pips first impressions of London would be the fact of how he describes the appearance of the Lord Chief Justice as mouldy and obviously not his own but rather cloths that he purchased at a cut-price from the executioner. This is another description of how Pip sees Londoners and more so the level at which even those who are meant to be the highest of the justice and law system have plummeted down to.
Then we read about how Pip thought himself ‘well rid of him for a shilling.’ This is in reference to the judge and how at this point Pip is so disgusted but what he has seen as well as the company with which he is with, that he doesn’t mind paying for him to just go and leave him along. This however is a foreshadowing to the future events that Pip will encounter and that is the financial struggle he will stumble upon. It showed me how the debts that he goes through can be seen as starting from here due to his careless and un thoughtful waste of money in order to just be ride of the man. He could have just walked away?
Another concept that I noticed is that fact that Charles Dickens can be seen to be very judgmental of his home. He can be a deep critic when it comes to his own society.
For example, at the beginning of the extract, Pip narrates to us how it was suggested to him to go down along Smithfield but when he did, he felt that it was the most dismal location and area possible. He left immediately and tried to remove the dirty feel that he felt already ‘seemed to stick to me.’ Then would be the fact that he mentions that the Prison, courtroom and Church were all next to each other and makes reference to this, I think, as a hidden attack at the poor architecture of the society.
With the topic of society, it is also imperative to mention the fact that Dickens, in the form of Pip, makes great reference within this passage, as well as the rest of the novel, to the social dilapidation of society. He describes this in this extract in the form of the drunken people who are standing around the courtroom and even the drunk Lord Chief Justice. This is Dickens own way of attacking London society for their shortcomings as well as their imperfections.
Dickens is also sarcastic as to the supposed ‘goodness’ of the people. At first read we may be inclined to think that there might be some good hearted people as the Judge is kind enough to show Pip the different death and torture areas. However, when read and thought about slightly, I feel that Dickens is using Pips innocence to sarcastically portray the things which people in his society find humorous and entertaining: the gallows as well as the public whipping area.
Another point that should not go unmentioned is the fact that this extract gave me an idea of the type of people Jagers deals with as well as the type of work that he does and hence his own character. We know that Jagers is a lawyer of some sort and by the description of both the court room and a drunken judge we can see that he deals with a great number of unclean and, corrupt and many times in human people. This also gives us an idea of Jagers character as it shows us the fact that he himself may not be the most morally upright individual if he is able to deal with such people on an everyday basis.
Over all, I get the feel that Pip is sickened by London on his first visit. He is very descriptive in referring to its faults and shortcomings by using a great deal of negative imagery to illustrate how he sees it.
All in all, I personally felt that this particular part of the novel is used to create a first, yet lasting impression in the readers mind of how Pip sees London as well as how Dickens wanted to portray the ‘true’ London to us as the reader. It sets the tone and atmosphere for the rest of this part of the book as it shows us the grim and filthy surroundings that Pip has found himself in.