Great Expectations: The First Stage

When Pip is talking about "the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns and flowers, that would never have bound you" (70), he's referring to a specific day in his life that had changed who he was, as a person. This memorable day in Pip's life was when he first went to Miss Havisham's. Pip never really went out of the house until the life-changing experience when he met Miss Havisham and Estella, people of the upper class; people that Pip were never around before. This day was Pip's "chain" that bound him because it was that day that he realized he wanted to become something more than a blacksmith; he wanted to become a gentleman.

I would have to say that the day that bound my life was when I was at the age of 9. It was Christmas, to be exact. I opened my last present and it was an art kit. I remember my face lit up and my smile was as wide as it could get. The kit had just about everything in it; colored pencils, markers, oil pastels, paints, paper, and of course, the number two pencil. Whenever I was unoccupied with anything, I drew or painted. It made me feel good whenever I finished a drawing/painting, mostly because my parents always stuck some of my masterpieces on the refrigerator. To this very day, I still keep painting and drawing. It's something that's a tremendous part of my life. Opening that one present on Christmas was the chain that's bounding my life and makes me the person I am today.