“People get sent to the hulks for doing bad, bad things. Like murder and thievery, and they always start by asking to many questions.”
This is in a period just before he has stolen the food, drink and file from the rest of his family, and Mrs. Joe says this as he has been asking too many questions. This must embed in his thoughts that he is growing to live on a prison ship and to be a bad person. On Pips young mind this must be very traumatic, as he would have believe things that others wouldn’t because of his young mind.
Another big turning point in his life is when he lies to Mrs. Joe and Mr. Pumblechook about what Mrs. Havisham’s house is like and what they did there. This is so significant as he is lying to them. This also leads to Pip, for the first time in his life deceiving his sister. This is the only way that he can get his own back on some of his family that he hates so greatly. Yet again it is only Joe is the only one that he feels really bad about deceiving. You can tell this by the way Pip says in chapter.
“Now, when I saw Joe open his big blue eyes and roll them around the kitchen in helpless amazement, I was overtaken by penitence; but only as regarded him – not in the slightest the other two.”
He still though acknowledges Joe though as someone he has great debt to and as a great friend. Joe is still evidently a great role model of Pip’s. This all starts to change when Pip first meets Estella. This is the first time that he has ever felt embarrassed for who he is, or of his upbringing. This is because Estella grinds him down by insulting him about his hard ‘working hands’ and his shoes. Even the way he plays cards (the way he calls ‘knaves’ ‘jacks’) is torn apart by the beautiful Estella. He takes such notice of Estella for one great reason. That he is in love with her.
This is another great indication of Pips loss of innocence. He is no longer just situated with the people that are in his house and are around the forge. He loves her and this is a great sign of his loss of innocence. He wants to impress her so much that he wants to change himself just for her. He even, in Chapter Thirteen goes as far as going against the one person who has given him everything he has, and prevented him from all harm. He feels embarrassed by Joe. When Joe gets taken to Mrs. Havisham’s he looks absolutely stupid in Pip’s eyes. He then even refuses to answer Mrs. Havisham directly and only speaks to Pip. This is when Pip sees Estellas laughing to herself about Joe. Pip feels ashamed of Joe and this is one of the points in his life that he realises that he wants to change. To become educated, to climb up the class ladder, he wants to do all this for the love of one person; Estella.
