Another part of Pip’s younger life, which may have influenced him, was his education by Mr Wopsle’s Great Aunt and more importantly perhaps by Biddy. This education was very important to him because it made him more eloquent and could therefore read and write. This desire to learn stems primarily from his encounter with Estella, “ Why he is a common labouring-boy.” Also how after it he strives to learn as much as he can and become a better person in her eyes. So therefore this education influences life because it makes him more likely to get this job in London and make him better in the eyes of Estella.
Another part of Pip’s younger life, which may have affected him, was his very disciplined and formal relationship with his Uncle and how he had to call him sir and be very courteous towards him. “ I should like to know-if you wouldn’t much mind-where the firing comes from”. This disciplined life made have changed him into becoming a well-educated and courteous man and not a very outspoken man who is constantly getting in trouble. This in turn may have affected his life so that he could get this job in London, become so close to Miss Havisham etc. Therefore I believe that this very disciplined up bringing made him become what he was at the end of the first book; very articulate and very well educated young man.
As well as his Uncle influencing his younger life I also believe that his meetings with the convict may have influenced him into becoming what he was at the end of the first book. Firstly I believe that these meetings turned him into a very paranoid and weary individual with a very vivid imagination. Take for instance the part of the book where the convict asks Pip to go and steal some food and tools to get him free. Now in this situation where he has to steal the pork pie he becomes very paranoid and believes that everyone is watching him. “ A boy with somebody-else’s pork pie stop him!” Here Pip was walking across the dykes and bank to the convict believing that they were shouting for his arrest. This also made him feel very guilty in later life and I think turned him into the very generous and forgiving man which he becomes in later life and I think that his run in with the convict does this to him.
In turn I believe that this vivid imagination and his meeting with the convict made him very fearful of punishment and very scared of being arrested in later life and therefore turned him into the honest and trustworthy adult we see. “ People are put in Hulks.” This chilling statement by his sister made Pip very afraid of the punishments you would receive in prison and therefore made him a better-rounded individual who we never really see getting in trouble in later life. Instead he turns into a very polite and well-rounded young man and this in turn leads him to strive to become a good Samaritan.
This meeting with the convict also had one other affect on his later life because it was the convict himself who sponsored Pip and gave him the opportunity to go to London and become a great businessman. This all stems from the kindness that Pip showed him when he meet him on the dykes and banks of the marshes and then the convict repays that generosity by giving him the money to follow his dreams in London. Therefore his meeting with the convict did have a great influence on his later life in many ways but most importantly it gave him the chance to become somebody in London.
Also in the first book was his very strange relationship with Miss Havisham and I also believe that this relationship influenced him in various ways. Firstly Miss Havisham influences him by introducing him to Estella. This then leads her to torture him for being nothing but a common labouring boy and also how he calls Jacks, Knaves is very amusing to her. “ Why he is a common labouring boy.” This influences him because it makes him strive to be better than he is and makes him strive to become more than just a blacksmith. This relationship also influences Pip because it sort of turns him against Joe and his field of expertise, being a blacksmith, and it makes Pip see him in a different life, once he was this great hero to Pip and now he is just a hindrance. “ It was very aggravating; but, throughout the interview Joe persisted in addressing me instead of Miss Havisham.” So this relationship with Estella definitely influences him because firstly it makes him want to become more than just a labouring boy; and therefore persuades him in the end to travel to London and it also makes him see Joe in a totally different life.
Also because of Estella Pip becomes very ashamed of his home and his upbringing and overall it makes him feel that he just wants to escape. “ It is a miserable thing to feel ashamed of home.” His relationship with Estella also makes him see how grimy and pointless his life would be staying at home with Joe and his sister and therefore he endeavours to become a better person.So as you can see his relationship with Miss Havisham and his introduction to Estella definitely influenced Pip but maybe for the better because this then leads him to want to travel to London.
I also believe that his standard of living may have influenced him into becoming what he was in the future. Because I believe that if he had, had say a very high standard of living and had been brought up in a very nice household then he would’ve become a very selfish and annoying young man. However Charles Dickens describes how he was brought up in a lower/ working class household where his stepfather was nothing but a blacksmith. This meant that he became very grateful for any fortune that may have come his way and he also became very generous person and in my opinion this was all down to the standard of living he was brought up in.
This then leads on to my next point that I believe that Joe and how he treated Mrs Joe Gargery may have influenced him in later life. Now Joe could have been very heavy handed with Pip’s sister like most people were in the Victorian times however he didn’t do this and instead it was really the other way around. “ Knowing her to have a hard and heavy hand, and to be much in the habit of laying it upon her husband as well as upon me.” This I believe influenced Pip and in turn made him very respectful of women and also made him very respectful of Joe for not acting in a very rash and brutal way. This in turn made him become a very disciplined young man who would never really talk back, who would never hit a women because he could and in turn this made him a better person, and it was all down to how Joe wouldn’t hit Mrs Joe Gargery; in my opinion.
Now leading on from treatment I also believe that how the adults in the book treat Pip may have influenced him into becoming what he was in later life. Because in the book the adults treat him like dirt and are always looking down their noses at him. “ Be grateful boy, to them which brought you up by hand.” This behaviour by the adults in general I think make him become a very grateful young man who can have control of himself and also I think it makes him understand that he was a great burden on his sister and Joe. So in this way I believe that the adults in the book like Pip’s uncle may have influenced him into becoming what he was in later life.
I also believe that his education may have influenced him so that he understood how stupid Joe really is and showed him that Joe was really illiterate. Because after Pip had taken up the education Pip became more articulate and overall became smarter. However Joe didn’t have really any education and in turn Pip could see that he was nothing but a common labourer. “ I derived from this, that Joe education, like steam, was yet in it’d infancy.” So in this way I believe that his education may have influenced because it made him see how truly common Joe was and in turn made him do his utmost to go to London and become more than that.
I also believe that the fact he was an orphan and had been taken in by his sister may have influenced him. Because I feel it made him more understanding of the raw basics in life and made him treasure everything he had and in turn made him a more generous human being and not at all selfish.
Finally I think that his employment in being a blacksmith may have influenced him and may have made him see how lucky he was to have a job in the first place. Because after all children in those days would have been sent to workhouses at an early age and would’ve in some cases died in atrocious circumstances. I think that the fact that he became a blacksmith may have brought him closer to Joe and in turn made him the kind and grateful person we see at the end of the book.
I also believe that when he got this job he then saw how truly grimy and common it was and therefore made him see what Estella was talking about when she bullied him and also made him strive to become better educated and in turn get a better job in London, which turn made him become a greater person in the capital. So in this way I believe that the fact he was an orphan and how he got a steady job with Joe may have influenced him in the future.
Overall I believe that many things influenced Pip in his younger life, be it his sister, his numerous relationships with strange people including the convict or even his very loving and caring relationship with Joe. But overall I believe that these things did change Pip’s life for the better in my opinion and in turn made him go to London with Mr Jaggers and made him the rounded person we see at the end of the first book.
