My
convict looked round him for the first time, and saw me . . . I
looked at him eagerly when he looked at me, and slightly moved my
hands and shook my head. I had been waiting for him to see me, that
I might try to assure him of my innocence. It was not at all expressed
to me that he even comprehended my intention, for he gave me a look
that I did not understand, and it all passed in a moment. But if
he had looked at me for an hour or for a day, I could not have remembered
his face ever afterwards as having been more attentive.
This quote from Chapter 5 describes
Pip’s brief reunion with Magwitch after the latter has been captured
by the police. Pip, who is always concerned with other people’s
impressions of his behavior, is anxious for Magwitch to know that
he is innocent—that he is not responsible for turning Magwitch in
to the police. But when Magwitch looks at Pip, he seems to experience
feelings that have nothing to do with Pip’s innocence or guilt,
a look that Pip “did not understand” but which is the most “attentive”
look Pip has ever received. This is an important moment of foreshadowing
in the book, our first impression that Pip’s kindness has moved
Magwitch to strong feelings of loyalty and love. It also an important
moment of character development, our first glimpse of something
in Magwitch’s character beyond the menace and bluster of his early
scenes in the book.
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