Sunday, January 11, 2015

Who does Pip think the second convict is in Great Expectations?

At first, Pip thinks that the second convict is the same one that he has encountered in the graveyard; then he thinks it is "the young man" who the larger man has threatened him with the night before.


In the first chapter of Great Expectations, when the coarse convict of gray appears and orders Pip to get him a file and food, he warns Pip that there is a young man who is hidden with him.



"This young man hears the words I speak. That young man has a secret way of getting at a boy, and at his heart, and at his liver. It is wain for a boy to attempt to hide himself from that young man."



In Chapter III, Pip heads to the Battery with the file and the food he has stolen from the pantry; however, just before he reaches the Battery, Pip notices what he thinks is the man sitting before him:



His back was towards me, and he had his arms folded, and was nodding forward, heavy with sleep.



He, too, is dressed in coarse gray clothing, and he, too, has a leg iron. But, when Pip touches him, thinking he is the convict of the other night, but then sees his face, he realizes that he has been mistaken. This convict swears at Pip, and he runs off.



"It's the young man!" I thought, feeling my heart shoot as I identified him. I dare say I should have felt a pain in my liver, too, if I had known where it was.



After the second convict runs off, Pip continues and finds the first one who has asked him to bring food. The man eats like one who is starving; while he does so, Pip tells him there will not be any food for the young man. The larger convict says, "He don't want no wittles." Pip tells him that he thought the convict looked hungry. The first convict becomes very agitated and asks Pip where this man is. Pip points, saying that the convict went "yonder...over there where I found him nodding asleep, and thought it was you."


The first convict asks Pip if the young man has a badly bruised cheek, and Pip replies "yes." Now the first convict demands to know where this convict is.


"Show me where he is. I'll pull him down like a bloodhound. Curse this iron on my sore leg! Give us hold of the file, boy." And so, Pip leaves, hearing the man filing and filing on that foot so that he can free himself.

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