Pip's Quote

This quote is Pip's reaction towards his disturbing and uncomfortable introduction into the world of high society. What I find interesting is how he appears to be inspired by Mrs. Havisham, rather than experiencing the great aversion most of us might feel. As a testament to his naivety and ignorance regarding the consequences of affluence and class, he is only fixated upon the aspects of her life that he finds most appealing (those being her possessions and authority). Within these chapters Pip begins to evolve into an ambitious and resentful teenager who is greatly embarrassed of his roots and aspires to be "uncommon". In many ways, he is experiencing a natural growing pain that accompanies the emotional, and hormonally motivated, distancing from his home life. Like a pip, he is burgeoning into something entirely different (and let it be noted, not necessarily positive) than what he was upon conception. His sudden aversion to his hands, a stain of his impoverished childhood, signifies this change within himself. Throughout the novel, he uses inanimate objects to coldly and objectively describe those around him. Through the evolution of the chapters, he slips into the same habit with his beloved uncle Joe. These changes, among others, show his growing desire for all that he was denied as a child. As his thirst and obsession with social hierarchy mounts, the substance of his character diminishes into the dust from whence he came.
I don't believe I ever had a moment of epiphany in which I was compelled to lay out the rest of my life before me in a chain. Life does not work like string of dominoes reacting in a rational, cause and effect manner. Rather (and as I think it may be with most people), it is more likely that our futures and desires change from day to day with our mood and character. Every we day we are christened with a different name, and another clean canvas upon which we are compelled to scribble as we choose. That is the beauty of not just being human, but being raised in a privileged environment with a multitude of opportunities. Pip might not necessarily be referring to a future that he is bound to, but rather the general direction in which he aspires to grow. After all, plants are not apt to grow straight up, but towards the strongest light in the room.