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Sweet, savage and haunting, Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones takes readers into a tragic corner of the world in a coming- of -age story like no other.
The novel takes place in a village on the real island of Bougainville, just north of Australia. Part of Papua New Guinea since Colonial times, the island’s residents rebel during the 1990s period in which the novel takes place. Civil war rages around and, finally, within an island village. Rebels battle soldiers trying to re-establish New Guinea’s sovereignty over the island.
Only one white man, Mr. Watts, stays on the island during the conflict. He is a New Zealander married to a local, mysterious and ill woman named Grace. Because the white teacher has fled along with the others, Mr. Watts offers to reopen the village school. His only tools are the wisdom of the island women and a copy of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, which he begins to read aloud to the children.
In the class is 13-year-old Matilda, who finds inspiration, refuge and structure in the classic. She is fascinated by Pip, the young protagonist of Great Expectations, as he navigates his internal and external worlds.
Mr. Watts’ notions about literature – and the story of Great Expectations in particular – cause Matilda’s highly religious mother to fear for the girl’s soul. She stands her ground with Mr. Watts, battling his influence with island wisdom and the Bible. Her opposition is so determined, it spurs a series of violent tragedies that possibly could have been avoided.
In the nearly two years in which the novel takes place, conditions in Matilda’s village become more desperate as it waits for help from the outside world. It is help that comes far too late. In a mix-up that could otherwise be seen as comic, an Army captain insists on knowing who this mysterious “Mr. Pip” is and why he is so powerful among villagers. Mr. Watts tries to explain Pip is a character in literature, but the sole copy of the book has disappeared. What results is gruesome and heartbreaking as Matilda loses the two most important people in her life, who finally had reconciled their differences.
New Zealand author Jones writes with historical authority about the rebellion and with a tenderness for all characters involved, even the brutal soldiers who terrorize the villagers. He writes powerfully about literature – how it can shape the lives of readers and illuminate them. But it has limitations, Jones points out. Literature cannot protect and it cannot explain fully the sweetness and brutality that co-exist in humans.
Jones’ novel would be almost unbearable if it weren’t for its moments of affirmation of the miracles possible between good people and within the pages of a good book.
Essay by Mary Ethridge
Mister Pip. By Lloyd Jones. Dial Press (Random House)
ISBN 978-0-385-34106-6. $20. 256 pages
