The End

In the conversation w/ Miss Havisham, it is revealed that she had never intended for Estella to become so uncaring, nor for her to break Pip's heart so. She merely wanted to shelter her from the same fate that she herself had had. She pays Herbert's debt's off to lessen her own debt to Pip.He wanders around town a bit, still not visiting Joe, and goes back to check on Miss Havisham, whom he left hysterically begging his forgiveness. While he looks in at her, a spark jumps from the fire beside her, lighting her dress afire. Jumping into action, Pip extinguishes her by wrapping her in the table cloth from the table where the rotting cake sat. Both of them sustain burns, Pip on his arms, and Miss Havisham in many places, though the doctor worries less about the burns and more about her going into shock.

After this, Pip reveals the fact that he knows both Estella's mother's (the servant) and father's (Magwitch) identities to Mr. Jaggers; he is very surprised, as it was also a revelation to him.

It's now that Pip receives the anonymous letter which I mentioned in "Question 2." After going to the marsh, he is overtaken by Orlick, formerly a helper to Joe who is drunk and angry at Pip for having ruining his job a Miss Havisham's, tied up, and taken to a sluice house by a lime kiln. After a lengthy speech in which he tells Pip he plans to throw him into the kiln, leaving no body, and is about to do so, Herbert and Startop (whom he made friends with at the same time he made enemies with Drummle) rush in, scaring Orlick off and saving Pip.

Pip had left the note itself at home by accident, leaving it for Herbert to see. He realized that something was wrong, and rushed to the location in the note.

The next day is the day they attempt to leave England for New South Wales. However, when they reach the harbor, the second convict has alerted the police, and they fight to capture Pip, his friends, and Magwitch. During the fight, Magwitch pulls the second convict overboard with him, and, after a fight underwater kills him. Unfortunately, while underwater, he is struck by the boat, causing severe injuries in his chest.

Magwitch is apprehended and cared for. The police find the body, discovering deeds to the lands forming Pip's "great expectations," rendering them evidence. Pip is with Magwitch as he slowly dies, not telling him how the gentleman that he was so proud of having made has just lost all of his fortune.

Once he dies, Pip himself falls ill. After several weeks in a delirious state, he discovers that Joe has been caring for him all during those weeks. In their old friendship again, Pip is glad that Joe could forgive him for his coldheartedness, but as he becomes stronger, Joe grows away from him, reverting to calling him "sir" and "master."

Finding Joe gone one morning, Pip goes to the blacksmith's house, finding that, as his sister died several years earlier, Joe and Biddy (a woman who was his first teacher and he hoped to marry) have gotten married themselves. Glad that he did not ruin the happy day by telling Joe of his intentions, he tells them that he will go to Cairo with Herbert to work as a clerk in the business Herbert had been hired into.

11 years pass, and Pip returns to the town. Herbert has become a co-owner in the business, and Pip has been happy for the first time in years. Miss Havisham has died, her house torn down. At the now near-empty lot where the house stood, Pip finds Estella. Drummle has died, though not before he beat her greatly, leaving her much more emotional (to a normal level) than before. Now the only part of her once fortune left to her, she plans to build there. She and Pip part on friendly terms.

My opinions:

Overall, certainly worth the read. It's slow in the beginning, as many books are, but it picks up well by the end. I would say everyone got a happy ending, something that I don't get to read much anymore.

I'm really kind of glad that Pip didn't marry Estella, as he has finally become happy on his more meager living and his friendlier terms with Joe by the end of the book, and Estella has actually gotten some emotions (which I doubt Pip could have given her).

Startop as a character I would have liked to see more off, as he is really only mentioned when Pip first makes friends with him and when he helps save him.

I also wasn't expecting Magwitch to die as he did. Such a surprise twist as he was, Pip had just started caring for him when he died, and I would have liked to see them all make it to New South Wales and live "happily ever after," though it would leave Pip out of reach of reconciling with Joe.