In Ch.8 Pip first meets Miss Havisham. It is a dreadful
and horrifying experience for him but his eyes observe every detail minutely and he
describes very precisely every thing that he sees. He tells us that time had come to a
stand still at exactly 8 hours and 40 minutes in Miss Havisham's
room:
It was
when I stood before her, avoiding her eyes, that I took note of the surrounding objects
in detail, and saw that her watch had stopped at twenty minutes
to nine, and that a clock in the room had stopped at twenty minutes to
nine.
In
Ch.22 Hebert explains to Pip the significance of the clock stopping at 8.40
A.M.:
The
marriage day was fixed, the wedding dresses were bought, the wedding tour was planned
out, the wedding guests were invited. The day came, but not the bridegroom. He wrote her
a letter--""Which she received," I struck in, "when she was dressing
for her marriage? At twenty minutes to
nine?""At the hour and minute," said
Herbert, nodding, "at which she afterwards stopped all the clocks.
Miss Havisham received
Compeyson's letter at 8.40 A.M. stating that he will not marry her. So, Miss Havisham
stopped all the clocks in her house at that specific moment.
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