Jaggers, a lawyer, turns up at the pub and tells Pip he is to be given a great fortune to become a gentleman. He will receive it on the condition that he always keeps the name Pip and that he never find out the name of his benefactor.

Pip believes Jaggers has been sent by Miss Havisham because he knows Jaggers is also Miss Havisham’s lawyer and that Miss Havisham wants to be anonymous.

Joe is clearly upset at the news. Pip is excited. They are juxtaposed as Pip is excited about leaving for London whereas Joe is sad at losing his best friend. In hindsight, Pip wishes that he had paid more attention to Joe as he knows now Joe was looking out for him from a place of love.

Pip still remains unhappy despite knowing he now has a fortune. He is sad at having to leave the forge, he feels lonely and he is scared about fitting in in London.

When Pip and Joe return from the town they find Mrs Joe has been attacked. She becomes disabled as a result of this assault. Biddy suspects her attacker is Orlick because Mrs Joe draws a hammer which she associates with Orlick. Also she behaves subserviently around him, as if she is frightened of him and wants to appease him.

The police seem a bit useless in their attempts to solve the crime on Mrs Joe.

To Pip, Estella and Biddy are totally different. They are opposites in class, character and appearance. Estella is a delicate lady who has a mean streak, Biddy is hardy and working class and kind. Despite Biddy being the nicer of the two, Pip still values Estella as she represents the life he aspires to. It shows that Pip is taken in by the glitz and glam of the upper classes, even though he can see that elements of it are dishonest.

Pip tells Biddy about his attraction to Estella because he needs to tell someone and he knows she will listen.

Pip does not like Orlick because he believes Biddy’s suspicions and also Orlick keeps trying to court Biddy.

Pip seems immature because of what he prizes in life – Estella and Miss Havisham’s life. He does not want an ‘honest’ working class life.

Pip is ashamed of his job in the forge. However, he doesn’t run away because i) he can’t afford to as he has no money of his own and ii) he respects Joe too much to leave him.

Pip goes to Satis House to say thank you for the apprenticeship bond money despite Joe telling him not to go because he hopes to see Estella.

Sarah Pocket treats Pip with contempt because she thinks he has a special bond with Miss Havisham that could lead to him receiving money from Miss Havisham. Earlier that day Joe and Orlick had gotten into an argument as Orlick felt he deserved a half-day holiday too, just like Pip.

Dickens made Joe a physically big man to parallel with the bigness of his heart. His size symbolises how kind and caring he is. It also means he is physically able to protect those around him.

When Pip visits Satis House to say thank you to Miss Havisham, he discovers that Estella isn’t there. She has been sent to a finishing school to learn how to be a ‘proper lady’.

At the end of Chapter 15 Mr Wopsle reads aloud a story about George Barnwell – an apprentice who murdered his uncle so he could finance a prostitute and was hung for it. Pip identifies with the fictional character because he is also an apprentice.

Pip thinks that he will be seriously punished for fighting the ‘young gentleman’ but nothing happens.

Miss Havisham asks to see Joe to discuss Pip’s future.

Pip feels uncomfortable at taking Joe into Satis House because Joe appears so ill-at-ease in his best clothes and interacts weirdly with his ‘betters’.

When Joe is questioned by Miss Havisham he directs the response at Pip. He seems to do this because he is overwhelmed by the weirdness of the situation – Miss Havisham’s oddness.

Miss Havisham tells Joe she no longer requires Pip to visit the house and pays Joe £25 for his service. Mr Pumblechook takes credit for this payment and Mrs Joe takes the money from Joe.

Pip says ‘I should never like Joe’s trade. I had liked it once, but once was not now.’ He means that before he’d gone to Satis House he’d accepted his future as his future. Now though, he knew there was other things he could do or be and didn’t want to be a blacksmith anymore.

Pip meets some of Miss Havisham’s relatives on his next visit to Satis House. These people are the Pockets. They like to gossip about each other and complain. He also meets another unidentified figure on the stairs. This man seems very authoritative.

The Pockets talk about a relative called Cousin Raymond.

They dislike Raymond because he refused to pay for ‘deep trimmings’ for a funeral until pushed to pay for them. If he hadn’t paid for the ‘deep trimmings’ he would have shamed the family by showing a lack of money and appearances.

Estella treats Pip meanly when he arrives. She continues to be bullyish towards him.

Her attitude changes when he leaves the house. She is more flirty and lets Pip kiss her cheek – very naughty behaviour for a Victorian girl! This is in reaction to witnessing him fight Herbert Pocket.

The centre piece that Pip sees in the house is Miss Havisham’s wedding day feast. Miss Havisham says that she will be laid upon the table when she dies. Everything has stopped since her wedding day and she and the wedding preparations decay as a curse.

As Pip leaves the mansion he meets a boy. The boy challenges him to a fight. He continuously knocks the boy down till the boy concedes that Pip has won. The boy is Herbert Pocket, a son of the Pocket family.