Great Expectations, Chapter 42 summary

What happens

1. Magwitch describes a hungry childhood, repeated arrests, irregular work, and the strangers who teach him reading and writing.
2. Compeyson recruits Magwitch into fraud and keeps him dependent through debt, danger, and unequal control.
3. Arthur, Compeyson’s sick associate, imagines an angry woman carrying a shroud and dies while struggling against her imagined approach.
4. At their trial, Compeyson’s respectable appearance and defense help secure seven years, while Magwitch receives fourteen.
5. Magwitch recounts escaping, attacking Compeyson on the marshes, and receiving a life sentence after their capture.
6. Herbert privately tells Pip that Arthur is young Havisham and Compeyson is the man who deceives Miss Havisham.

In this chapter

What to notice

Herbert’s written identification connects Magwitch’s criminal partner with Miss Havisham. It makes the account directly relevant to people Pip already knows.

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