Pip encounters many people in London, the first being the coachman. The coachman was rather grubby looking and at the end of Pip’s journey, the coachman tried to extort money from Pip. “A shilling – unless you wish to make it more.” There is an emphasis on money and in the previous paragraphs there are many comments made about the coachman’s attire. “His greasy great-coat” and “an old weather-stained pea-green hammercloth.” The second person we read about is Mr. Jaggers. Before we actually meet Mr. Jaggers in his home environment, we know that he is infamous. When Pip refused to tip the coachman, the coachman accepts Pip’s offer and does not try to bargain with him replying, “I don’t want to get into trouble. I know him!” One can already tell that Mr. Jaggers is not popular amongst some people. When Pip enters Mr. Jaggers’s room, he becomes acquainted with a man called Mike. It is obvious that Mike is some sort of criminal because he only has one eye. Once again Dickens emphasizes Mike’s clothing, “a velveteen suit and knee-breeches.” Even though Mike is dressed smartly, one can tell that he does not normally wear suits because “he wiped his nose with his sleeve on being interrupted.” After Mike is thrown out of Mr. Jaggers’s office, we realise that Mr. Jaggers obviously does not like to get his hands dirty by dealing with his criminal or less important clients. Afterwards when Pip is walking down Bartholomew Close he overhears people’s conversations praising Mr. Jaggers, so he knows that Mr. Jaggers is a good lawyer. We learn that Mr. Jaggers is money-driven, “Have you paid Wemmick?” is a question that is continuously asked to all of his clients. One can also tell that Mr. Jaggers is corrupt and unethical; he does not care about the law, as long as he has his money then he will do a good job. He has many bad qualities but he still earns respect from other people. This shows that London is not moral because the people living there are worried about money only.
One of the main settings in this extract is Mr. Jaggers’s office, which ironically represents death. Pip saw “an old rusty pistol, a sword in a scabbard and several strange-looking boxes and packages”. These are not the usual objects that you would expect to see lying around a lawyer’s office. There are two casts on a shelf “of faces particularly swollen, and twitchy about the nose”. They sound like they could be the heads of two people that have already been beheaded or death masks. Pip describes the skylight using a simile, “eccentrically patched like a broken head”. Everything in Mr. Jaggers’s office is somehow related to death. His chair is made of “deadly black horse-hair, with rows of brass nails round it, like a coffin”. Mr. Jaggers’s office is effectively a morgue. When Pip arrives in Smithfield he is disgusted. He feels contaminated by London, by Smithfield “the shameful place being all asmear with filth and fat and blood and foam”. The alliteration used in that phrase has a huge impact on the sentence, creating a feeling of nausea. The words are so loaded and really stress how terrible Smithfield was. Pip approaches “the great black dome of St Paul’s” which is the main symbol of purity and holiness, however it is blocked by a grim stone building i.e. Newgate Prison, the symbol for committing sin. The view of the prison blocking the cathedral gives a very negative impression of London. Londoners found public executions a form of entertainment. A seat at one of the windows overlooking the gallows could cost up to £10. Crowds would assemble outside Newgate Prison to witness men and women being executed. It symbolizes that London puts religion in the background because it is not important and is more bothered about the law and punishing criminals.
Money seems to permeate throughout the whole of this extract. At the beginning of the extract, the coachman tries to gain extra money from Pip. Mr. Jaggers requests money from his clients before speaking to them. You can buy the legal system, which shows how corrupt it is. I think that Mr. Jaggers is not bothered about the law, he just likes to earn a large sum of money. It shows that London has not really changed a lot since then. Today’s society is all about money. Money plays the most important role in city life. Religion has been pushed aside as is shown in the extract because money takes priority over everything. The legal system is corrupt and the basic message is that if you pay money; you will get a fair trial. Mike is too truthful, which shows that the legal system is corrupt. Mike has found someone to witness for a case, which shows how bribery and blackmail are all part of the legal system. “This guileless confectioner was not by any means sober,” this sentence shows that the legal system enables anyone to be a witness in a trial and the case can still be won as long as there is a good lawyer present.
The ironic tone employed by the voice of the “older” Pip brings humour into the story. When Pip talks about the coachman’s box being “decorated” with an old hammercloth, there is young Pip speaking but you can hear the sarcasm if the mature Pip is saying it. Mike talks about the witness being dressed “like a ‘spectable pieman. A sort of a pastry-cook.” The humour lightens the tone of the story making it more enjoyable to read. Dickens has shown London in a negative light throughout the extract. He has portrayed this negative image by describing certain places in London, certain people, their behaviour and the legal system. Pip certainly found out that London was not up to his expectations.
