Charles Dickens - Great Expectations

5. MAGWITCH

We are now going to consider how Dickens creates sympathy for Magwitch by again concentrating on Chapter One.

And now we need to work on it...

Dickens's Character of Magwitch

In Great Expectations, Magwitch is not always nice. He is a convict, and violent. But still we like him! Dickens is ever so clever in the way he keeps us 'on Magwitch's side', even though Magwitch is a convict in the story. Perhaps it is relevant to remember that Dickens had been very poor when he was young, and had even spent time in a workhouse, so he knew people like Magwitch very well - he KNEW that sometimes a person could be driven to do bad things, but still have 'a heart of gold'.

To understand how Dickens creates sympathy for Magwitch, you need to think about the character of Magwitch at TWO levels:

FIRST, AT STORY LEVEL:

Look back at your cloze exercise notes on the Bookrags summary of Great Expectations.

make a list of all things that make you like Magwitch as a person.

SECOND, AT TEXT LEVEL:

Study this short passage from Chapter One describing Magwitch:

"Hold your noise!" cried a terrible voice, as a man started up from among the graves at the side of the church porch.   "Keep still, you little devil, or I'll cut your throat!"

A fearful man, all in coarse grey, with a great iron on his leg.   A man with no hat, and with broken shoes, and with an old rag tied round his head.   A man who had been soaked in water, and smothered in mud, and lamed by stones, and cut by flints, and stung by nettles, and torn by briars; who limped, and shivered, and glared and growled; and whose teeth chattered in his head as he seized me by the chin.

"O!    Don't cut my throat, sir," I pleaded in terror.   "Pray don't do it, sir."

"Tell us your name!" said the man.   "Quick!"

"Pip, sir."

"Once more," said the man, staring at me.   "Give it mouth!"

"Pip.   Pip, sir."

"Show us where you live," said the man.   "Point out the place!"

Make a list of the best THREE ADJECTIVES that Dickens uses in the passage.

Make a note of the LIST that Dickens makes in the passage (can you find it).

What is the 'SETTING' of the action? (Check out also Dickens's description of Magwitch leaving Pip)

Find the two best words which describe the 'FEEL' of the passage ('mood').

Finally, think about each of these to consider how Dickens uses them to affect the way we think about Magwitch.

You could draw up a table like this to help you organise your notes:

Literary device:

Examples/ notes

How this makes us feel about Magwitch

Three adjectives

a

→ a

b

→ b

c

→ c

List

→

Setting

→

Mood

a

→ a

b

→ b

OK, now write up your notes as the second section of your essay:

How does Dickens create sympathy for Magwitch in Great Expectations?

Start by writing a sentence something along the lines of:

"Dickens creates sympathy for Magwitch, first, by making him a nice person in the story..."

then write a paragraph about all the nice things about Magwitch and how they make you like him

Then write a sentence something like:

"Dickens also creates sympathy for Magwitch, by the literary devices and techniques he uses..."

... and write four paragraphs dealing in turn with Dickens's use of:

● adjectives

● lists

● setting

● mood

... MAKING SURE FOR EACH ONE THAT YOU:

a. put quotes from Chapter One and explain them

b. explain how Dickens is using this device to make you feel sympathy for Magwitch.

(nb if you don't do this last thing, you have not answered the question and will get zero.)

< Previous Next >

Literary device:	Examples/ notes	How this makes us feel about Magwitch
Three adjectives	a	→ a
	b	→ b
	c	→ c
List		→
Setting		→
Mood	a	→ a
Mood	b	→ b