Mr. Pip

             Mr. Pip is a correlation between the warring forces of the conflict in Bougainville in the 1990s. New Zealand was a main instigator in negotiating peace by using the right words at the right time. Lloyd Jones expressed this theme throughout his novel, Mr. Pip, in several sections with Matilda and his other characters.

            The first section focuses mostly on Matilda and her observations of the world around her. She is a very intelligent young girl and she is used to exemplify an instance where the right word at the right time causes peace, at least for a time. The scene begins with her mother, a very religious woman, questioning Matilda about Great Expectations. Matilda tries to explain her new friend Pip to her mother, but she simply does not understand.  The girl recognizes this and protects Pip and Mr. Watts from her mother’s scrutiny for at least a little while by coming up with a quick response to her mother’s questioning.

“So he took his sister’s pork pie.” “Yes,” I conceded. “And what did Pop Eye have to say about this?” Mr. Watts hadn’t said anything, but I knew this would be the wrong answer. “Mr. Watts said it is best to wait until all the facts are known.” To this day, it impresses me that I was able to come up with that reply (pg 32-3).

In the second section of the story, Mr. Watts is used to show how words can be used to sway actions in a positive direction to control a situation. In this section, the rambos have come to the village and start to take over when Mr. Watts arrives. One of the rambos threatens to rape him when Mr. Watts chooses this time to use his ability to command an audience and protect himself. 

 “Mr. Watts had heard enough. In a very firm voice he said, ‘You will do nothing of the sort.’ Pointing back at the ground from where the Rambo had sprung, he said, ‘You will sit down there and you will listen’” (pg 161). In this example, Mr. Watts protected himself, and those around him, as it could have escalated into a mass raping of the villagers. By taking command, he calmed the rambos, also protected the villagers from the police who were looking for the rambos. If the rambos were kept quiet while in the village, the police would have a harder time finding them and thereby blaming the village of aiding the enemy.

            The third section of the book talks about Matilda after she left the island after her mother and Mr. Watts were murdered by the police. When Matilda got older, she decided to visit the home of Mr. Watts in New Zealand to see where he had lived and grown up. Here the author uses Mrs. Watts, Mr. Watts first wife, to show this example of words and their uses at just the right time. “I got up to leave. ‘I suppose you know about his theater thing,’ Mrs. Watts said quickly. I suspect it was her trump card. She wanted me to stay.” Here, Mrs. Watts uses that last little bit of knowledge Matilda does not have to get her to do what she wants. Almost like a person dangling a treat before an eager puppy, she holds the information until the very last second. In this manner, she is able to manipulate Matilda into staying and keeping her company.

            In the end, Matilda says she will try to return home. Through these lessons she has learned from Mr. Watts, her mother, Pip, and Great Expectations, she begins to see life through a different lens. She begins to know what it really means to use words to manipulate and form action and thoughts to get exactly where she needed to go.