In Chapter L of Great Expectations,
Herbert tends to Pip's burn wounds and relates to Pip his rather intimate conversation
with Provis (Magwitch). In the course of this conversation, Herbert tells Pip that
Provis had a wife who strangled another woman; after this happened, she came to Provis
and "swore that she would destroy the child" and
vanished.
A few years later when, as a convict, Magwitch
ran into Pip on the marsh, the seven-year-old Pip recalls for him the child he has
lost. Herbert tells Pip,
"...you brought into his mind the little girl so
tragically lost, who would have been your
age."
In addition to this
reminder of his little girl, Magwitch has desired to become the benefactor of Pip
because he remains grateful to the boy who has showed him some kindness in his tragic
life. And, by being Pip's benefactor, Magwitch has had a reason for working, someone he
can love--someone whose life he can make better than his. In doing so, Magwitch
himself feels he can be raised from the level of a mere convict.
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