Great Expectations Chapter 39 Summary

Summary

Pip, now three-and-twenty and living in the Temple while Herbert is away in Marseilles, endures a long wet storm and a sense of loneliness. As he reads late, he hears someone on the dark staircase; a rough, weather-beaten stranger enters, touchingly and insistently familiar. After some awkward exchange and cautious hospitality, Pip recognises the man as the convict from the marshes. The man shows a mixture of emotion and bluntness: he is moved by Pip’s grown-up appearance, praises Pip’s comforts and books, and drinks the rum Pip offers.

The convict explains, in plain, repetitive speech, that he made himself rich abroad and, remembering the boy who showed him kindness, resolved to make Pip a gentleman. He confesses that he sent money home and employed Jaggers in the transaction—naming Wemmick as the person he wrote to for Pip’s address—and boasts that he has “made a gentleman” on Pip single-handed. Pip is overwhelmed; the revelation collapses the illusions he has cherished about Miss Havisham and Estella and fills him with guilt for having deserted Joe. Afraid for both the convict and himself, Pip secures the room and puts the man to bed in Herbert’s quarters, locking his door. He spends a long, sleepless, terrified night, exhausted by the storm and the moral wreckage of the revelation. The chapter closes with the formal sentence that this is the end of the second stage of Pip’s expectations.

Key events

1. Pip, alone in the Temple on a stormy night, hears a footstep on the staircase.
2. A weather-beaten stranger comes up and Pip recognises him as the convict from the marshes.
3. The convict is emotional, takes rum, and reveals he has prospered abroad.
4. He admits he is Pip’s secret benefactor, sent money through Jaggers and wrote via Wemmick.
5. Pip realises his expectations and hopes (Miss Havisham/Estella) are illusions and feels guilt for leaving Joe.
6. Pip secures the rooms and puts the convict to bed, spending a sleepless night terrified of consequences.

Analysis

This chapter is a turning point: the past intrudes violently on Pip’s cultivated present. The sudden reappearance of the convict collapses Pip’s comfortable narrative about his ‘great expectations’ and forces him to confront the origins of his status. Structurally, Dickens stages the revelation late at night, during a storm, so external turbulence mirrors Pip’s internal upheaval. The convict’s coarse, repetitive speech and physical solidity contrast with Pip’s genteel habits and reading, accentuating class and moral dissonance. Themes of debt, gratitude, and social mobility sharpen here: the benefactor is not the genteel patron Pip imagined but a criminal who claims paternity in moral and financial terms. The chapter also emphasizes guilt and alienation—Pip’s immediate shame about abandoning Joe and Biddy exposes the emotional cost of his social ascent. Symbolically, the storm, the blown-out lamps, and the locked doors suggest exposure, danger, and secrecy; the convict’s hands (reaching, clasping, kissing) and gestures underline possessiveness and familiar claim. Narratively Dickens uses first-person immediacy to convey Pip’s horror and fascination, and the revelation reframes prior incidents (Jaggers, Wemmick, the anonymous benefactor) without resolving their legal or moral consequences, setting up urgent tension about the convict’s safety and Pip’s responsibility.

Important quotes

“I was three-and-twenty years of age.”

NarratorOpening line that fixes Pip’s age and marks the stage of life at which the chapter’s revelation occurs.

“You acted noble, my boy,”

Abel MagwitchThe convict’s first explicit reference to the kindness Pip once showed him; it foreshadows gratitude that motivates his later actions.

“Yes, Pip, dear boy, I’ve made a gentleman on you! It’s me wot has done it!”

Abel MagwitchThe chapter’s decisive confession: the convict claims to be Pip’s secret benefactor, overturning Pip’s expectations about his patron.

“THIS IS THE END OF THE SECOND STAGE OF PIP’S EXPECTATIONS.”

NarratorA formal, retrospective closing that signals a structural division in Pip’s life and in the novel’s narrative.

Characters in Chapter 39

• Pip
• Mr. Pocket
• Herbert Pocket
• Abel Magwitch
• Mr. Jaggers
• Wemmick
• Estella
• Miss Havisham
• Joe Gargery
• Biddy