Summary: Chapter 57
After Magwitch’s death, Pip falls into a feverish illness.
He is also arrested for debt and nearly carted away to prison; he
is spared only because of his extreme ill health. He experiences
wild hallucinations, reliving scenes with Orlick and Miss Havisham
and continually seeing Joe’s face. But the last is not a hallucination:
Joe has really come, and he nurses Pip through his illness.
As Pip recovers, Joe tells him the news from home: Miss
Havisham has died, wisely distributing her fortune among the Pockets. After
failing to kill Pip, Orlick robbed Pumblechook, and he since has
been caught and put in jail. And Joe has news about himself: Biddy
has helped him learn how to read and write.
Pip and Joe go on a Sunday outing, just as they used to
do when Pip was a boy. But when Pip tries to tell Joe the story
of Magwitch, Joe refuses to listen, not wanting to revisit painful
memories. Despite Pip’s renewed affection, living in London makes
Joe increasingly unhappy, and one morning Pip finds him gone. Before
leaving, he does Pip one last good turn, paying off all of Pip’s
debts. Pip rushes home to reconcile with Joe and decides to marry
Biddy when he gets there.
Summary: Chapter 58
When Pip arrives at his childhood home, he finds Satis
House pulled apart in preparation for an auction. Pumblechook tracks
him down at his hotel and treats him condescendingly, but Pip rudely
takes his leave and goes to find Biddy and Joe. Biddy’s schoolhouse
is empty, as is Joe’s smithy. When Pip finds them, he is shocked
to discover that they have been married. Despite his disappointed
expectation of marriage to Biddy, he expresses happiness for them
and decides to take the job with Herbert.
Summary: Chapter 59
Eleven years later, Pip returns to England. He says he
has learned to work hard and is content with the modest living he
makes in the mercantile firm. He goes to visit Joe and Biddy, and
tries to convince Biddy that he has resigned himself to being a
bachelor.
Pip then goes to Satis House and finds that it is no longer
standing. In a silvery mist, Pip walks through the overgrown, ruined
garden and thinks of Estella. He has heard that she was unhappy
with Drummle but that Drummle has recently died. As the moon rises, Pip
finds Estella wandering through the old garden. They discuss the past
fondly; as the mists rise, they leave the garden hand in hand, Pip believes,
never to part again.
