Charles Dickens Great Expectations Essay -- Great Expectations Essays

Charles Dickens wide ExpectationsIn the novel of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, angiotensin-converting enzyme of thepivotal characters is a man named Abel Magwitch. To answer the point of whether this man is a nefarious or a dupe of inn, we essential first establish what a criminal is and what a victim of corporationis. A criminal is someone who knowingly breaks the law forself-gratification. A victim of society is someone who is subjected tooutside influences, and is generally mistreated by society. In thecontext of this novel, a victim of society is also someone who has neer been given a chance in life, and has no control everyplace events thatoccur involving them. Therefore I am going to try and locate which ofthese two categories the character of Abel Magwitch falls into.When we first meet Magwitch in Chapter one our first impressions ofhim are not positive. Pip describes him as a terrific man with aterrible voice. Although we learn that he is in a terrible state, smothered in mud and lamed by stones, with a great iron on hisleg, indicating he has obviously escaped prison and is on the run, weas readers do not feel any savvy for him. The reason for this isthe incident that he is willing to threaten a teenaged boy, seeming to enjoythe power he has over him is almost horrid to us as readers, makinghim appear even more harsh. The fact that Magwitch is likened to adog, he glared and growled at Pip, does not help his case. Thispresents him as an animal, and serves barely to alienate Magwitch fromthe reader. This means that we too share Pips reservations andsuspicions round Magwitch throughout the col chapters, even thoughit is clear that this man is scared, lonely and hungry full tothre... ...me suffering asMagwitch. This belief would probably have evolved after his examination withCompeyson, which taught him that the law could be manipulated byclass. This shows that Magwitch did not have many criminal intentions,and that he was tricked by Compeyson. In a sense Dickens is assay toshow us how real nicety can be voteless to find. It is because of his lowstatus and poverty that Magwitch never really had a chance. This showshow the justice system has been manipulated by society.Therefore, I think that Magwitch, while having acted like a criminal,is not to blame for his actions and it could be argued that he is evenremorseful about them. This shows that he is not a criminal, but avictim of the society he lives in, because he was never given a chanceto develop society wrong and make something of his life, he was justlabelled and leave in jail.