This was particularly due to increasing amounts of corruption.
This sense of class distinction is evident throughout the novel as Dickens demonstrates the snobbish attitudes of Victorian society. One of the main characters used to portray these attitudes is Miss Havisham who allows Pip to believe that she is his mysterious benefactor. Miss Havisham, from the beginning of the novel allows the social distinctions between classes to become evident as she makes Pip feel ashamed of his home, his background, and himself. She allows Pip to play with Estella and allows him to like her whilst letting him know that she is too good for him. She plays with the feelings of both Pip and Estella as she encourages Estella to make the boys suffer, this is all done for her own amusement. Other class distinctions are also evident throughout the novel as "the characters are consistently given territorial rights related to their social position." .
"At the bottom of the pyramid is Magwich, the outcast who stays out on the marshes; next comes Orlick, the half skilled laborer, who penetrates not only as far as the forge itself and sometimes to the kitchen; next comes Joe, who takes his place here in the parlor, awkwardly out of his element; next comes Mrs. Joe, who gets as far as Mr. Uncle Pumblechook's house; next, Pumblechook himself, who gets as far as the gates of Satis House, where he is stopped by Estella's imperious scorn." .
What is important though is that there is a clear consciousness in these characters of these class distinctions. This is evident from the beginning of the novel as even Mrs. Joe criticizes those from a class lower than hers when some convicts escape. Mrs. Joe states that "People are put in the Hulks because they murder, and because they rob, and forge, and do all sorts of bad." .
Dickens decisions on penology were also influenced by the other factors in his life, particularly those of his childhood.