A Good 19th Century Human Shows Compassion and Kindness.

Magwitch, then an unknown runaway convict to me, asked me to “bring [him]…[a] file and [some] wittles” (Dickens 12). Like my brother-in-law later said, “[I] wouldn’t have [the convict] starved to death” (Dickens 48), as he looked to be a “poor miserable fellow creatur” (Dickens 48) and a felt a sense of compassion to him. Even though I felt the guilt of stealing, “I stole some bread, some rind of cheese, about half a jar of mincemeat[,]…some brandy[,]…a beautiful round compact pork-pie[,…and] a file” (Dickens 22) for the convict. I showed kindness towards Aged P as I “nodded as hard as I possibly could…[and] tipped him several more…[leaving him] in great spirits” (226), for as Wemmick said, “Nod away at him…that’s what he likes. Nod away at him, if you please, like winking” (Dickens 226). Though my nodding was kind of tiring, I nodded at the Aged with a good intention whenever I failed to do it drowsily” (Dickens 400). I came known to my great expectations early in life. However, they failed when my benefactor, Magwitch the convict, came to me one night. I had “abhorrence[,]…dread,]…and repugnance” (Dickens 345) out of embarrassment when he came to me in London as I thought I was a gentleman and out of his social class. However, to him, I was his “son…[and he] put away money, only for [me]…[working as a] shepherd” (Dickens 345) so I could be a gentleman. After a series of events, seeing him in pain “my repugnance to him had all melted away, and the hunted wounded shackled creature who held my hand in his, I only saw a man who had meant to be my benefactor, and who had felt affectionately, gratefully, and generously towards me with great constancy through a series of years” (Dickens 479). “Joe showed compassion to me always” (Dickens 18). However, ever since I heard about my ‘Great Expectations,’ I “was thankless[,]…ungenerous and unjust” (Dickens 514) to him though he always stayed with me and supported me. He called us “the best of friends” (Dickens 503) and even