Mr. Jaggers’s own high-backed chair was of deadly black horsehair, with rows of brass nails round it, like a coffin…The room was but small, and the clients seemed to have had a habit of backing up against the wall; the wall, especially opposite to Mr. Jaggers’s chair, being greasy with shoulders.
– Charles Dickens
Great Expectations, Chapter 20. Powerful imagery is used to describe the chair of influential London lawyer Mr. Jaggers and his association with matters of life and death. In a grim simile, the rows of brass nails around his chair are likened to those on a coffin. Jaggers presents an intimidating figure to clients, who seem to fear him as they back up against the wall leaving greasy shoulder marks there. The quote links to the theme of justice, crime and punishment. It reinforces Jaggers’s role as a powerful and successful figure in this world.