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Failure Of The Criminal Justice System In Great Expectations By Charles Dickens

883 Words4 Pages

Nearly half of all kids born into poor families remain poor for at least half of their childhood according to the Urban Institute. Charles Dickens communicates problems such as the criminal justice system in his book Great Expectations; although significantly improved since the 1860’s, the percentage of people born into poverty that remain in poverty has always been high due to a lack of opportunities and prejudice in the justice system. Dickens highlights these issues by using the characters within his book to critique societies inequalities between social statuses. Through the successive careers of Compeyson and Mr. Jaggers alongside the collapse of Magwitch, Dickens highlights how the failures of the criminal justice system further create …show more content…

When Compeyson and Magwitch went to trial for their crimes, Compeyson was aided by his social status and appearance, and Magwitch reveals, “what a gentleman Compeyson looked, wi’ his curly hair and his black clothes and his white pocket-handkercher, and what a common wretch I looked…I noticed how heavy [the evidence] bore on me, and how light on him'' (351). Dickens contrasts the demeanor of Compeyson and Magwitch to depict the effect of social standing in the justice system. By being wealthy enough to dress like a gentleman in a black suit with a handkerchief rather than a felon, Compeyson escapes the majority of the charges; however, Magwitch is left to answer for a larger portion of the crimes as a result of his criminal reputation and status. The advantage Compeyson’s social status provides during the trial reveals the clemency that the criminal justice system gives to higher classes. In addition to high-class criminals, the justice system aids affluent lawyers. Mr. Jagger's lack of emotion and ability to …show more content…

Innocent children from poor families were often born into tough living situations and given no future except being tried. Mr. Jaggers illustrates that “all he saw, was, [children] being generated in great numbers for certain destruction… qualified in all ways for the hangman, and growing up to be hanged” (413). Dickens connects innocent children with ordinary criminals to create sympathy within the readers for those who had been betrayed by the justice system. Furthermore, Dickens magnifies the extent of the unjust system for orphans and poor children through the views of their own lawyer; Mr. Jaggers reveals how the justice system forces the impoverished further down society’s standings through its prejudice design. These masses of restraints help a divide grow as a consequence of causing the lower-classes to grow larger while the majority of the money remains with the elites of society. In addition to other ill-fated orphans, Magwitch’s own circumstances are very akin to many others’ in society. Born a plague to the public, with no parents or money, Magwitch was forced to steal for the food; “They always went on agen me about the devil. But what the devil was I to do? I must put something into my stomach… Tramping, Begging, thieving, working sometimes when I could'' (347). Magwitch

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