Great Expectations · Chapter
XXVIII explained
Pip travels back to his hometown, wrestling with guilt and self-deception as he decides to stay at the Blue Boar instead of Joe's.
What happens
Pip travels back to his hometown, wrestling with guilt and self-deception as he decides to stay at the Blue Boar instead of Joe's. On the coach, he is seated near two convicts, one of whom he recognizes as the man from the Three Jolly Bargemen. Overhearing their conversation, Pip learns that the convict was given two one-pound notes to deliver to the boy who once helped him, confirming his own past. Filled with dread and childhood terror, Pip alights early and heads to the hotel, where he reads a newspaper paragraph about his own rise in fortune.
Themes in this chapter
Guilt and Redemption
Pip's internal conflict about avoiding Joe and his fear of being recognized by the convict highlight his guilt over his past and his struggle with self-deception.
Crime and Injustice
The presence of convicts on the coach and the conversation about prison breaking and transportation underscore the themes of crime, punishment, and social marginalization.
Identity and Self-Discovery
Pip's changed appearance and circumstances make him unrecognizable to the convict, yet his past identity as the boy who helped him resurfaces, forcing Pip to confront who he was and who he has become.
Characters to notice
- Pip
Pip travels home, struggles with guilt over avoiding Joe, and is haunted by his past when he recognizes a convict on the coach.
- Herbert Pocket
Herbert sees Pip off at the coach yard and calls him 'Handel,' a name that spares Pip from being recognized by the convicts.
- Magwitch
Though not named directly, the convict Pip recognizes is the same man from the Three Jolly Bargemen, later revealed to be Magwitch; he discusses delivering two one-pound notes to the boy who helped him.
- Mr. Pumblechook
Mentioned when the waiter at the Blue Boar offers to send for him, but Pip declines.
- Mr. Trabb
Referenced in Pip's thoughts about Trabb's boy and the tailor's shop.
Key passages
“All other swindlers upon earth are nothing to the self-swindlers, and with such pretences did I cheat myself.”
Pip acknowledges that he is his own worst deceiver, inventing excuses to avoid staying at Joe's.
Reflects Pip's guilt and self-deception about his changed social status.
“I thought what a blessed fortune it was, that he had found another name for me than Pip.”
Pip is relieved that Herbert calls him 'Handel' so the convicts won't recognize his real name.
Highlights Pip's fear of being connected to his past and the convict.
“It is impossible to express with what acuteness I felt the convict's breathing, not only on the back of my head, but all along my spine.”
Pip is intensely aware of the convict's presence behind him, feeling a visceral, spine-tingling dread.
Emphasizes Pip's deep-seated terror and the physical manifestation of his guilt.
“I could not have said what I was afraid of, for my fear was altogether undefined and vague, but there was great fear upon me.”
Pip experiences a formless, overwhelming fear that he cannot explain or pinpoint.
Captures the lingering childhood terror that resurfaces in Pip.