Great Expectations

In Great Expectations, What evidence is there that the convict has "human" qualities and is not merely a criminal?

Asked by
Last updated by Jill W
1 Answers
Log in to answer

The first time Pip meets Abel Magwitch, he is seven years old and playing alone in the cemetery. Abel is a convict who has recently escaped from the Hulks and is in desperate need of food and a file to remove his leg-iron. Pip provides these, but Magwitch is quickly caught by the soldiers that same night. Magwitch can see that Pip did nothing to cause him to be caught and he realizes that Pip might get in trouble for the stolen food; therefore, he tells the soldiers in front of Joe that he stole the food from the blacksmith’s house. Later, Magwitch sends a fellow convict to Pip’s village to give Pip some money.

After Pip has gone to London and become a gentleman, he learns that his benefactor is Abel Magwitch. Magwitch was given some money and property in New South Wales by his deceased master. Later, Abel grew the property until he was worth a great deal of money. With this money, Magwitch contacted Jaggers and asked him to turn Pip into a gentleman and to set it up so that Pip would inherit all his property. Magwitch has done this because he once had a little girl the same age as Pip and wants Pip to have all he could not give his own daughter. Unfortunately, Magwitch comes to England with all his property and money in a wallet that is confiscated by the English crown when he is arrested for returning to England after having been expelled for life.

Source(s)

BookRags