Isabel Calway Great Expectations Coursework 10PJP
‘Great Expectations’ was written in the 1860s by Charles Dickens and is one of his most famous novels.
In this essay I am going to write about how Dickens presents Estella and Magwitch, two key characters in the story, and the purpose of them.
Pip firsts meets Magwitch in a graveyard on Christmas Eve. He has a leg iron, this shows that the story was written when leg irons were still used, in the Victorian times.
Pip firsts meets Magwitch in a graveyard on a cold Christmas Eve. Pip finds him threatening and is scared by him we know this because pip tells us that he was ‘a fearful man all in coarse grey’ and when they first meet, Magwitch says ‘keep still you little boy or I’ll cut your throat’. He asks him to bring him some food and drink and a file He does exactly what Magwitch asked him to do, and brings him all the things he needed. Even through pip is threatened by him he is still intrigued and asks Mrs. Joe and Joe about the ‘hulk’ where Magwitch said his was from, even
Though every times he asks he gets told off he continues to ask and finds out it is a prison ship and that Magwitch must be a convict. When the police arrive at pips door on Christmas Day pip is scared it is about stealing the pork pie for the convict, but they are just there to get some handcuffs fixed by his brother-in-law Joe Gargery.
Pip makes sure that Magwitch knows it wasn’t him to told the police about his presence on the marshes, and Magwitch sticks up for pip by saying ‘I took some wittles, up at the village over yonder-where the church stands a’ most out on the marshes’ this shows the reader that Magwitch does have a heart and wants to make sure Pip doesn’t want to get him into trouble and actually has the time to say it, when he didn’t have to and it was inconvenience for him. Magwitch is not very well spoken and has an accent, Magwitch say ‘wittles’ meaning food shows he isn’t an gentleman and hasn't been taught to speak properly he also says ‘lookee here’ and ‘dyee’. He pronounces his ‘v’ as ‘w’. Magwitch comes across as a threatening, strong and violent character but later in the story you find out that he is quite emotional and caring. He benefactors his life saving which he must have worked hard for, he gives them to pip because he lost his daughter.
aPip often refers to Magwitch as ‘my friend’ or ‘my convict’ this shows there is a real connection, most young child when threatened like Pip was would run away, but pip lingers and tries to engage Magwitch.
