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Pip is like many college freshmen...they know that they want to go to college and get an education, but they aren't sure what profession they want to pursue.
Why is Jaggers giving Pip such a hard time when Pip asks for money? He acts as if it is his own money he's giving to Pip.
Why do you think Jaggers keeps facial casts of men who have been executed for crimes?
Why is "portable property" so important to Wemmick?
Based on the courtroom scene described by Pip, what type of lawyer is Jaggers?
8 comments:
Jaggers is a very intimidating fellow, and he knows it. His method of helping Pip decide what sum of money he wants is anything but helpful. Jaggers seems to enjoy confusing him more than helping him, starting at such a large sum of fifty then drastically dropping to five. He then chooses to grow from five by multiplying five by two, three, and four, rather than simply saying ten, fifteen, twenty. As if riding on the already created confusion and discomfort is not enough, Jaggers asks Pip what four times five is, just in case he might mess it up and make a fool of himself.
I agree with Hannah, but i also can see a hidden meaning in Jaggers madness. Yes, i believe he gets pleasure out of confusing Pip, and making him look like a fool so that Jagger can get a little perk of self-confidence out of himself. But Jaggers works hand in hand with Pip's benefactor and most likely has to teach Pip some lessons about being a gentlemen. including working with money and being wise with his decisions. even though that probably wasnt Jagger main point in the confusion, i believe it might have been a factor. Jaggers is a very conceited man, and of course if he has had accomplishments as big as sending criminals to their deaths, he has to frame his works. This will also be used as a intimidation for new clinets who present themselves to him. It can also be a factor for new clinets choosing him as their lawyer. Jagger seems to be a very tough lawyer, who intimidates everyone in the court room. He seems to be very good at his job. When Pip describes the scene as "not knowing which side he was on" i took that more as he brings up strong evidence for his side, but also brings up points that the opposing side will try to prove as a source of a rebuttal. I could be wrong though, Jagger could just be hollering and ranting because he has the power to make everyone uneasy in the courtroom.
I think that the way that Jaggers gives Pip such a hard time about giving him money is because he's trying to prove a point. That Pip doesn't really know what he has gotten himself into, and that he needs to learn about his wealth and how to manage it, since when asked how much he would need, Pip didn't really know. Jagger's is just a creepy person, and that's why he keeps facial casts of the men executed. Ok, not really. Maybe Jaggers keeps the facial casts as a reminder to himself to keep him wanting to do his job perhaps? Based on the courtroom scene, it seems like Jaggers is a lawyer who is good at what he does. He's intense about what he does and works hard to win his cases. I really want to know who Jaggers’ housekeeper is, since Wemmick described the housekeeper as being a wild beast tamed, I’m very curious.
I think that Jaggers may have had two motives in giving Pip his money. I think the first was that he ment to confuse him and gain some confidence.. the whole feeding off of inadequacies thing. He also may have been trying to teach Pip a lesson: if he is to be a gentleman then he needs to know his money, how much he wants, how to add them up and keep track of it. He may have done this to show Pip that this is how gentleman conduct bussiness and do things. Jaggers comes off as someone that I would associate with creepy. He would seem to fit the "mold" (pun intended) of someone that would keep casts of the people that he helped execute. Its kind of a screwed up kind of trophy case. As a lawyer, Jaggers is very intense. He seems to make a scene in the court room, but he must be talented because he has quite a few clients, and based on his trophy wall- a high success rate.
By now Pip seems to have gotten familiar with London. And he has become good friends with Mr. Pocket. Like his son, Mr. Pocket is a respectable man. Mr. Jaggers has a very overbearing personality. Mr. Wemmick says that Jaggers keeps it professional instead of personal. This is a good attribute for him, since he is a lawyer. I don’t think that Jaggers is being stingy with the money that Pip has asked for. Rather, it seemed to me that he and Pip are on separate levels of communication. Mr. Jaggers is a straight to the point kind of guy and Pip wasn’t sure how much money he needed. The facial casts are creepy. I guess he keeps them to remember his “victories.” But even so it is odd. Portable property may be important to Wemmick because he has lost possessions before. Or he keeps them to always have a reminder of what is important to him. Jaggers is the type of lawyer who does anything to win the case. He is over dramatic and makes a scene. He uses these techniques to capture everyone’s attention and hopefully make them agree with him.
I agree with Chelsea. Jaggers is trying to give Pip more confidence in himself by not making him feel embarassed about what sum of money he wants. I also feel that he is trying to treat Pip like an adult (gentleman) by compromising with him how much money he needs, since in the real world there is compromising everyday. Jaggers keeps facial masks of his old clients because they were cases that made Jaggers famous, "famous clients of ours that got us a world of credit." Reading about Jaggers in the coutroom scene, it showed that he was a very harsh lawyer. Meaning that his clients could not keep secrets from him because if they did Jaggers would get it out of them. It seemed that he was talking negative to both sides because Pip could not tell what side he was for.
I think that Jaggers gives Pip a hard time when Pip asks for money because Jaggers is a control freak. Jaggers has a dominating presence, and he uses it in every aspect of his life. So, when Pip asks for the twenty pounds, Jaggers heckles Pip so that he feels that he is in control. I think that it is why he keeps the casts of the convicted criminals, Jaggers now feels that he owns them, the ultimate form of control. Jaggers controlling nature, along with his dominating demeanor, allows him to control the courtroom. Jaggers feels that he must control everything so he uses fear to control even the judge.
I don’t think any part of Jaggers gives Pip a hard time for fun. It feels like with his character, he’s extremely powerful and to an extent abuses that power, but only with what is his. During his first meeting (or second, if you’ll count the brief encounter at Mrs. Havisham home being a meeting) with Pip, Jaggers came off as a man that has power, and will voice his opinion, but not intervene with power that is not his. He made it clear that he did not find Pip a good candidate for the benefactor, yet he made it clear that he was not, in any way, going to sabotage the plans, and will, in fact, offer all the assistance to Pip that he can. I think the difficulty Jaggers gives to Pip is nothing but training that is required as a guardian. Jaggers wants Pip to have a spine and say exactly what he wants when he wants it, or else people will take advantage of him. He demonstrated by, at first, saying do you want fifty pounds, and once Pip said less than that, Jaggers lowered it down all the way to five, and waited for Pip to name the price he wanted. I also think he chose such a low of a number in order to train Pip to be able to say words such as “No, I do not like your offer, I want four times what you want to give me.” No matter how ridiculous the first offer was, it takes quite a lot to be able to request four times something that was offered. In addition, I think the question of “what is four times five to you, not me,” deems very important, for it explores the issue of loop holes and the lack of certainty of the meanings of words. I think the facial casts are kept by Jaggers for himself rather than anyone else. I feel like they symbolize his satisfaction of controlling a person’s fate. Those casts are all that is left of those executed, and he has them, just as he had their last parts of their lives in his hands. It’s extremely symbolic, I think, and exhilarating to think about (if I could use that word for this situation haha). When Pip said he was unsure of which side he was defending, it made it seem like Jaggers really does not care about which side is “right” and “wrong,” but only cares about making a reputation, and ripping apart whomever stands in his way. He lives and thrives upon the fear of others, which is not uncommon, it’s just really prominent and unsubtle within Jaggers.
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