Description, repetition, and tags abound. Jaggers’ tags include his watch chain, bushy eyebrows, the black dots of his beard, and his habit of biting his forefinger. He repeats his instructions that he deals only in facts, makes no recommendations, and wants everyone clear on what to expect and not expect from him. Jaggers is an honest and up-front man. He is not a warm person, but he is a much more honorable one than Mrs. Joe ever was with her emotional games and blackmail. Other tags are Pumblechook’s “May I?” every time he shakes Pip’s hand, and Sarah Pocket’s walnut-shell countenance, which in her jealousy of Pip has now gone from brown to green and yellow.
Joe’s emotional depth is beautifully revealed in these chapters. “Joe laid his hand upon my shoulder with the touch of a woman. I have often thought of him since, like the steam-hammer, that can crush a man or pat an eggshell, in his combination of strength with gentleness.” Joe is comfortable with both sides of his emotions and he is clear about his priorities in life. The man’s heart is breaking at losing Pip: Dickens shows this when Joe scoops his eyes trying not to cry and silently grips his knees as he sits in front of the fire struggling to control his emotions. His fierce love for Pip is seen when he is ready to take Jaggers apart for insinuating that any amount of money could ever replace Pip. Yet the gentleness returns immediately when Pip takes him aside to calm him.
