‘Dickens holds a mirror up to his society in all his novels. In Great Expectations the reflections are of imprisonment in all its forms.’

n Charles Dickens’ novel Great Expectations there are many forms of “imprisonment”, which the central characters encounter. Dickens’ focuses on the theme of showing society their false values and imperfections. Imprisonment throughout the novel includes; imprisonment of the mind and of the heart. Dickens’ is judgemental of the brutality of the justice system, penal system, Newgate prison and the hulks, throughout the entire novel.

The physical imprisonment identified and criticized throughout the novel is analysed in a negative manner. This is evidently seen in the harsh treatment of convicts, who have suffered through the penal system and imprisonment on the hulks. Dickens’ describes the society attitude towards prisoners as distasteful and pompous, and;
“At the time, jails were much neglected, and the period of exaggerated reaction consequent on all public wrong-doing-and which is always its heaviest and longest punishment-was still far off.”
Magwitchs’ ...