CHAPTER 56 Practice Quiz — Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens — tap or click to flip
Practice Quiz: CHAPTER 56
What injuries does Magwitch sustain before Chapter 56?
He has two broken ribs and a wounded lung, causing him to breathe with great pain and difficulty.
Why is Magwitch moved to the prison infirmary?
He is too ill to remain in the common prison. His illness also prevents him from being put in irons.
What does Mr. Jaggers attempt to do regarding Magwitch's trial?
He applies for a postponement until the following Sessions, but the request is refused because Magwitch clearly cannot live that long.
How does Magwitch appear at his trial?
He is seated in a chair at the bar because he is too weak to stand.
What is the outcome of Magwitch's trial?
He is found guilty and sentenced to death. Nothing could undo the fact of his illegal return to England.
How many prisoners are sentenced to death alongside Magwitch?
Thirty-one others, making thirty-two total. They are all sentenced together on the concluding day of the Sessions.
What does Magwitch say to the Judge after receiving his death sentence?
"My Lord, I have received my sentence of Death from the Almighty, but I bow to yours."
What does Pip do after Magwitch is sentenced?
He writes petitions to the Home Secretary, the Crown, and other authorities, working through sleepless nights to seek a reprieve.
How many days pass between the sentencing and Magwitch's death?
Ten days. Pip visits daily and notices Magwitch growing progressively weaker.
What three things does Pip tell Magwitch on his deathbed?
That his lost daughter is alive, that she is a lady and very beautiful, and that Pip loves her.
Who is Magwitch's daughter that Pip refers to?
Estella, though Pip does not say her name and Magwitch dies without knowing it explicitly.
What is Magwitch's final physical gesture before dying?
He raises Pip's hand to his lips, then lets it sink onto his breast with his own hands resting upon it.
What prayer does Pip say at Magwitch's bedside?
"O Lord, be merciful to him, a sinner!" — from the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector in Luke 18.
What does the shaft of light in the courtroom symbolize?
It links the prisoners and the Judge together, suggesting both are passing with "absolute equality" to a greater divine Judgment.
What does Magwitch mean when he says Pip was "more comfortable alonger me" under a dark cloud?
He recognizes that Pip has shown him more genuine devotion since his arrest than when Magwitch was a wealthy benefactor — valuing character over money.
What is the central theme of Chapter 56?
Redemption and forgiveness — Magwitch dies peacefully through Pip's love, and Pip completes his moral transformation by valuing human worth over social class.
How does Dickens criticize the justice system in this chapter?
Through the mass sentencing of thirty-two prisoners as theatrical spectacle, with the audience watching as if at church, exposing the system's dehumanizing indifference.
What literary device is the courtroom audience "putting their dresses right" an example of?
Ironic juxtaposition — comparing the casual, church-like behavior of spectators to the deadly gravity of death sentences being handed down.
What recurring image tracks Magwitch's decline throughout the chapter?
The "placid look at the white ceiling" — each time his gaze returns blankly to the ceiling, it signals his life force fading further.
Why does Pip silently feel guilt when Magwitch says "You've never deserted me"?
Because Pip remembers that he had once intended to desert Magwitch — he planned to distance himself from his convict benefactor out of shame.
How does the prison governor show compassion in Magwitch's final scene?
When the allotted visiting time runs out, the governor tells Pip "You needn't go yet" and steps aside so Pip can speak privately to the dying man.
What does the Judge's speech reveal about Magwitch's backstory?
That Magwitch had been an offender "almost from his infancy," was repeatedly imprisoned, eventually exiled, reformed abroad, then fatally returned to England.
What dramatic irony exists in Pip's deathbed revelation to Magwitch?
Pip tells Magwitch his daughter is alive and that Pip loves her, but Magwitch dies without knowing she is Estella — the woman raised to break hearts.