I think every story, there is some sort of bildungsroman. There is a point where the main character realizes something adult. Recently their was a commercial made somewhere in Asia about a little girl and her dad. He did everything for her and she saw that. she saw all the great times and smiles and wrote a letter to him about it. However what she also saw was his lies. It wasn't r him to buy her a Popsicle and he was always in a hurry and stressed even though he acted so carefree around her. She realized all of this when she was maybe in first grade. It is a bildungsroman moment because she has stepped out of her little girl shoes and into ones closer to those of her father. Now she has to carry some of his stress and anxiety about money and a roof over their head. It is a moment where the innocent of her childhood is left and the reality of what real life is is entered. For Pip, he has moments of understanding, of how the way life works is when you turn down a certain path. Pip changes from an innocent young man to a matured one through his life experiences in the book.
Pip through the book realizes life isn't always as it once seemed. At one point he was able to frolick around life any kid could. He didn't have to worry about bills yet or eating food. Pip was just living life and having fun. Then there was an inciting moment which brings life to a harsh reality and sickness that brings the phrase "life isn't fair" into prospective. In the past month, there have been two of these inciting incidents for me. First a close friend's father died. It left them shattered and me wondering how a great man and precious father could be taken so simply like his life didn't matter. Next, towards the end of that month a close friend and great happy person was killed in a car crash. That was the point I shattered. Waking out to terrible news and knowing that there was no praying that could bring back a precious friend left me so sad... I just cried and cried. Now there is Pip who learns what his life can and can't be. He sees examples of how people lived their lives and was either inspired or turned away from their tactics. As a kid, you want your life to be full and in order to make sure that happens with the smallest amount of error possible, you have to follow in other people's footsteps.
Jaggers and Joe are good models for Pip to learn from. He sees what it is like to have it all from both angles and also sees that each person kind of believes they are happy and living a "full" life. First their is Jaggers, who on the outside seems to have it all. He has the nice things, the big bank account and luxuries that make daily life great. However he misses out on something big which is compassion and real happiness. The lady that unfortunately becomes his slave/servant is subject to Jaggers' gross respect towards others and their struggles. He sees his struggles as the top priority and even though that should be important, he can't see the other important stuff he has lost from his life, but Pip is able to see it. Culturally Jaggers is the one who should have the happiest life but Pip is able to see it another way. In a clearer way that fogs what culture leads society to believe. Pip can see a darkness that changes everything. Then there is Joe, who on the outside has nothing much. He has the essentials, yes, but society says that is no where near good enough. Joe has little but he has so much in happiness and love. Pip is able to see that contrast of what society claims a full life is and on a personal level what a full life is.
Pip makes discoveries throughout his journey. He makes shocking ones but also enlightening ones. Through his discovery of the real world and life that he exposed himself to, he begins to understand what it means to prosper in a society that doesn't always know what is best for a person. Pip becomes enlightened though his journeys, the truth being uncovered in ways he didn't know, like falling in love with someone who was only playing a game. He found life to be cruel at times but the cruel part of life is what makes you strong and move bullet proof when cruel tries to encroach upon what you want your life to be. Pip finds out what he wants his life to be and begins to follow the path that will lead him to a place of happiness.
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