Two passages I wanted to look at occur in chapter 40 and in chapter 49. Both passages convey images of a fire in a fireplace, which outside of providing warmth and comfort for the characters, leads to moments of contemplation, deep thought, and character development for them. On page 329 after Pip learns that Magwitch is his mystery donor, he sits in front of the fire and thinks about several different things to himself. “All this time I had never been able to consider my own situation, nor could I do so yet. I had not the power to attend to it…when I sat down again shivering, before the fire, waiting for my laundress to appear; I thought about how miserable I was, but hardly knew why, or how long I had been so, or on what day of the week I made the reflection, or even who I was that made it” (Dickens 329). In the paragraph before this passage, Pip lights the fire and falls asleep next to it for some time before waking up and contemplating to himself. In this passage, the fire serves as a space of comfort and warmth as it normally would but is also a place where Pip can quietly interiorize his conflict and emotions. We see Pip question how long he has been “miserable” and how he never had time to “consider his own situation.”
The next example of a fire serving as a tool for character development and contemplation comes in chapter 49 when Ms. Havisham catches on fire and Pip must save her. On page 402, following the paragraph in which Pip notices the situation and rushes to her aid, Dickens’ writing suggests contemplation and lots of thinking from Pip as he is helping put out the fire. “I covered her, the more wildly she shrieked and tried to free herself; that this occurred I knew through the result, but not through anything I felt, or thought, or knew I did. I knew nothing until I knew that we were on the floor by the great table, and the patches of tinder yet were floating in the smoky air, which, a moment ago, had been her faded bridal dress…I still held her forcibly down with all my strength, like a prisoner who might escape; and I doubt if I even knew who she was, or why we had struggled or that she had been in flames, or that flames were out until I saw the patches of tinder that had been her garments, no longer alight nut falling in a black shower around us. ” (Dickens 402). The language and writing style in this paragraph was super interesting given the franticness and severity of the scene and the context of the scene occurring after Ms. Havisham apologizes for leading Pip on to believe she was this mystery donor. In this passage, Dickens uses words that evoke moments of thinking and contemplation such as “think, felt, thought, and doubt.” All these words suggest contemplation and interior thought which was interesting to find in this passage as Pip is helping save Ms. Havisham. Although the words suggest that Pip is contemplating and uncertain about the severity of the fire at the moment, we can also assume that he is contemplating Ms. Havisham’s apology and her comments about Pip professing his love to Estella. We see some of Pip’s character development amid the fire as he is able to forgive Ms. Havisham for so many lies and save her life shortly after. Perhaps the use of words like “think, felt, thought, and doubt” suggest the whirlwind of emotions Pip is feeling since Ms. Havisham’s emotional apology. Although this passage doesn’t explicitly show Pip contemplating during a scene with fire like on page 329, the scene alludes to his interior thoughts and shows his development as a character.