Out of Flames Brings a Forgiving Heart

When a person lives in the shadow of their tragic past, they may lose the ability to forgive. The dark cloud that hovers over their lives makes it impossible for them to continue moving on; it is as if they are trapped in their own burdens. In the novel, Great Expectations, Charles Dickens presents us with a character that lives in regret, revenge, and remorse but after burning up in the flames of a massive fire, experiences the purifying affects of forgiveness.

After Miss Havisham is generously forgiven by Pip, she feels awkward and unworthy of his kindness; this feeling of forgiveness makes her realize she has been living a desolate life. Fire, a symbol of cleanliness, is used to represent Miss Havisham stripping away the layers of the cocoon that she has woven around herself over the years. "I still held her forcibly down...like a prisoner who might escape, and I doubt if I even knew who she was...or that she had been in flames, or that the flames were out, until I saw the patches of tinder that had been her garments, no longer alight, but falling in a black shower around us.” (p. 404) In this quote, Dickens uses the fire to burn away the darkness of Miss Havisham's past. Once Pip had told her he would forgive her, it opened Miss Havisham's eyes to a whole new world -- a world with light and a future -- and she realizes that all along she could have easily forgiven those who hurt her. When we, as sinful people, are forgiven it provides us with a new beginning – a new chapter in our lives. When we forgive others, we further educate them on the idea of forgiveness and allow them to turn to the next page in their lives.

As Havisham’s body burns up in flames, all of the spiders and other insects that lurked in the corners of her old darkened house quickly flee as if they no longer belong there. “Then I looked round and saw the disturbed beetles and spiders running away over the floor, and the servants coming in with breathless cries at the door.” (p. 404) During this scene, Dickens illustrates – through the tragic symbolism of these insects – that as they are escaping her home, tragedy is escaping her body, her life, her mind and opening a door to a more merciful and forbearing life. In the second part of this quote, Dickens states that many servants begin to cry; they believe the fire has taken her life. Throughout this scene, symbolism shows that she has not died but simply been born again; the fire is giving her an opportunity to start fresh. Throughout this chapter, and many other chapters, the idea of change comes into play. In Miss Havisham’s situation, she believed that change and having a forgiving heart was impossible but when given an ounce of mercy, she knew her only escape route was to burn all her resentment away.

In life, there are people who live in complete anger; many times the anger relates back to a tragic event that happened in their past. When the emotion is held long enough, it grows stronger and ends up trapping them in a cloud of their own burdens. In the novel, Great Expectations, Charles Dickens provides us with an accurate example of what happens to someone when they hold on to their past and spend their entire life living in it. Using fire to symbolize a healthy escapism, he illustrates that people who hold on, never forgive and those who forgive, always move on.