The Leg-Iron symbolizes justice. Most literally, the convicts' leg-irons physically constrain them within the terms of their court-decreed prison sentences. Yet Pip also compares the damp cold of the marshes to a leg-iron in Chapter 2, foreshadowing the sense of constraint he will feel in the village as he ages. For much of the novel, Pip treats the village and its working class lifestyle like a prison he tries his best to escape. The leg-iron becomes a symbol of perverse justice when used as a weapon, as when Orlick uses it to strike Mrs. Joe brutally on the head, exacting his horrifically overblown revenge.