What are examples of figurative language in chapter 25 of Great Expectations?

Pip the narrator describes the way Bentley Drummle would row his boat close behind those of Pip and Startop in the following phrase:

He would always creep in-shore like some uncomfortable amphibious creature, even when the tide would have sent him fast upon his way; 

Pip describes the attitude of Mr. and Mrs. Camilla and that of Georgiana towards Matthew Pocket with the following sentence.

Towards Mr. Pocket, as a grown-up infant with no notion of his own interests, they showed the complacent forbearance I had heard them express. 

One of Dickens' stylistic traits is that he frequently uses similes and metaphors in his descriptions. This is not a bad idea because these literary devices are intended to help the reader visualize something he has never seen by relating it in his mind to something with which he is familiar. There are several examples in Pip's description of Wemmick's home, including the following.

Nor was there any drawback on my little turret bedroom, beyond there being such a very thin ceiling between me and the flagstaff, that when I lay down on my back in bed, it seemed as if I had to balance that pole on my forehead all night.

Humor is another Dickens characteristic. He can describe even the most unattractive sights, persons, and events with a touch of humor. He started his literary career as a writer of humorous sketches about Mr. Pickwick, and these writings were so popular that he never gave up his humor--or perhaps it was such a strong part of his nature that he could not do so. His style was admired, envied, and imitated by writers throughout the English-speaking world. Editors would tell contributors: "Write about anything you choose, but make it like Dickens." Some of O. Henry's stories are good examples of stylistic imitations of Dickens, notably "The Cop and the Anthem" and "The Furnished Room."

Can you provide examples of personification in Great Expectations?

There are some excellent examples of personification in chapters 2 and 3. Pip, much against his will, has stolen from both his sister and from his brother-in-law and best friend Joe Gargery. He has taken some bread, some rind of cheese, about half a jar of mincemeat some brandy, a meat bone, and a whole pork pie. He has also stolen a file from Joe's forge. In Chapter 2, as he hurries to meet the convict at the old battery as promised, Pip imagines that inanimate and animate things are watching him and imagines what they are thinking and saying. Inside the house the very floorboards seem to be trying to warn Pip's sister that he is stealing her food and brandy.

As soon as the great black velvet pall outside my little window was shot with gray, I got up and went downstairs; every board upon the way, and every crack in every board, calling after me, “Stop thief!” and “Get up, Mrs. Joe!”

When he gets outside, the dykes and banks seem to be witnesses to his thievery. And occasionally he runs into a cow who materializes out of the mist and stares at him while seeming to be crying out a warning to stop him. Pip is a highly imaginative boy, and he is in a state of extreme panic. It seems plausible that he would be inventing the personifications he describes.

The gates and dykes and banks came bursting at me through the mist, as if they cried as plainly as could be, “A boy with Somebody-else's pork pie! Stop him!” The cattle came upon me with like suddenness, staring out of their eyes, and steaming out of their nostrils, “Holloa, young thief!” 

Pip has been so terrified by the convict that he probably brings a lot more than the convict expected. It is a great feast for the poor hungry man, and the brandy and pork pie must be especially welcome. It is probably because of Pip's extreme bounty that Abel Magwitch remembers him with such gratitude and affection, and it is probably because of Pip's bounty that Magwitch decides to make Pip a gentleman. The convict and the boy have become co-conspirators. Pip has stolen for the first time in his life. Magwitch has been stealing all his life. Pip knows what it feels like to be a hunted convict because of the crime he has just committed.

But Dickens gives no hint in the opening chapters that Pip will ever hear from this man again, or that there is any possibility that Magwitch would ever find himself in a position to be able to lavish hundreds of pounds on anyone.

Personification is giving human qualities to nonhuman objects. There are a number of examples in Great Expectations. I've quoted a few below.

That cake is begging me to eat it. Mrs. Joe calls the branch she uses to whip Pip and Joe "The Tickler" as though it had its own personality.

The cake is given the human quality of "begging", and the whip has its own personality.

A frowzy morning of soot and smoke attired this forlorn creation of Barnard, and it had strewed ashes on its head, and was undergoing penance and humiliation as a mere dust-hole. (p. 171)

The morning of soot and smoke "strewed" (scattered) ashes and was doing penance, a human action of repenting.

I saw that the lamps in the court were blown out, and that the lamps on the bridges were shuddering,...(p. 315)

Lamps are given the human action of "shuddering".

How does Dickens use diction for characterization in Great Expectations?

Pip's very name is the result of a conscious choice of words. His real name, his birth name, that is, is Philip Pirrip. But as that was so difficult for the young lad to pronounce he adopted the name Pip instead, derived from both his Christian name and his surname.

On the face of it, this may seem rather trivial, but diction in this case determines Pip's whole identity throughout the book. Pip isn't just a childhood nickname; Pip is Mr. Pip, in the same way that Jaggers is Mr. Jaggers. One of the conditions of Pip's receiving Magwitch's bequest is that he continue to be known by no other name than Pip. This indicates the extent to which what appears on the surface to be just a name has become inextricably linked with Pip's personality. It serves to unify his identity over time, from his formative years growing up on the Romney Marshes to his exciting new life as a wealthy young man about town in London.

Diction is word choice. An author can make huge changes in a story based on the style of words they use.

Charles Dickens stands out in this regard, because when we read Great Expectations now, the language is old and sometimes unfamiliar. But Dickens chose his language specifically and used words that created tone and rhythm and set the atmosphere in his novel.

One of the most obvious places to look for diction choices in this novel is in the character voices. If you study the dialogue in Great Expectations, you'll find that many of the characters speak differently. There's different language for Estelle and for young Pip. Dickens writes the way the characters would speak, and that helps to set them apart from each other and to build a better picture of their character and personality.

This is especially important in Great Expectations because one of the themes of the novel is the contrast between rich and poor, so it makes sense that Charles Dickens would want to emphasize things like the differences in speech across classes.

Diction is an author’s word choice.  One of the clearest examples of diction is in Dickens’s choice Pip as the narrator.  By choosing Pip to be his first person point of view, Dickens is able to use an adult’s words and reflection to describe things a child sees.

Throughout the book, Dickens uses very specific words to describe things.  For example, this quote where he introduces his parents.

As I never saw my father or my mother, and never saw any likeness of either of them (for their days were long before the days of photographs), my first fancies regarding what they were like, were unreasonably derived from their tombstones. (ch 1, p. 4)

He uses the word “likeness” instead of “picture” and “fancies” instead of” imaginings” and “derived” instead of “taken from.”  Each of these words reinforces that Pip is an adult, that he is educated, and that this part of the story is old-fashioned because it takes place in the past.

Diction can also be used to distinguish characters.  When we look at how young Pip talks, as well as Joe and the convict, it is very different from the narration.