Lloyd Jones Mister Pip

Characters in novels are important and key figures in the construction and representation of human experiences and relationships. Characters are constructed to position readers to be aware of certain themes and ideas through the presentation of experiences of which we may relate to. Lloyd Jones’ Mister Pip (2006) presents the theme of the power of literature through the construction of the characters, Matilda, Dolores and several more. Through these characters, literature (or story-telling) is an extremely powerful theme in Mister Pip as it not only provides an escape for the community, but also as a tool to bring them together and shape their views of the world.

Matilda, a teenage girl, is the main protagonist of the novel. Matilda is constructed …show more content…
She is shown to be unsure about many things and attempts to comprehend the horror of her surroundings, along with many others on the island. All education has stopped on the island since all but one white man has left the island and the villagers are left stranded in their own fear. However, when Mr. Watts offers to teach the children, do the children gain a new form of escape. This is illustrated after the first reading of Great Expectations, “But as the rebels an redskins went on butchering one another, we had another reason for hiding under the cover of night. Mr. Watts had given us kids another world to spend the night in. We could escape to another place.” where the children uses Great Expectations as their escape from the horror of war, showing the power of literature as a tool of psychological …show more content…
Watts and the other villagers. Mr. Watts is presented as the last white man on Bougainville, initially as a strange and freaky character in Matilda’s eyes, but is in fact an intelligent man who takes on the role of being the children’s teacher. He is the children’s benefactor in some ways, as he introduces Great Expectations to them and provides them with a sanctuary. Mr. Watts also takes on the role of the story-teller in the novel as he tells many stories to the villagers. As a storyteller, e is able to bring people together. This is shown when Mr. Watts re-tells his story. ‘Word had spread that Mr. Watts was ready to tell his story. Most of us had come to hear about a world we had never seen.’ shows the gathering of the villagers to listen to Mr. Watts tell his story for an escape from reality. Another occasion where the villagers are brought together in unity is at Grace’s burial and they share their memories of Grace. ‘They gave their bits of memory to Mr. Watts. They filled in a picture of his dead wife. In this way he learned of a girl he had never met.’ shows how the villagers, in return, share their own stories of Grace as they help Mr. Watts build on the image of his wife. Story telling is shown to be a tool to bring people together through these occasions in the