CHAPTER 45 Practice Quiz — Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: CHAPTER 45
Where does Pip spend the night after reading Wemmick's warning?
At the Hummums, a lodging house in Covent Garden, where he gets a ground-floor room described as a vault-like space with an oversized four-post bedstead.
What message does Wemmick leave for Pip at the Temple gates?
"DON'T GO HOME." Wemmick left notes at each of the Temple gates to ensure Pip received the warning.
Why can't Pip sleep at the Hummums?
He is tormented by anxiety about why he should not go home, whether Magwitch is safe, and the repeated phrase "DON'T GO HOME" that invades all his thoughts.
How does Pip try to rid himself of the phrase "DON'T GO HOME"?
He absurdly conjugates it as a Latin verb: "Do not thou go home, let him not go home, let us not go home" — cycling through imperative and potential moods.
What time does Pip arrive at Wemmick's Castle?
Eight o'clock in the morning. He had left directions to be called at seven and headed straight to Walworth.
What is Wemmick doing when Pip arrives at the Castle?
Making tea for himself and the Aged Parent. He is also preparing breakfast, including sausage and hot rolls.
Why does Wemmick want to speak with Pip at Walworth rather than at the office?
At Walworth, Wemmick operates in his "private and personal capacity" and can share confidential information freely, unlike at Jaggers's office where he maintains strict professional reserve.
Where did Wemmick overhear the intelligence about Magwitch?
At Newgate Prison, though he avoids naming the place directly, referring to it as "a certain place where I once took you."
What has Wemmick learned about Magwitch's situation?
That Magwitch has disappeared from his expected location, raising suspicions and theories, and that Pip's chambers in the Temple are being watched.
How does Wemmick refer to Magwitch throughout their conversation?
He uses elaborate circumlocutions like "a certain person not altogether of uncolonial pursuits, and not unpossessed of portable property" — never using Magwitch's name.
What code name does Wemmick use for Magwitch when discussing the hiding plan?
"Tom, Jack, or Richard" — a generic placeholder that emphasizes the need for secrecy and deniability.
What three facts does Pip confirm about Compeyson through Wemmick?
That Wemmick has heard of Compeyson, that Compeyson is alive, and that Compeyson is in London. Wemmick confirms each with a silent nod.
Where has Herbert arranged for Magwitch to hide?
In a furnished upper floor of a riverside house between Limehouse and Greenwich, kept by a respectable widow — the same house where Herbert's fiancée Clara lives with her bedridden father.
What three reasons does Wemmick give for approving the riverside hiding place?
It is far from Pip's usual haunts, Herbert can report on safety without Pip visiting directly, and Magwitch will be near the river for boarding a foreign packet-boat when the time comes.
What cover story was used for Magwitch's departure from his old lodgings?
It was given out that he was summoned to Dover. He was actually taken down the Dover road and then diverted from it to the riverside location.
What does Wemmick advise Pip about Magwitch's "portable property"?
Wemmick urgently advises Pip to "lay hold of his portable property" that evening, warning that something might happen to Magwitch and the property shouldn't be lost.
What is Wemmick's attitude toward documentary evidence?
He plans to destroy the warning notes he left at the Temple gates, saying "it's a good rule never to leave documentary evidence if you can help it, because you don't know when it may be put in."
Who is Clara, and why is she relevant to Chapter 45?
Clara is Herbert's fiancée, whose riverside home (where she lives with her bedridden father, a former purser) becomes Magwitch's hiding place.
How does Dickens personify the objects in Pip's room at the Hummums?
The closet whispers, the fireplace sighs, the washing-stand ticks, and a guitar string plays in the chest of drawers — transforming the room into a chorus of eerie voices.
What does the four-post bedstead symbolize in Pip's room?
Described as a "despotic monster" with "arbitrary legs" that dominates the room, it represents oppressive authority and Pip's feeling of being trapped and powerless.
How does Pip spend his day after Wemmick leaves for work?
He stays at the Castle as Wemmick advised, falling asleep by the fire with the Aged Parent. They have pork for dinner, and Pip leaves at dark when Miss Skiffins is expected.
What is the significance of Wemmick's dual personality in this chapter?
It shows that Wemmick can only help Pip as a friend at Walworth, not at the office. His insistence on "private and personal" versus "official" capacities reflects the Victorian tension between duty and personal morality.
What classical allusion does Dickens make about the night-light in Pip's room?
He compares the perforated tin tower casting staring round patterns on the walls to Argus, the many-eyed giant of Greek mythology, emphasizing Pip's inability to close his eyes or escape watchfulness.