CHAPTER 56

Summary
Pip visits Magwitch on his deathbed and tells him about Estella.
Magwitch had always thought Molly killed their daughter. Pip tells
him how beautiful she is and how much he has loved her. Magwitch
dies happy.

Notes
As the days pass by, Pip begins to care more and more for
Magwitch. Pip is a changed man now. He has learned his lessons in
life. He realizes that his snobbery has caused deep pain to real
people and that a mans worth has nothing to do with his place in
society; instead, it is his actions that define him. He tries to redeem
all his misdeeds by serving Magwitch with love and care.

CHAPTER 57

Summary
Magwitchs death depresses Pip. As well, he is heavily indebted and
without money. Poor health overcomes him and he is too ill to even
move. Joe arrives to help, nursing him back to health and paying
his debts so Pip will not go to jail. Joe tells Pip about Miss
Havishams death and her wealth, which she left to Estella and to
Matthew Pocket. He also tells Pip it is not important to talk about
the past. They are friends and friends understand everything. One
morning Pip awakens to find Joe has gone. A note left behind tells
Pip that Joe thinks he is not good enough for Pip, who will be able to
start his life afresh.

Pip determines to sell his belongings and make things right with
Joe. He plans to return to his childhood home and has dreams of
marrying Biddy.

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Notes
The character of Joe once again touches the heart of the reader. Joe
is like Pips guardian angel that arrives just in time to help him. Pip
is extremely ashamed of the way he had treated Joe when he had
met him last. But Joe has forgiven and forgotten all of it. They
share old memories and go for long drives and Pip relives the world
of childhood with his best friend Joe. By nursing Pip, Joe rekindles
simple innocence in the boy. Then quietly and humbly, he slips back
to his own life, hoping Pip can start his life afresh, without Joe or
anyone else to hold him back.

CHAPTER 58

Summary
Pip returns, only to discover to his disappointment that Biddy and
Joe are to be married to one another. He wishes them well and
decides to take the job offered by Herbert. After a few years of hard
work, he becomes a partner; Clarriker tells Herbert the great favor
that Pip had done for him by setting him up at as a partner long
ago.

Notes
The novel is slowly coming to its end as the major plot lines come to
a gradual close. Pips love for both his friends is clear from the fact
that he shows no disappointment at Biddys marriage with Joe. In
fact he regards them to be the best husband and wife and worthy of
each other.

Pip starts a new life with his job as a clerk and lives with Herbert
and his wife Clara. Clarriker divulges to Herbert that the important
financial impetus to their company was given by Pip. This
strengthens the bond between the two friends. Later, Pips hard
work earns him the position of a partner.

CHAPTER 59

Summary
Pip returns to visit Joe, Biddy, and their young son, Pip. He learns
that Drummle abused Estella and that she left him. Later, Drummle
was killed in an unfortunate accident of his own doing, since he was
mistreating his horse. Estella remarried.

Pip goes to Satis House, full of memories and regrets. The house is
gone, and as he stands on the property, he sees Estella in the
distance. They talk as old friends, acknowledging the strange twists
their lives have taken. When they part, it is as friends. Pip realizes
he will never stop thinking of Estella; in a sense, she will always be
with him.

Notes
The final chapter is quintessentially Dickensian. The author neatly
resolves all the plot lines and secures a happy resting-place for all
his characters. Pip returns to Joe and Biddy after a necessary
absence during which he has re-grown, and finds that they have
remembered him fondly by naming their son after him. And he
meets Estella one last time during which they can declare their
friendship. Drummle is dead, killed by his own insensitivity toward a
horse, and Estella is presumably attempting happiness with another
husband. Pip realizes with fondness that he will never forget her. It
is a poignant and fulfilling ending that neatly wraps up all the loose
strings created by the master storyteller.