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Thirty-two people were sentenced to death in one session. Thirty-two! This would be a great argument against the death penalty. What are your thoughts on that punishment? What does Dickens seem to think of it?
What can you point to in the story that made Pip change from wanting to desert Magwitch to never leaving his side until he was forced to?
Why did Pip wait so long to tell Magwitch about Estella?
10 comments:
Dickens seems to not agree at all with the death penalty. He seems to find it very wrong and shows this through how many people are killed at one time in Great Expectations. Dickens chooses such a large number to exaggerate the horrors of the death penalty and how common it was to just kill many prisoners, no matter what the crime was. Dickens believes that the death penalty was used in many cases and as the punishment for many crimes that did not deserve the death penalty. I personally believe that this penalty was too harsh. It was not correct to sentence all thirty-two people to death. The reader is not even informed of what each of the thirty-two prisoners did. We were only told that they were all sentenced to death. The crimes that these prisoners did may not have been that bad.
Ever since Pip solved the mystery of Estella's real parents, he has been connected at Magwitch's hip. He feels a new sort of connection with Magwitch knowing that he is Estella's father. Pip believes that it is his duty to tell Magwitch that his daughter is doing well and is not dead.
I think that when it comes to the death penalty, Dickens is no supporter. The wasy he described the deaths of the 32 people shows how unimportant people thought the death penalty was. The convicts were described in an air of indifference.People just went around executing people in bulk like they were products at Costco. The judge didn't even take the time to sentence the crimes in singular fashions, he only spoke to Magwitch personally and that was to point out his repeat offenses. He just addressed all of the prisoners as if they all committed the same crime. People just went around executing people in bulk like they were products at Costco.
I think that Pip's sudden attachment may be because of Estella, but only a samll part. I think Pip just finally started to appreciate Magwitch as the man who gave him his fortune and worked so hard to see him well off in life. Pip finally started to become a person with some sort of emotion that doesn't involve self pity.
Pip's timing in telling Magwitch about Estella seemed appropriate given the circumstances of the situation. Magwitch had a lot on his mind ever since he reentered England, so planning his escape should have been and was a primary focus. Also, as Mr. Jaggers had recommended, telling Magwitch about Estella in any time where he was fully capable to visit her would have been a bad idea, because Estella had grown accustomed to life with Miss Havisham and was likely better off without knowing her mother or her parents' lifestyles. It was thoughtful of Pip to inform Magwitch about Estella, even if the message had to be saved for Magwitch's death bed.
Thirty-two people...overkill! These senseless mass death penalty's show Dickens distaste for it. When you don't like something make it look as bad as possible then others will perceive it that way. My thoughts on that punishment can be summed up in one word, unnecessary. In the time this novel takes place those convicts were most likely nothing more than petty thieves. Does that deserve the death penalty? pshh absolutely not. I think that Pip changed his mind about Magwitch when he started piecing together his connection to Estella. I also think that maybe Pip didn't mean to wait so long to tell Magwitch about Estella. This reason is commonly used (I occasionally use it), the "it just wasn't the right time" reason.
Dickens seems to really dislike the death penalty. Thirty-two people sentenced to death at once shows how little time is put into each case, which in result shows how simple the death penalty is seen in the setting of the book. I personally am totally against the death penalty and see no situation where it is justified. If I start talking about why, I won't stop, so I'll just end here haha. I never thought about Estella being the reason for Pip softening and caring about Magwitch. And honestly, just the possibility that that's the reason frustrates me. I'm sorry, but she is really not worth loving. All she has is a pretty face. And I realize that she's only a product of her environment and therefore I can't really judge or blame her, but it doesn't mean I can love her. He's obsessed and it's sort of disgusting. But anyway, I thought Pip started softening up towards Magwitch due to guilt he felt for leaving Joe and treating him like worthless dirt. He left and forgot about Joe, because Joe wasn't good enough for him, even though Joe was one of the only people that ever truely cared about him in life. Magwitch is the one of the other few people that cared about him, so it'd be stupid to let go of him too, just because he's not good enough. But the Estella theory makes more sense the more I think about it...oh the aggrevating truth haha.
I am against the death penalty as it stands today, let alone 32 death sentences in one sitting. You definitely can tell that the value of human life has increased immensely from then to now. Reading this section made me appalled at the government in this story, but then realizing that sentences like these happened throughout history made my stomach literally churn. This punishment shows the reader how human life was look at. These 32 humans stand before a court of law, and were not really judged for their wrong-doings, they were most likely charged with death because back then "a good hanging" was an entertainment sensation. You can tell that Dickens was against the death penalty also, the way he worded that scene shows how he believed the government system was flawed and unjust. I believe there are two reasons why Pip decided never to leave Magwitch's side. Number one, the only reason he is in the situation of being in jail sentenced to death is because of him. Pip was the only reason Magwitch decided to come back to London, and if it wasnt for Pip Magwitch never would have returned and would have never been caught. Number two, Pip realizes that Magwitch is Estella's father, this causes him to respect and honor him for bringing such a beauty into this world. He also feels a stronger connection to him since he cannot see Estella. I do not really know why Pip waited so long to tell Magwitch about Estella, perhaps it was because he knew he would ask questions that he did not want to reveal to him while he was in a weak state. Because, after-all Estella didn't have the best of life.
I disagree with previous posts in that I believe that sometimes the death penalty is in fact necessary. Those who deem a threat to the rest of society need to be removed for the common good of said society. It's no different then putting down a rabid dog to keep it from biting off a child's face in my opinion. However, the definition of "threat" is where the confusion starts. I guarantee that 32 people in one session of hanging were not lethal threats to society, if any of them, and I greatly sympathize with this, as Dickens seems to do as well. It was obviously used in this time as a punishment for crimes of a wide assortment in which punishment by death was clearly not deserved.
I think Pip waits so long to tell Magwitch about Estella because it is a subject that greatly hurts Pip. However, Pip feels that he must tell Magwitch to put him at peace before his death, and this act of kindness brings Pip to the height of his morality in my eyes.
I personally believe that Dickens is extremely against the death penalty. In making such a large number of people sentenced to death, Dickens exaggerates the death penalty into some henious crime against humanity. I mean come on, so many people slaughtered without giving the reader a real explanation of their crimes, Dicken's is using the subjects in his novel to point out the brutality and hypocritical use of the death penalty within his time. Although I would agree a bit with Dickens in his time, i believe that there are a select few instances in which the death penalty is the only answer. There are some people that can not be contained or corrected by the legal system. For example, one can not be reformed from being a pedofile. It's just something that is mentally in a person and it can't be altered. In order to protect society, i firmly believe that the death penalty should be a strong option. If it's for the greater good of all and it's giving someone a bit of payback for a horrible thing, then i would have to say that i am all for it.
The way that Dickens’ describes the scene in the courthouse shows that he does not approve of the death penalty. He describes the scene in such a somber tone, but I think the most important description is way all 32 people are sentenced together. I definitely shows that the death penalty is not uncommon and that the judge just sentences everyone together to save time. Now, in certain, rare cases, I believe the death penalty is an option; not the best one, and I really do not support it, but still an option. However, those cases are very few, and definitely not 32 people. I think that once Pip found out that Magwitch was his benefactor, he was with him. Pip did not want any part of Magwitch at first, and I think that all he wanted to do was to return the favor, since Magwitch did allow him to make his dream of becoming a gentleman a reality. However, once Pip spends more time with Magwitch, he definitely becomes friendly, and I think that Magwitch being Estella’s father was just icing on the cake. I think that Pip decides to tell Magwitch about Estella at the last minute, because he does not want to add any more guilt to a dying man. If Pip had told Magwitch earlier, it might have killer Magwitch sooner, knowing that he had a daughter and that she never knew her father. This way, Magwitch dies with the thought of his beautiful daughter and really no time for regrets.
I think the biggest reason that Pip doesn’t want to leave Magwitch until he has to because it would be the second time that he deserted someone who supported him. I believe that Pip is now trying to redeem himself for being ashamed of Joe and breaking off contact with him by sticking with Magwitch to the end. I think that Pip waits to tell Magwitch about Estella because earlier he wasn’t sure whether or not to trust Magwitch and later I think that Pip did not know how to tell him or what to tell him but in the end Pip told Magwitch what he would have wanted to hear while still telling the truth.
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