I never really had a select day to start my "chain" or started developing the person I am now, but I think when I started this "chain" was when I was little, my most memorable times was in soccer, soccer has given me my friends and has shown that if someone doesn't have teamwork or friendship, they won't really succeed in life.

This quote was really confusing, but the message is that Pip is referring to life. He looks and sees every aspect of it. As if it were a series of links in a chain. He compares his to Miss Havisham's. He sees how illiterate Joe is compared to Miss Havisham and he decides that he wants to be educated and not a poor dumb child always embarrassing himself. This is definitely a turning point in his life because he grows up and matures. He sees that he will not get far if he continues in his childish ways. The links made of iron and thorns represented Bad moments in his life, which might include the choices he made, the fact that he could barely read or write.