Pip aims to rise higher; Herbert aims to lower himself in order to rise again.
A second set of traits that shows why Herbert is a foil to Pip is their social habits and actions. Throughout the whole novel, Pip seems to prefer to always have friendly company around and be actively social. He also uses his newfound wealth to play hard all around London and have a wild time. In contrast, Herbert moves out of his family's home and moves into Barnard's inn in order to not have easy access to money through his parents. He is also far quieter and more introverted that Pip, not having a problem with being by himself. These differences in the two friends could be seen as foreshadowing of their eventual fates, another part of them that shows Herbert as a foil to Pip. Pip's overzealous spending and social habits end up costing him his fortune, his love, and very nearly his life. He loses any chance he had at Estella's love, his benefactor Magwitch is killed after Pip has already spent most of his fortune, and he is nearly killed by disease after barely surviving a violent encounter with Compeyson, Miss Havisham's former fiancé and Magwitch's former partner. But Herbert's level-headedness, good work ethic, and solid goals allow him to eventually end up marrying the girl of his dreams, starting a successful shipping company (with some help from Pip) and living a comfortable and happy life. These differences in both Pip and Herbert's social habits and their eventual outcomes in life exemplify what a foil truly is. Herbert's frugality and modesty highlight Pip's enthusiastic spending and conspicuousness. And while Pip eventually realizes why Herbert succeeded and he failed, his life is too far gone at that point to rectify anything. "We owed so much to Herbert's ever cheerful industry and readiness, that I often wondered how I had convinced that old idea of his inaptitude, until I was one day enlightened by the reflection, that perhaps the inaptitude had never been in him at all, but had been in me" (377).
