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How Does Dickens Use Of The Power Of Compassion To Change Human Nature

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One of the main themes in the novel Great Expectations is the power of compassion to change human nature. We see this when Dickens creates a character that undergoes change in attitude towards his benefactor. As Pip develops compassion for Magwitch, we witness a reformation in his character. Pip is terrified and repelled when the convict reenters his life many years after their meeting on the marshes. During Pip and the convicts first interaction, Pip had been threatened and physically harassed by the convict. When the convict returns many years after their meeting on the marshes, Pip thinks of him as a wild animal: “The abhorrence in which I held the man , the dread I had of him, the repugnance with which I shrank from him, could not have been exceeded if he had been some terrible beast” (773). The way they had first met had been incredibly unpleasant and rather scarring for Pip, something he had clearly not forgotten over the years. Remembering how the convict had treated him in the past; demanding Pip retrieve food and a file, threatening to kill him and shaking him upside down. Pip is terrified to be alone …show more content…

When Pip was with Magwitch it shows how he gave Magwitch peace in passing knowing that someone cared for him and was there beside him. Also, that his daughter is still alive, Pip knows her and is in love with her; sharing these details to Magwitch gave him such freedom from the burdens of his life. Pip had originally dislike many things about Magwitch and hated being around him, feared him. Compassion shows that even a person deathly afraid of someone can change and be kind and caring. Pip had gone from locking Magwitch up because he feared Magwitch, to being with Magwitch during his last moments and giving him peace. Like sunlight shining through a closed, dark and dirty window, compassion has an interesting way of shining through even the most dullest characters and

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