Abel Magwitch Quotes

In the bildungsroman novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Abel Magwitch is an alienated character who shows Pip through a manner of his own that you do not have to be wealthy to be a prosperous gentleman. Abel is an escaped convict who has guided Pip into his coming of age, despite the discrimination of his past life. He has influenced Pip in that he teaches Pip that you have to work hard in life to get to a better place. Magwitch transforms himself along with Pip into becoming a noble man. Without the guidance of “Pip’s convict”, he might still be a poor boy living on the marshes.
Ever since Magwitch can remember, he has been a thief. He tells Pip that he remembers being a young poor boy who would steal turnips, “I first became aware

Pip is the only one who helps Magwitch in his time of struggle, he gives him food to eat and Brandy to drink; most importantly Pip gives him a file to break free of the iron cuffs around his ankles, “But he was down on the rank wet grass, filing at his iron like a madman, and not minding me or minding his own leg, which had an old chafe on it, and was bloody…” (18). From this moment Magwitch feels in debt to Pip and believes that this young boy will be capable of many things, so Magwitch decides to help Pip into his coming of age as gentleman. Pip is unaware that his benefactor is infact the convict he found in the woods many years before. He becomes informed when one night the convict appears at his door to tell him, “Yes, Pip, dear boy, I’ve made a gentleman on you! It’s me wot has done it! I swore that time, sure as ever I warned a guinea, that guinea should go to you. (340). This quote demonstrated how by showing kindness to everyone, despite how they appear, can be just as beneficial to helper as is the helped. Magwitch has been working for years in order to supply Pip with the money he needs to blossom into a polite man. Magwitch said to Pip that “ I lived rough, that you should live smooth; I worked hard that you should be above work.” (340). With this quote the reader can see that Magwitch is an honest man with good intentions. Most would see

Magwitch starts with the impression that he is an untrustworthy person because he has a criminal past; that day down in the marshes when Pip shows kindness to Magwitch, Magwitch feels in debt to him and wants to change his life in order to help Pip grow into a young gentleman. Pip first compares Magwitch down in the marshes to eating like a dog, “I had often watched a large dog of ours eating his food; and I now noticed a decided similarity between the dog’s way of eating and the man’s.” (18). This quote shows how Pip as a young boy describes Magwitch at their first encounter, Pip only sees him as an animal because society has made it difficult as a young boy to understand anything different. In the ending of the story Magwitch treats Pip as though he is a son, “ Look’ee here, Pip. I’m your second father. You’re my son- more to me nor any son.” (340). This quote shows that Magwitch is not the selfish man he once was, he wants to help Pip in his growing into a well behaved young man. Magwitch also risks his life by traveling to London in order to reveal himself to Pip. If Magwitch was caught on his journey to Pip, the mystery of the benefactor would still