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Great Expectations: God's Law Vs. Human Law - Essay

Great Expectations: God's Law Vs. Human Law

In his book Great Expectations, the problematic nature of moral judgement
and justice that stems from a conflict between God's law and human law is one of
several topical themes that Charles Dickens addresses. This paradox regularly
surfaces in his treatment of plot and setting, and is more subtlety illustrated
in his use of character. To facilitate the reader's awareness of such a
conflict, the narrator often uses language that has Christian connotations when
relating his thoughts and when giving descriptions of the environment,
characters and events that take place. While these things allude to divine and
moral law, the story itself revolves around crime and criminals, ...

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food to a starving fellow human. Pip must steal food from his own
family to help Magwitch, thereby transforming mercy and compassion into crimes.
As Pip is running home, he looks back at the convict and sees him limping
towards the gallows "...as if he were the pirate come to life, and come down,
and going back up again" (27). This imagery conveys a complicated perception of
guilt as something conscious of its own moral accountability, frightening and
self-destructive. When Magwitch is caught, he gives a false confession to
stealing the food from the Gargery's to protect Pip. Joe replies that he
wouldn't want him to starve and that he was welcome to it. Pip highlights the
conflict between divine and human law by comparing the Hulk that his convict is
returned to as "a wicked Noah's ark" (56). Thus in these first few chapters,
the ideals of justice, mercy, law, and punishment are intermingled and confused.
This confusion is furthered by Mrs. Joe, who actually transforms ...

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Great Expectations: God's Law Vs. Human Law. (2007, August 14). Retrieved July 12, 2025, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Great-Expectations-Gods-Law-Vs-Human/69558

"Great Expectations: God's Law Vs. Human Law." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 14 Aug. 2007. Web. 12 Jul. 2025. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Great-Expectations-Gods-Law-Vs-Human/69558>

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 8/14/2007 02:47:23 AM
Category: Book Reports
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 1151
Pages: 5

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