# Mr. Pumblechook — Great Expectations character guide

> Mr. Pumblechook in Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Pumblechook, Uncle Pumblechook, bullying old Pumblechook, the servile Pumblechook

**First appearance:** 0004-v

## Snapshot

A pompous corn-chandler with fishy eyes and windy arithmetic, who bullies Pip as a boy and claims credit for his rise as a man.

## Who they are

Pumblechook stuffs himself at Mrs. Joe's table, drills Pip through the pence-table for sport, and boasts of connections he does not have. He is the first to sniff advantage in Pip's visits to Miss Havisham, and the first to puff himself up when fortune seems to smile. He embodies the petty, self-serving respectability Pip must learn to see through.

## In the story

### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/iv)

Pumblechook is a pompous guest who moralizes at Pip, comparing him unfavorably to a pig. He later drinks the tar-laced brandy Pip secretly prepared.

### [The Soldiers at the Forge](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/v)

Pumblechook is present at the dinner party and makes sycophantic comments, such as 'Good again!' at the sergeant's remarks. He suggests giving the sergeant wine instead of brandy.

### [Chapter VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/vi)

Offers a fanciful theory about how the convict entered the pantry.

### [Chapter VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/vii)

Mentioned as accompanying Mrs. Joe on market day trips.

### [Chapter VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/viii)

Mr. Pumblechook brings Pip to Satis House but is turned away by Estella at the gate.

### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/ix)

Visits to hear details of Pip's visit; quizzes Pip on arithmetic and Miss Havisham's appearance, and is deceived by Pip's invented answers.

### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/xii)

Pumblechook visits often to discuss Pip's prospects with Mrs. Joe, treating Pip condescendingly and irritating him greatly.

### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/xiii)

Hosts Mrs. Joe in his parlor; orchestrates Pip's binding as apprentice and pushes Pip through the crowd to the magistrates.

### [XXVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/xxviii)

Mentioned when the waiter at the Blue Boar offers to send for him, but Pip declines.

### [Chapter XXXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/xxxv)

Attends the funeral in a black cloak, makes obsequious remarks to Pip, and drinks sherry afterward.

### [LVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/lvii)

His house was burgled by Orlick.

### [LVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/chapters/lviii)

Confronts Pip at the inn, falsely claiming to be his benefactor and preaching about gratitude.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/characters/pumblechook
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/great_expectations_se/characters