Great Expectations Chapter 56 Summary

Summary

Pip visits Magwitch daily in the prison infirmary after his committal for trial, finding him weakened by broken ribs and a wounded lung that leave him breathing painfully and speaking scarcely above a whisper. Because of his illness Magwitch is spared the common wards and close irons; Pip becomes his principal comfort, reading and speaking to him during short visits. Magwitch shows a humble, contrite patience and occasionally gives Pip trusting looks that suggest pride in having once been recognized as redeemable. Despite attempts by Mr. Jaggers to postpone the trial, it proceeds; Magwitch appears at the bar seated because of his frailty, and the facts of his return make conviction inevitable. The author describes the grim Sessions day vividly—two-and-thirty convicts are presented together to receive the death sentence, and the April sun striking through drops of rain links the condemned and the Judge in a single shaft of light.

After sentence, Pip pours his energy into petitions to the Home Secretary and other authorities, driven by dread that Magwitch will linger and suffer. He roams the western streets, tense and restless as he awaits news. Visits to the infirmary grow more restricted, and prison officers sometimes suspect Pip of secret motives, obliging him to consent to searches. Magwitch grows steadily weaker until, on a day of clear change, he greets Pip affectionately. In a last, lucid exchange, Magwitch expresses gratitude for Pip’s faithfulness and, with great effort, makes Pip place his hand on Magwitch’s breast while he reveals—briefly and intensely—that he once had a child who survived, found powerful friends, and is now a beautiful lady whom Pip loves. Magwitch kisses Pip’s hand, relaxes, and dies while Pip prays for mercy on him.

Key events

1. Magwitch is moved to the infirmary and becomes increasingly frail and silent.
2. Trial and sentencing: Magwitch is tried immediately and is among thirty-two condemned.
3. Pip writes and sends petitions to the Home Secretary and other authorities to seek mercy.
4. Pip’s visits become more restricted; he consents to searches and comforts Magwitch.
5. Magwitch, in a final lucid moment, thanks Pip and reveals he once had a daughter who is now Pip’s beloved.
6. Magwitch dies quietly with Pip at his side.

Analysis

This chapter functions as the emotional and moral climax of Magwitch’s storyline so far: it consolidates his transformation from feared convict to a penitent, human figure whose worth is shown through suffering and gratitude. Dickens uses the courtroom tableau—two-and-thirty condemned men, the shaft of April sunlight through rain—to juxtapose public justice with private mercy, emphasizing social spectacle versus individual humanity. Magwitch’s steady decline and his subdued dignity invite sympathy and challenge Pip’s earlier class-conscious judgments, reinforcing major themes of redemption, social hypocrisy, and the limits of legal retribution. The narrative technique remains first-person retrospective, allowing Pip to frame events with heightened feeling and moral self-reproach; his interior commentary—roaming London’s “weary western streets” and writing petitions—reveals his inner turmoil and growing responsibility. Symbolically, the sunlight through rain suggests a cleansing or divine impartiality linking Judge and condemned; the act of placing Pip’s hand on Magwitch’s breast and the kiss function as a final transfer of human worth and reconciliation. Dickens foreshadows future reckonings by having Magwitch claim a lost daughter who has prospered, a detail that redirects Pip’s concerns from guilt and shame toward familial and social consequences. The subdued death scene foregrounds private compassion against the machinery of public punishment, and the chapter deepens Pip’s moral development as he moves from shameful complicity to active advocacy and sorrowful fidelity.

Important quotes

“My Lord, I have received my sentence of Death from the Almighty, but I bow to yours,”

Abel MagwitchMagwitch briefly rises during the Judge's address, acknowledging divine judgment even as he submits to the court's sentence.

“You’ve never deserted me, dear boy.”

Abel MagwitchIn a lucid moment near the end, Magwitch thanks Pip for his constancy and affection.

“You had a child once, whom you loved and lost.”

Pip (Narrator)Pip tells Magwitch, preparing him for a revelation about the child's survival and status, which Magwitch confirms in his final effort.

Characters in Chapter 56

• Abel Magwitch
• Pip
• Mr. Jaggers
• The Judge
• The Governor
• The Recorder
• An officer