Each of these events is symbolic of suffering in the lives of each person involved. Miss Havisham has severe burns which eventually (but not immediately) lead to her death. Orlick’s attack on Mrs. Joe also inflicts severe injury on her that in time will prove mortal. Magwitch’s capture and injuries cause enough damage that he dies in prison, after he has been condemned to death. Pip recovers from his fever (in the Romantic Age, extreme emotional distress is often accompanied by a fever), unlike the others. In part, each person’s suffering is brought about by himself, at least indirectly. In Pip’s case, however, the fever serves as a means to purify his soul, as gold is melted down to rid it of its impurities. This implies that suffering can lead to redemption, even if it leads to death, as it does in the cases of Miss Havisham, Mrs. Joe, and Magwitch. Before their deaths, their hearts were changed and thus they died in a state of “grace.”
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