Mister Pip by lloyd Jones
Mister Pip is set in a small village on an unnamed tropical island which closely resembles 1990s Bouganville during its struggle for autonomy. As the Papua New Guinean embargo and fighting close in, all the whites leave the island, leaving Matilda and her friends without a school teacher. Mr Watts, a strange, tragi-comic figure who is married to a black woman, takes over the role. His only resource is a copy of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, which he reads to the students in segments. The story follows the relationships which build between the students and Mr Watts, the coming of rebels, Matilda’s relationship with her mother and Matilda’s later life. The novel explores the impact which fictional texts, and particularly their characters, can have on readers as a relationship between the two develops. The book is ambiguous in its message: while on one hand the students are enriched by the work of a canonical Western author, it is Great Expectations which leads to major violence in the village. And while the reader expects Mr Watts to become a stereotypically inspiring teacher, he ends up being honestly portrayed as lacking power, knowledge and certainty. This book is easy to read yet at the same time thought-provoking.
Ms MacFie
