Great Expectations
John Wemmick
Jaggers's clerk
A dry London clerk who becomes a warm, playful host in his little fortress at Walworth.
Wemmick has two lives. In Little Britain he is a stiff, mechanical clerk who collects "portable property" and shows no feelings. At Walworth, he lives in a small cottage built like a castle, complete with a drawbridge and a cannon he calls the Stinger.
He keeps the two worlds apart. His Walworth sentiments, he says, must be taken at Walworth, and none of them goes to Little Britain. He lives there with his cheerful, deaf father, the Aged Parent. Pip finds that Wemmick's kindness in private is real, and that he can be trusted.
“Welcome to my Castle, Mr. Pip! Built it all with my own hands!”
In the story
Contains spoilers.
Wemmick guides Pip around London and welcomes him to the Castle. He helps Pip quietly set up Herbert's partnership and, when Magwitch is in danger, sends a note saying DON'T GO HOME and finds a hidden lodging at Mill Pond Bank.
He is also a source of advice and friendship through the worst of Pip's troubles. In this adaptation his bachelor castle is a sign that kindness can survive in the middle of a harsh legal world.
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