What happens in Chapter XXV of Great Expectations?
Unsurprisingly, Pip feels a connection with Startop, and they row home together while Drummle lags behind in the shallow water. Pip's closest friend is Herbert; they share a boat and spend time alternating between Hammersmith and Herbert's home in London. Pip also notices Mr. Pocket's sister Camilla and cousin Georgiana arriving, both of whom give him attention while secretly looking down on him. Despite picking up some expensive habits, Pip commits himself to his studies with support from Mr. Pocket and Herbert.
The chapter then shifts to an evening visit with Wemmick. Pip meets him at the office, and they walk to Walworth, where Wemmick's home—a small wooden cottage designed like a little castle, complete with a drawbridge over a four-foot gap, a flagpole, a cannon named "the Stinger," a pig, chickens, rabbits, a cucumber patch, a garden bower, and an ornamental lake with a fountain—shows a completely different side of Wemmick than the serious office worker. Inside, Pip meets the Aged Parent, Wemmick's very deaf father, who is cared for with loving humor by Wemmick. At nine o'clock Greenwich time, Wemmick fires the Stinger, much to the Aged's amusement. Before supper, Wemmick shows Pip his collection of criminal curiosities. That night, Pip sleeps in a turret bedroom. The next morning, Wemmick gradually shifts back into his office persona, and by the time they arrive at Little Britain, he seems to have completely forgotten about the Castle.
Analysis
The chapter contrasts two distinct worlds: the professional atmosphere of Jaggers's office in London and the private domain of Wemmick's Castle in Walworth. Dickens uses architecture to illustrate this divide—Wemmick's drawbridge literally separates the two locations. This change is underscored on the return journey, as Wemmick's mouth "tightened into a post-office again," making him appear "as unconscious of his Walworth property as if the Castle … had all been blown into space." The trip highlights the theme: the road to Walworth symbolizes a gradual loosening, while the return journey signifies a gradual hardening.
The Castle is presented with comic exaggeration: the gothic windows (most of which are fake), the fountain that "made the back of your hand quite wet," and the chasm "about four feet wide and two deep." The smallness of everything—the tiniest house, narrowest door, four-foot moat—renders Wemmick's pride in it both absurd and charming, a sentiment Dickens emphasizes by showing how his "hard face really softened" when he thinks of the Aged.
The scenes with the Aged Parent introduce nodding as a recurring comedic element: Pip nods "as hard as I possibly could" until "I absolutely could not see him." This physical comedy adds levity to what could otherwise be a somber moment.
Earlier, Drummle is depicted with water imagery—he would always creep in-shore like some uncomfortable amphibious creature—to emphasize his cold, lurking nature. In contrast, Wemmick's later comment that Jaggers is "his natural depth" like a river extends the water-and-depth theme into a commentary on character.
Key quotes from Chapter XXV
“When I go into the office, I leave the Castle behind me, and when I come into the Castle, I leave the office behind me.”
Wemmick explains to Pip, in the arbour at Walworth, his strict separation of professional and private life.
“He would always creep in-shore like some uncomfortable amphibious creature, even when the tide would have sent him fast upon his way”
Pip describes Bentley Drummle's habit of lagging behind during their evening boating excursions.
“By degrees, Wemmick got dryer and harder as we went along, and his mouth tightened into a post-office again.”
Pip narrates the return walk from Walworth to Little Britain the following morning.
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Create an accountSign inVocabulary in Chapter XXV
- tobacco-stoppers
- Small carved tools used to press down and tamp the tobacco in a pipe bowl; here displayed as decorative or sentimental objects.