Some new elements are introduced, including the large burly man with the soap-scented hands who bites his forefinger, and the description of the wedding cake with the references to black fungus, cobwebs, spiders, and beetles. The soap-scented man will surface again shortly in the novel and it is a character tag to watch for. Pip’s comment that he was unaware that the man would be important to him foreshadows the role the man will soon play in his life. The spider and web references will continue through the book, especially in relation to Bentley Drummle. Also, spiders and the webs they weave to draw in and control their victims, serve as a metaphor throughout the story for the hold Satis House and its occupants have on Pip.
Some social commentaries are evident. Just as Dickens’ mother wanted him to keep working to bring in money — the greed of parents who benefit at their children’s expense — Mrs. Joe is hoping to reap some financial gain from Pip’s stay with Miss Havisham. Dickens notes the different behaviors of the social classes when Pip decides the burly man on the stairs at Miss Havisham’s is not a doctor because a doctor would have had a “quieter and more persuasive manner.” The burly man’s comment about having experience with boys and that they are a bad set of fellows conveys a view in society that children are not to be valued or cherished, but punished and controlled.
