Seeking Justice In Great Expectations Anonymous College

Charles Dickens often used his narratives as a means to express and commentate on the shortcomings of the society he resided in, and his critiques were often pointedly focused on both the ineptitude of the legal system and the unfulfilling nature of immoral action. In his novel Oliver Twist, Dickens was bold enough to simply say, “The law is an ass- an idiot”(Dickens, 489), and to claim the immorality of lawyers in his earlier narrative The Pickwick Papers by describing their processes as, “ ingenious machines put in motion for the torture and torment of His Majesty's liege subjects, and the comfort and emolument of the practitioners of the law”(38). These themes of condemnation can be found in all of Charles Dickens’ novels, but they are especially prolific within the pages of Great Expectations. Each character who seeks retribution or places their faith in the judicial system is met with stiff disappointments, Dickens chooses instead to promote moral ideals as a means for satisfaction, it is only through contrition that the characters find peace and justice. In adding this system to the plot, Dickens is able to simultaneously criticize the iniquities of the judiciary and promote the absolute and fulfilling nature of morality....