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Recent criticism of Great Expectations has tended to emphasize its symbolic and mythic content, to show, as M. D. Zabel has said of Dickens generally, that much of the novel's impact resides in its `` allegoric insight and moral metaphor ''.

J. H. Miller's excellent chapter on Great Expectations has lately illustrated how fruitfully that novel can be read from such a perspective.

In his analysis, however, he touches upon but fails to explore an idea, generally neglected in discussions of the book, which I believe is central to its art -- the importance of human hands as a recurring feature of the narrative.

This essay seeks to make that exploration.