Chapter One and Thirty Nine of Great Expectations

Compare chapter 1 of Great Expectations, in which Pip first meets the

convict, with chapter 39, when the convict returns.

Charles Dickens is considered to be one of the greatest English

novelists of the Victorian period. This greatest of Victorian writers

was born in Landport, Portsmouth, on February 7, 1812. His father John

worked as a clerk in the Navy Payroll Office in Portsmouth. It was his

personal experience of factory work and the living conditions of the

poor that created in Dickens the compassion, which was to mark his

literary works. Dickens's works are characterized by attacks on social

evils, injustice, and hypocrisy. Great expectations was Charles

Dickens’ second to last complete novel. It was first published as a

weekly series in 1860 and in book form 1861. Throughout great

expectations, Dickens explores the class system of Victorian England,

ranging from the most wretched criminals (Magwich) to the poor

peasants of the marsh country (Joe and Biddy) to the middle class

(Pumblechook) to the very rich (miss Havisham). The theme of social

class is central to the novel’s plot and to the essential moral theme

of the book. Pip’s realisation that wealth and class are less

important than affection, loyalty and inner worth. Pip achieves this

realisation when he is finally able to understand that, despite the

admiration in which he holds Estella, one’s social status is in no way

connected to one’s real character.

Perhaps the most important aspect to remember about the novels

conduct of social class is that the class system it portrays is based

on the industrial revolution of Victorian England. Many of the wealthy

characters such as Miss Havisham there fortunes have been earned

through commerce. Mi...

... middle of paper ...

...witch, the convict on the marshes reveals himself as Pip's

true benefactor, the only feelings Pip can have towards him are

'repugnance' and disbelief. Pip has always believed Miss Havisham to

be his true benefactor, and believed that she wanted him to be with

Estella. Pip thinks that Magwitch is the lowest of low, and he doesn't

want to be associated with him.

In conclusion, Pip learns that his wealth and social standing came

from the labour of an uneducated prison inmate, turning his social

perceptions inside out. The fulfilment of his hope of being raised to

a higher social class turns out to be the work of a man from a class

even lower than his own. The sense of duty that encourages Pip to help

the convict is a mark of his inner goodness, just as it was many years

ago in the swamp, but he is nevertheless unable to hide his disgust

and disappointment.