How Does External Factors Affect One's Identity?

Every individual develops a unique identity. It is this individualism that constitutes moral values as well as social behavior. The process by which one’s selfhood is forged is intricate, and is continuous throughout one’s life; however, the development of individuality is shaped by the influence of outside factors. This idea is represented through the orphans, Pip and Estella, two characters who develope two drastically different personalities. Both of these individuals are profoundly influenced by external factors such as Pip’s expectations and Miss Havisham’s parenting. In the novel Great Expectations, Charles Dickens uses Pip and Estella to convey that one’s identity is constructed through the influence of external factors by showing the
This is evidenced by Pip’s change in attitude towards Joe after he receives his expectations. Joe comes to visit Pip at Barnard’s inn to have dinner, and Pip expresses immense abhorrence for Joe. Pip says to himself, “If I could have kept (Joe) away by paying money, I certainly would have paid money” (Dickens 232). This remark that Pip makes is a sharp contrast to how he felt towards Joe before he receives his expectations. Pip has such endearment for Joe that he refers to him as an angel, “Oh, dear good faithful tender Joe, I feel the loving tremble of your hand upon my arm, as solemnly this say as if it had been the rustle of angel’s wing!” (Dickens 148). This discrepancy in Pip’s attitude towards Joe clearly shows that his expectations have made him a corrupt individual, and that is what compels Pip to ruin his social relation with his once beloved caretaker. As Pip lives an extravagant lifestyle in London he ignorantly begins to accumulate an astronomical amount of debt. Pip then describes his financial habits when he says, “We spent as much money as we could, and got as little for it as people could make up their minds to give us” (Dickens 294). This shows that Pip is willing to waste so much money at his own expense, and that his money has made him an ignorant individual because
Early on when Pip visits Miss Havisham, he fatefully meets Estella well-dressed and rich at Satis House. Estella persits to be abrasive towards Pip by insulting him, and this emotionally hurts Pip. She continuously makes reference to Pip’s low social standing. All of these hurtful words with malicious intent that are said to Pip force him to recognize that he is commoner for the first time in his life, and make him self-conscious, “...I was a common laboring-boy; that my hands were coarse; that my boots were thick; that I had fallen into a despicable habit of calling knaves jacks; that I was much more ignorant than I had considered myself last night; and generally that I was in a low-lived bad way” (Dickens 65). This quote shows how Estella plays a large role in forcing Pip to look at himself in a whole new light, in that Pip now recognizes that he is common for the first time in his life. After this realization, Pip’s self-esteem plummets, and for years to follow he has a negative image of himself. Pip is absolutely captivated by Estella, despite her condescending remarks Pip insists on pursuing Estella. Pip begins to feel ashamed of his home life, “being at my grimiest and commonest, should lift up my eyes and see Estella looking in at one of the of the wooden windows of the forge” (Dickens 112). As evidenced by this, it is apparent that