“Mister Pip” by Lloyd Jones

Analyse how one main character changed to become more admirable In the novel “Mister Pip” written by Lloyd Jones, the protagonist of the novel Matilda has faced many challenges through the novel which she has lost a lot of her world. This includes *her mother and possessions which creates one of the main ideas of loss. Matilda’s way of escaping the violence in her world is turning to the book ‘Great Expectations’ which is introduced by Mr Watts which helps them create a new dimension *. Lloyd Jones shows how much Matilda is determined to be strong about the losses in her life and by the end of the novel we see Matilda’s character change which become an admirable quality on how she gets through them.

Mister Pip is set in Bougainville, an island which is isolated, cut off from the rest of the world. The people on the island cope by being resourceful making their own fuel, medicine and the necessities in order to survive. In the novel we read from Matilda’s perspective who is the protagonist in the novel learning on the horrific events and conflicts. Matilda is faced with fear and has a way of escaping the violent surroundings in her life by a book ‘Great Expectations which is introduced to her by the only white man on the island Mr Watts. Matilda has a way of interacting with the book by making the main character ‘Pip’ her friend; it was also another way to use their imagination- show a different dimension. The ideas of the effects of war and coping with a sense of loss have been expressed by Matilda.

Bouganville during the war makes the village less resourceful as their possessions are being destroyed with the Redskins who are the soldiers which leaves the village in fear. “The redskins were going to choke the island and the rebels into submission.” With lack of food and medical supply the many children are dying of malaria and men and boys are have gone to fight leaving the women with kids having to survive by themselves. Matilda, the protagonist is influenced by the hardship in the novel which relates to the theme of loss. This is the event when the Redskin soldiers have invaded the village seeking ‘Pip. With no trace Pip, the failure has brought the village in danger as the redskin’s way of threatening the village is to come clean on who was Pip or their homes will be destroyed. Memories and possessions gone.

Matilda realises how capable and brutal the Redskins can be and the danger the village are in. “It took no longer than five minutes to incinerate all our belongings…we were left with the only clothes we stood in”. This horrific event affects Matilda as she watches her possessions wither away and being lost, her world slowly fades away. Lloyd Jones shows how Matilda changes and becomes stronger as she has witnesses and put through horrific loses and chooses to grow up at such a young age. This helps Matilda to get an insight on who she really is, gaining a sense of identity. The conflict between Matilda’s Mum Dolores and Matilda is expressed throughout the novel.

Dolores’s fear is losing her Matilda to Mr Watts “the godless white man” and also “Great Expectations which provided a friend to Matilda which gave her a sense of escapism from the violence in her world. “She didn’t want me to go deeper into that other world. She worried she would lose her Matilda to Victorian England”. Dolores’s way of getting her Matilda back into the bible “good book”, cultural traditions and loyalty by stealing the novel that brought them together at the start. An example of the conflict between Matilda and Dolores is discovering the missing novel under the mat.

Matilda not knowing what to do as it will risks the village by keeping silent which destroying their possessions to an extent where they have nowhere to call home as she knows what they are capable of.Matildas other choice is keeping loyal towards her mother. Matilda chooses her mother. Jones has emphasized the ideas of loyalty and innocence throughout Matilda. The difficulties of this conflict make Matilda a changed character being admirable as she keeps her loyalty towards her mother but loses her innocence. The second fire in the novel emphasizes Matilda’s character to change. As Mr Watts being the cause for the second fire as he introduced the book “Great Expectations” to the children.

Matilda is not only shocked what the Redskins are capable of but what the village are capable of doing too. The village take matters into their own hands so they don’t have to live with fear anymore and to have a sense of closure and justice. Matilda’s silence about the missing novel as she is partly to blame for putting a friend in danger “I had the information that could have stopped them but I said nothing and did nothing”.Matilda realises that getting revenge doesn’t solve the bigger picture. Lloyd Jones shows how tough and the amount of pressure that Matilda has at such a young age to keep her decision which means going against her beliefs and morals. The strength that Matilda has retrieved has shown an admirable quantity.

Matilda’s character in the novel “Mister Pip” by Lloyd Jones has been put through horrific incidents in her life. Just the small qualities make Matilda such an admirable character as she mature at such a young age to understand what is really going on, her loyalty towards her mum and the pressure she was under to make decisions for life and death situations.

Lloyd Jones shows how strong human nature can be from Matilda’s character as she has lost her world including her mother, father figure Mr Watts and dad, and her new dimension where she could escape to. We see the development of her character from a young girl to a strong willed person who is determined to do great in the future. Merit: you address the topic well giving relevant detail to support your points. Try to be more fluent in the expression of points – proof reading is essential for you.