Frankie Hine-Hughes - -
The treatment of crime and justice in Great Expectations
Dickens presents his view of a harsh legal system because his father was imprisoned when he was a boy. This could have biased his View against the legal system. Also, when becoming a journalist Dickens was a court reporter and Dickens became tired of the limitations of the legal system. The most popular form of justice for a crime to the legal system was execution. The executions were held publicly and this meant the general population were accustomed to death. This made the legal system was seen as an entertainment. Another way of showing this is the two heads that are in Jaggers’ office. They are seen as his two most famous clients. The fact of him having them on display means that the law side is a sideshow to the spectacle that crime and executions provide. As many people were poorly educated, they had no idea if the legal system was correct. So, they did not question the ideas of those who were in a higher standing in society.
Dickens presents a view of how suspected criminals are treated by the justice system as unduly harsh, corrupt and unfair. This view is most obviously shown in the two trials. The first trial is when Magwitch and Compeyson are tried together. Magwitch gives his account to Pip of this in chapter.42. Even though Magwitch is Compeyson’s understudy in crime, he receives a longer sentence from the judge than Compeyson. This is because Compeyson was brought up as a ‘gentleman’ and Magwitch was a poor criminal, so the jury made the decision based on appearances. The two of them are described in the trial. ‘Here you has afore you, side by side… One the younger, well brought up (Compeyson), … the elder ill brought up (Magwitch)’ the counsellor for Compeyson also says can you doubt which is the worst one. He implies that Magwitch is the worst one because he was less well brought up. Compeyson’s character is used to show that he has been to clubs and societies. Compeyson also makes a speech that he uses to make face that will gain him sympathy. ‘Compeyson … was recommend to mercy on account of his good character and bad company (Magwitch)’ and Magwitch ‘ never a word but guilty’ Magwitch was only assumed to be guilty because he didn’t have the right clothes of upbringing and it was Compeyson who was the mastermind of the crimes they committed. In chapter.56, Magwitch is among 32 others that are going to be hanged. In this part there is a very powerful image on page 453 ‘the sun was striking through the great windows…and made a broad shaft of light between the two-and-thirty and the judge linking both together’ that by the judge being linked with the criminals shows that he which is referring in general to the law system are as bad as criminals. In chapter.32, the ‘ Newgate tour’ shows Dickens’ view of the awful state of the conditions in the prison from page 246; chapter 32 and how unfairly the prisoners are treated by having to endure it. Pip in his narrative states the prison was “ugly, disorderly depressing scene it was”. The inhumane treatment of prisoners is an important theme in the novel. Pip treats Magwitch kindly and is rewarded for it by Magwitch paying Jaggers for him to be a ‘gentleman’, whereas the penal system treats Magwitch very harshly. In the sentencing Magwitch and Compeyson. Dickens uses Magwitch to persuade his audience not to judge someone on first impressions, representing a more liberal viewpoint of criminals. This shown by how the criminals think. Dickens also showed that Magwitch stole to survive, which shows that Magwitch is not a horrible, evil villain although he may appear to look like one. It is because of this that Magwitch is given a harsher sentence compared to Compeyson. Having Magwitch explaining what happened truthfully does representing a more liberal point of view of the criminals. From this we can see that he was not a born criminal but was forced to out of necessity.
