Great Expectations - 1 - Essay Example

Abel Magwitch Dickens has artistically portrayed Abel Magwitch in Great Expectations in such a way that he evokes sympathy and praise from the readers on account of his innate goodness and kindness. The goodness of Magwitch remains hidden from the readers as well as from Pip, who was unaware for the longest time about his benefactor. Magwitch, though being an ex-convict, was a kind hearted and generous man. “As to all the rest, he was humble and contrite, and I never knew him complain.” (Dickens, 358) He had been through many sufferings in his life including the loss of his girl child, Estella.

Dickens has revealed the strange working of fate through the character of Magwitch and his relationship with Pip. Compeyson’s character is antithetic to Magwitch’s and thus glorifies his strength of character. “That evil genius, Compeyson, the worst of scoundrels among many scoundrels.” (320)The readers can compare and contrast the natures of both ex-convicts and find sound reasons to like Magwitch on account of his good heartedness, kindness and strength of character. The character of Magwitch develops in Great Expectations and he grows from being a convict to a rich man who sponsors an orphan child just to repay the kindness he had shown him a long time back.

“In this sense, Magwitch is torn between two narrative dimensions that potentially inhere Pip.” (Woloch, 198) Thus Dickens drew Magwitch’s character to reveal the innate goodness of human nature, regardless of his/her circumstances. As the conflict in Great Expectations progresses toward its resolution, the readers may witness how Dickens does justice to his characters. His goodness is rewarded by coming to know about his daughter, whom he had always believed to be dead. Magwitch finds peace when he is dying as Pip informs him that his daughter is alive.

“She is a lady and very beautiful.” (361) Therefore, his dying moment is peaceful and the readers are compelled to feel sympathy for him.Work CitedDickens, Charles. “Great Expectations”. Bizarro Press, 2009. Print.Woloch, Alex. “The One vs. the Many: Minor Characters and the Space of the Protagonist in the Novel”. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003. Print.