I believe the answer is: C.Neither as a boy nor as a man was he a toady, but from early youth was by nature attracted to people of high station as a fly is drawn to the light, assimilating their ways and views of life and establishing friendly relations with them.
You could see it in this phrase in particular to know that he is very drawn to the life of people in high society: attracted to people of high station
From the phrase assimilating their ways and views of life , we know even since early age, ivan has made various effort to be accepted into the elite society.