Great Expectations (Grades 9–1) York Notes

This is a very important scene when Magwitch comes back to England to surprise Pip and to tell him that he has been his benefactor all along. Pip is very upset and horrified.

Dickens describes Pip as saying ‘I stood, with a hand on the chair-back’. Magwitch has to hold him up and then Magwitch kneels down and looks really closely at him. This reminds me of Chapter 1 when Pip meets Magwitch and Magwitch frightens him by holding him upside down and putting his face close to Pip’s face which is scary for Pip. Pip says he is ‘suffocating’ too which also shows us how frightened he is. Magwitch is very scary in the beginning of the story so it is surprising to the reader that he becomes a kind person and gives Pip all his money.

Pip uses lots of words to show how much he dislikes Magwitch such as ‘repugnance’ and ‘dread’. Pip says Magwitch is very ugly because he is a ‘terrible beast’. Magwitch says he is not like a human because he is a ‘dog’. This makes the fact that he made Pip into a gentleman much worse for Pip because Pip has spent all this time believing Miss Havisham wanted him to be a gentleman so he could marry Estella. This means that Magwitch is like a father to him and Magwitch says ‘I’m your second father’ although Pip has Joe Gargery who is also a kind of father to him. Magwitch says ‘You’re my son – more to me nor any son. I’ve put away money, only for you to spend.’ Joe Gargery helps Pip a lot when Pip is little but when Pip is in London he thinks that Joe is embarrassing. Pip later learns that Joe is a kind of gentleman because of the kind way that he treats people.

Magwitch talks in rough language and uses words like ‘wot’ and ‘ain’t’ whereas Pip always speaks politely in the book. This shows the difference between them. Pip tries to behave like a gentleman and can read and write but Magwitch never went to school and talks rough because he has been in prison and been a criminal for so long. Magwitch is described like a snake and Pip jumps when Magwitch touches him. When Magwitch kisses Pip’s hand Pip says he is frightened because his blood ran ‘cold’.

When Magwitch dies later in the book their relationship had got much better. Pip helped keep Magwitch safe from the police until they were caught on the river. Even Herbert had helped to keep Magwitch safe even though it was against the law. Pip uses a secret name for Magwitch called ‘Provis’ which helps to hide Magwitch but they get found out in the end. Pip tries to get Magwitch out of the prison. Dickens believed that the prison system was wrong in Victorian days and this is an example of how people were not treated fairly. Pip tells Magwitch that Estella is his daughter and that he loves her and that makes Magwitch die happy. This shows how their relationship has improved. Pip doesn’t mind it when Magwitch holds his hand and calls him ‘dear boy’.