<P> Pip narrates his story many years after the events of the novel take place . The novel follows Pip's process from childhood innocence to experience . The financial and social rise of the protagonist is accompanied by an emotional and moral deterioration, which finally forces Pip to recognize his negative expectations in a new self - awareness . </P> <P> When the novel begins in the early 1800s, Philip is a seven - year - old orphan raised by his cruel sister, Mrs. Joe, who beats him regularly, and her husband Joe Gargery, a blacksmith and Pip's best friend . He lives in the marsh area of Kent, England, twenty miles from the sea . </P> <P> Pip never saw either of his parents; he is more than twenty years younger than his sister . Five brothers died in infancy between them: Alexander, Bartholomew, Abraham, Tobias and Roger . He says he was short for his age when he encountered the convicts at age seven, but when is apprentice to Joe, he is taller and becomes very strong to master the work of a blacksmith . He is known to himself and to the world as Pip because his "infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip". </P> <P> He is destined for, and wants, a career as a blacksmith like his brother - in - law, until an unexpected chain of events thrusts him into a different social class . During the novel Pip goes through many changes in his personality, as he is influenced by various people . As a very young child he is a innocent young boy who does not mind the fact he is relatively low ranking in society . At around the age of eight, he meets a beautiful girl named Estella who is of the upper class, Pip falls in love with her, and becomes ashamed of his background and his relatives because he has such a different life to her . When he is old enough he is bound apprentice to Joe . But he longs to be a gentleman, in a social class very different from a village blacksmith . He suffers guilt for his ungrateful feelings toward Joe, who is a kind friend to him throughout his life . </P>

When did pip agree to meet the convict