Orlick

Did anyone else get the impression that Orlick was an afterthought? In the first few chapters he is not mentioned, although apparently he has always been around the forge throughout Pip's childhood. Then all of a sudden he in introduced and his history is outlined. It seems to me he was brought in to get Mrs Joe out of the way. I gotta say that the rescue of Pip from Orlick towards the end of the book was rather weak. That Compeyson-Orlick plot to lure Pip away to the sluicehouse and kill him is inconsistent with Compeyson's plot to have Magwitch arrested on the river. If Pip is killed, the Magwitch escape plan is hardly likely to be put in action. At least Dickens explains things from his view, which he doesn't bother for a lot of the bad guys. The most interesting thing to me is that if Pip had never gone to Satis House and met Miss Havisham and Estella, Orlick may still have murdered him for marrying Biddy.

I was concerned that Orlick didn't seem to get his just desserts after trying to murder Pip, as well as for what he did to Mrs Joe. After Herbert and Trapp's boy had rescued Pip from the sluicehouse, Orlick ran off. Then in the chapter 57 Joe tells Pip

"And now," said Joe, "you ain't that strong yet, old chap, that you can take in more nor one additional shovel-full to-day. Old Orlick he's been a bustin'open a dwelling-ouse."

"Whose?" said I.

"Not, I grant, you, but what his manners is given to blusterous," said Joe, apologetically; "still, a Englishman's ouse is his Castle, and castles must not be busted 'cept when done in war time. And wotsume'er the failings on his part, he were a corn and seedsman in his hart."

"Is it Pumblechook's house that has been broken into, then?"

"That's it, Pip," said Joe; "and they took his till, and they took his cash-box, and they drinked his wine, and they partook of his wittles, and they slapped his face, and they pulled his nose, and they tied him up to his bedpust, and they giv' him a dozen, and they stuffed his mouth full of flowering annuals to prewent his crying out. But he knowed Orlick, and Orlick's in the county jail."


I seem to remember that you could be hanged for stealing something worth over a shilling. This link says there were over 200 hanging offences in the 18th century. Capital punishment was repealed for a lot of them in 1823. Capital punishment for house breaking was not abolished until 1830, well after Orlick committed this crime. The link says that by the early 1800's about 60% of capital offences were punished by imprisonment or transportation, but Orlick's house breaking was aggravated by assault. Surely that's enough to have him hanged? I hope so.

Your first post seems spot on. Much of Great Expectations actually seems this way- because it was first serialized, maybe Dickens was just making stuff up to keep people going along with it, much like a modern day soap opera with all its stupid twists and turns, etc. Maybe the real miracle of the book is how often Dickens hits the right notes in spite of this.







J

I knew Dickens' stories were serialized. What I wonder is whether chapters were published as they were written or whether the book was complete before serialization. If the chapters were published as they were written, then was the whole story outlined in detail beforehand? I presume it must have been. However, if the chapters were published soon after writing then obviously Dickens' opportunity to change things was restricted. I suppose Dickens thought he could just about getting away with adding Orlick at that stage.

I suppose Dickens wanted a more melodramatic way of getting Mrs Joe out of the way than a simple illness or injury. She had outlived her usefulness and would have interfered with Pip leaving to become a gentleman. Mrs Joe's injury also allowed Biddy to enter the household.

Another possibility is that there was so much going on in those early chapters that Dickens did not want to divert attention by bringing in another character. It's surprising he was not even mentioned in passing though.

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Originally Posted by Jack of Hearts

Your first post seems spot on. Much of Great Expectations actually seems this way- because it was first serialized, maybe Dickens was just making stuff up to keep people going along with it, much like a modern day soap opera with all its stupid twists and turns, etc. Maybe the real miracle of the book is how often Dickens hits the right notes in spite of this.J

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Agree with that to a large extent.