ipl-logo

The Character Of Magwitch In Charles Dickens Great Expectations

802 Words4 Pages

What classifies a person as immoral to the point where they can’t be redeemed? In Great Expectations, Dickens draws a fine line between characters that can be described as “good” and characters that can be described as “bad.” For example, Herbert and Biddy are both characters that are only associated with positive actions and thoughts, while Drummle and Orlick are two characters that Dickens classified as inherently bad. However, the one character that is the exception to this, being associated with both positive and negative attributes, is Magwitch. He is a character of an immoral background who the reader, when finished with the novel, can confidently describe as good. While Charles Dickens shows that some characters are wicked in every way possible, Magwitch is different, being a person who commits immoral actions but has a moral soul, and therefore has hope for redemption. …show more content…

In one of Pip’s first encounters with Magwitch, Magwitch learns that Pip has been true to his word, and Pip observes that, “Something clicked in his throat, as if he had works in him like a clock, and was going to strike. And he smeared his ragged rough sleeve over his eyes.” (19) What is being described is an emotion not usually associated with criminals, gratitude. The expression of this emotion shows that Magwitch does in fact have a moral soul and can differentiate between actions of

Show More
Related

Vices In To Kill A Mockingbird

101 Words | 1 Pages

Vices are harmful, they cause harm, not just to the victim, also to the community and themselves. Indeed, in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, vices are so strong that they always overpower the virtues following the lives of Jem and Scout Finch. Throughout the book, vices are shown in characters such as Aunt Alexandra, her presence of a mother figure is overpowered by being sexist, Lula, the church goer from First Purchase who proves to be a hypocrite, and Bob Ewell, father of Mayella, were both being racist. People may not be perfect, but they could at least

Read More

Bottled Up Book Report

1165 Words | 5 Pages

Hes latched on to Pip always wanting to be around him and asking him the craziest questions that Pip rarely has the answer to. One day Pip is sent to the principal's office. This visit is different because the

Read More

Ransom's Virtue Analysis

549 Words | 3 Pages

The great Aristotle declared, “We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly.” Virtue should be defined as perfect or righteous. However, it can be argued that because Ransom is a man, and man is sinful, he could not choose to be virtuous. Because this is the case, and man is inherently sinful as Jesus said in Matthew, “No one is good but One, that is, God” (Mark 10:18), we will adapt Merriam Webster’s definition of virtue, “Conformity to a standard of right, morality. A particular moral excellence” (merriam-webster.com).

Read More

Pompeii Research Paper

609 Words | 3 Pages

It is a time honored tradition that nearly everyone in the United States does. We end up going to Las Vegas, the city of sin, so that we can have a weekend, or week of fun under the sun of Nevada. Parties, gambling, drinking, and more happens daily in the jewel of the desert. Much like the modern day jewel of the United States, ancient Rome also had a jewel of its own, known as Pompeii. In this city, much like Las Vegas, parties, gambling, drinking, and more happened every day around the clock; however, unlike Las Vegas, Pompeii was also a hub of trade and business.

Read More

Adversity In The Crucible

914 Words | 4 Pages

“Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant” (Horace). The idea that hard times elicit the development of certain aspects of a character, whether good or bad, is prevalent in literature, particularly The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Crucible by Arthur Miller. Horace’s assertion is true in regard to the two texts in that they both contain characters who develop maturity and mercy, a new self-awareness, and cunning duplicity. The notion that adversity develops talents is shown in the characters of The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter who matured and developed an ability to forgive over the course of the plot.

Read More

Flaws Of Perception In A Good Man Is Hard To Find

1101 Words | 5 Pages

People are the combination of both. There is no definitive when it comes to determining good and evil. People determine good and evil based on their perception. People perceive things differently, recognizing a certain situation in an infinite way. In the story, “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” O’Connor’s use of foil makes the reader aware that there is no definitive good or evil, but only a flaw of perception.

Read More

The Sympathetic Character In John Steinbeck's Of Mice And Men

667 Words | 3 Pages

The definition of a sympathetic character is one whom the writer expects the reader to identify with and care about, though not necessarily admire. In the novel, Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, Curley’s wife, a main character in the book is blatantly portrayed as an unsympathetic character. This is because they only see her through the men's eyes, who only see her as a tiresome object, owned by her husband. Steinbeck’s portrayal of Curley’s wife is unfair and misogynistic because he only displays her as unintelligent and promiscuous, never has a character have a turning point where they realize she’s more than an object, and he never reveals her true name. The first reason that Steinbeck's portrayal of Curley’s wife is unfair is that he never gives Curley any redeeming personality traits, he only depicts her as unintelligent and promiscuous.

Read More

Of Mice And Men Morality

1406 Words | 6 Pages

Morality- Does Murder Define an Immoral Character? Throughout history, many scholars and common people alike have troubled themselves with the task of defining morality. What makes a human good or bad? It can be agreed that actions speak louder than words, so therefore committing crimes can show a person’s evilness.

Read More

The Sniper Thesis

1004 Words | 5 Pages

The character’s evil, immoral, and despicable behavior is caused by the way that they consistently put little to no thought to their actions. In “The Lottery”, the people of the village are killing other townspeople without even thinking that it might be a bad idea. In “The Sniper” The main character kills some people for no reason and kills his brother. This isn’t just a recurring theme in the two short stories that I chose to write about, it is a very common thing throughout history and still happens to this day.

Read More

Lennie Small Character Analysis Of Mice And Men

853 Words | 4 Pages

Her character also symbolizes about the struggles of women in the male-centered society. Curley’s character is a symbolic of tin small people who has the feeling of being inferior by inflating and flaunting their own power of their status. Crooks’s character is symbolic of men who are discriminated amongst other men because of his race and skin colour. Candy’s character is symbolic of people who are less valued and being discriminated against due to their age. George’s character is a symbolic of "the everyman" , which is the type of a normalor an average person who can be easily found everywhere and whose feelings and behaviors can be unique or might be terribly exceptional nor

Read More

The Only Good Man Flannery O Connor Analysis

495 Words | 2 Pages

Red Sammy is “good” due to the fact that he trusts people aimlessly which is something the grandmother can relate to. The Misfit is “good” because he won’t shoot a lady. The only thing “good” in regards to the Misfit is his cohesion of enduring his moral code “no pleasure but meanness.” O’Connor’s connection with Catholicism reflects heavily on her works. In “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” the Misfit refers back to Jesus many times like when he says “Jesus was the only One that ever raised the dead,” when he talks about resurrection and Jesus’s power over death, and when he says “Jesus thrown everything off balance” he’s referring to the death of his father and how he was blamed for it (O’Connor 152,151).

Read More

A Good Man Is Hard To Find Critical Essay

1054 Words | 5 Pages

In some ways, you could argue that both the misfit like the grandma are both good and evil. At the end, although the grandmother had made the misfit rethink his actions he had to regrettably kill her at the end. There was a moment of truth here, though, and that was that people are inherently flawed no matter how much good they are perceived to be. It is rather the acceptance of this flaw that creates better human

Read More

Moral Ambiguity In Charles Dickens Great Expectations

919 Words | 4 Pages

Through her attempts she replaces her daughter’s heart with ice and breaks young men’s hearts. In Dickens’ bildungsroman Great Expectations, Pip and Miss Havisham’s morally ambiguous characterization helps develop the theme, that one needs to learn to be resilient. The internal struggles that Pip experiences through the novel, reveal his displeasure to his settings and

Read More

Pip's Transformation In Great Expectations

741 Words | 3 Pages

He undergoes a contrasting change of character, kind, ambitious and in some cases, immature. Young Pip is a gentle boy who treats people with kindness. His kindness goes out to help a convict, Magwitch, that he meets on the marshes. Pip is terrified at the sight of a man with a leg iron.

Read More

What Is Charles Dickens: Good Vs. Evil?

986 Words | 4 Pages

Charles Dickens is an influential author for all ages. He has written many books that children know very well, including A Christmas Carol, with the character, Ebenezer Scrooge, finding his love for Christmas again. Dickens has also written some more mature books with topics that relate to our world today, such as Great Expectations, were the young boy, Pip, deals with an abusive family. In Charles Dickens books, we read many different themes that all have one thing in common: good v.s. evil. Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812 in Portsmouth, England, United Kingdom to his parents John and Elizabeth Dickens, and was their second child, they would go on to have eight children.

Read More

More about The Character Of Magwitch In Charles Dickens Great Expectations

Related Topics

Open Document