Dickens gives us (and Pip for that matter) great hope in a
relationship between Pip and Estella. Pip receives a letter that says Estella is coming
to town and he is to meet her. This makes readers believe that for all this time while
we have watched Estella mock and abuse Pip, there just may be that glimmer of hope for
him with her. Now, it feels to the reader like a relationship for them is not only
possible but probable. While readers get anxious right along with Pip,
Dickens drives the story away from
Estella.
Wemmick comes along and takes Pip
to Newgate Prison. A prison is an ironic place to go considering what Estella's
treatment to Pip over the years has done. This negative experience might make readers
wonder, is this meeting between Pip and Estella going to be any different, or is Pip yet
again bound to the life from which he began. The prison experience is also a connection
to who he finds out is his benefactor as well as to what we learn about his connection
to a convict in the very beginning.
Finally, the chapter
ends with an ominous question:
What was the nameless shadow
which again in that one instant had
passed?
A shadow could be so
many things. It could refer to the past or the future. It could refer to a bad
experience. It is unnamed, so once again we are guessing. But, it is a clue and you will
be able to put it all together in the end!
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