Wemmick — страница 2

guilt, and depravity stick to all who come into Smithfield. Crime and depravity seem to fill all the cracks and crevices of Smithfield. The office is described as a very dark and dismal place with grease on the walls and with odd things about and Mr. Jaggers’ deadly back horsehair chair(188). It also has two face plasters which give the office a creepy feeling. Such a place would cause depression without any defense. Wemmick has adapted to these surroundings by becoming a completely indifferent person without emotion.The first description of Wemmick in his office style describes him as self-contained and mechanical, with chiseled features (196). As Wemmick and Pip leave Walworth, Pip takes notice of Wemmick’s change “By degrees, Wemmick got dryer and harder .his mouth

tightened into a post-office again .he looked as unconscious of his Walworth property as if .had been blown into space together by the last discharge of the Stinger”(232). Wemmick has changed into the person needed to work in the conditions of Newgate. When Wemmick takes Pip to Newgate Prison(282), the misery and hopelessness that he must defend against is revealed through is unemotional departure from the Colonel. Wemmick’s treatment of people becomes cold and hard when he is at work. He is the person all of Jaggers’ clients are supposed to pay. The job of bill collecting definitely requires a demanding and uncaring attitude. When visiting the prison, Wemmick talks with “the Colonel”, a condemned man. They bid each other goodbye because the Colonel is going to die on

Monday. Wemmick accepts the Colonel’s ring rather unemotionally. Then, he asks about his pigeon fancy, and if he may be commissioned a pair. He tells Pip later “he is sure to be executed on Monday. Still you see, as far as it goes, a pair of pigeons are portable property, all the same”(282). Wemmick shows disregard for the fact that the man is going to die and follows a chance to gain more portable property. Only in his office life would Wemmick do such a thing. For most people, this job would be incredibly stressful and extremely demoralizing. Fortunately, Wemmick has conquered this aspect of work, and compared to Jaggers or Pip, he is the only one who has completed the separation. When comparing Wemmick’s ambiguous lifestyle with Jaggers’ lifestyle, we can see how

well Wemmick has succeeded in his separation of work and home. Wemmick is directly prudent about the separation in two places. First, when Pip asks Wemmick for advice on loaning Herbert money, Wemmick replies “My Walworth sentiments must be taken at Walworth; none but my official sentiments can be taken in this office”(310). Second, Pip asks if Jaggers admired Wemmick’s property “the office is one thing, and private life is another”(231). Wemmick asks Pip not to speak of the property professionally. Also, we see that Jaggers makes no distinction of work and home when Pip visits his home to find a bookshelf full of law books. In the same way, Jaggers always commands fear and respect even at home, in regards to Molly “I fancied I could detect in his manner a

consciousness of this, and a purpose of always holding her in suspense”(234). He does not leave his work at work. He is always working, he is always one step ahead. We know Jaggers is capable of sympathy because he believes people can change, and that’s why he tries to give his guilty clients a second chance. Unfortunately, he cannot show it because his work demands complete coldness so he may command such fear and respect from all people. When at the prison Wemmick tells Pip “I don’t know what Mr. Jaggers does a better thing than the way in which he keeps himself so high. He’s always so high”(283), he’s telling Pip that Jaggers is always respected and commanding respect is what he does best. Jaggers is not capable of separating lives. He has only one, work, which

allows no room for emotion. When Pip unintentionally squares off the two of them at work by mentioning Wemmick’s joyful home life, Wemmick defends his “pleasant home” by recommending that Jaggers should have one “when you’re tired of all this work”(424). It is quite satisfying to see Wemmick emerge as the victor in the battle of lifestyles, because his is definitely much more agreeable. In regards to Pip, he cannot separate his home life from his expectations. He is uncaring towards his family and doesn’t associate with them. He lives only in expectations as Jaggers does work. Only Wemmick succeeds in separating the two. Those of us who are suffering from a work-centered life should look to Wemmick for inspiration. We can learn from him how to allow ourselves to be