2) Why do you think Jaggers is so surprised and bothered that Pip knows who Estella's father is?
3) Although there is "no admission", Jaggers clearly has a heart somewhere in that chest of his, at least where children are concerned. Take a close look at Jaggers experience with children in his profession on p. 444. What do you think Dickens is satirizing here?
4) Is Jaggers right in his thoughts about keeping Estella's parentage a secret? Do his actions in the Magwitch-Estella case alter your judgement of his character in any way?
1) Pip was so adamant in finding the truth behind Estella's parentage because if Estella's parents were in fact criminals, then she would be an equal or even lesser than Pip. Molly and Magwitch were the opposite type of parents that anyone especially Estella expected to have. Molly “was a young woman, and a jealous woman, and a revengeful woman; revengeful… to the last degree.” (Dickens, 408) Magwitch was “in jail and out of jail, in jail and out of jail, in jail and out of jail.” (345) If they truly were Estella’s parents, she wouldn’t have anything to hold over Pip’s head anymore. This could result in Estella wanting to be with Pip as she would be just as common as Pip was and maybe they would finally understand each other.
ReplyDelete4) Yes and no. Jagger's is obviously concerned for Estella's well being. From all the way on page 415-417 (I'm not quoting it all, it's far too much!) Jagger's starts to describe the situation with Estella. He uses a more "what if this child," approach when describing said situation, however, giving the benefit of doubt. However, certain points match up, ie: "Put the case that at the same time he held a trust to find a child for an eccentric rich lady to bring up." This eccentric rich lady he mentions is most obviously Mrs.H!
ReplyDeleteFrom Jagger's perspective, he was doing the right thing, by protecting the child from a life of misery, crime and death, and in a way, helping her be brought up to be a posh, young lady. In his eyes, it is best for a child born of crime and hate to never know who their parents are. After all, how would you think of yourself if you knew that your parents were like Estella's? Would you fall into the same route of crime like your father had, or perhaps the self hatred that his mother conceives? Would you fall into depression? Would society find out and treat you less than dirt? Jagger's wanted to prevent all of that, and at the same time, help Mrs. H!
Mr.Jaggers seems to be like an onion; he has layers! Though after many layers of rigid roughness, he starts to open up and actually has a fondness for children, and feels like he should protect their innocence. However, at the same time, Mr.Jaggers feels he needs to act professional at all and any times, and perhaps sees his soft heart towards children as weak, which is why he seems so cold towards others.