Parallel Structure In Charles Dickens Great Expectations

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Dickens uses the parallel structure in this sentence to emphasize Pip’s uneasiness and dread regarding the incident with Magwitch. Pip is lying in bed late at night with a secret and becomes aware that he is more afraid of himself and what he is capable of in relation to the young man who threatened to take his heart and liver. In the first half of the quotation, Dickens uses repetition to accentuate Pip’s “mortal terror” towards the convict and the similar structure of the phrases stresses the panic he faces when he realizes his actions could result in a matter much worse than he planned. Pip is forced to take action, despite being in terror of himself because he feel sympathy for the convict who has nothing to rely on, unlike himself. Dickens

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