“Mister Pip,” A Pathway Back to the Classics

As I began reading the novel, “Mister Pip,” authored by Lloyd Jones in 2006, I realized with deep regret that I had never acquainted myself with Charles Dickens’ classic “Great Expectations”. I hurried to the library to remedy this omission. I must add here, however, that I believe with all my heart that our literature teachers introduce the classics too early in our young lives, long before we were able or ready to understand and absorb their greatness.

Nevertheless, I raced to catch up with Mr. Watts’ students as I read “Great Expectations” during any moment I could spare throughout the day. Then I switched to read “Mister Pip” an hour before I shut off my light for the night. This is certainly not to say that “Mister Pip” is a rerun of “Great Expectations”. Far from it. A thread of Dickens’ novel, however, runs all through Jones’ book and some of the lessons are immensely precious. It goes like this:

The narrator of “Mister Pip” is Matilda. She tells her story beginning when she was thirteen years old. She recalls that her father left her and her mum five years before when he flew to Australia to make his fortune. Now she lives on a tropical island that is at war over the copper-rich mines at the far end of the island.
When the war broke out, one last boat escaped before the enemy, the Redskins, enforced a blockade. Those who left included the teacher who closed the school. The only whites left on the island were Mr. Watts, a man who is wed to one of theirs, a black woman. Neither were respected, and were the brunt of scorn. The rest were black natives, including rebels fighting the Redskins.

But Mr. Watts, who promised to help the children make a difference in their lives, opened the school. He appeared daily in a less-than-neat or clean white linen suit. His hair nearly touched his shoulders and was sprinkled with flecks of red and gray. His beard spilled down to his chest.

The first day he asked the twenty or so children, whose ages ranged from seven to fifteen, to sweep the floor, brush the cobwebs away, and make ready for class. Mr. Watts thanked the children for coming and told them he wanted “…this to be a place of light,” and that the following day he would introduce them to Mr. Dickens.
They expected a person, but instead he proceeded to read one chapter each day from Mr. Dickens’ novel “Great Expectations”. The rest of the children’s education consisted of parents coming in and telling their stories, or talking about what interested them.

Matilda was often at odds with her mum because she criticized and dissected her new friend, Mister Pip, but she became a close friend of Mr. Watts. And when the book was finished, Matilda said, “…what we now saw was a spider’s web and bits of story finding and connecting with one another.”

But the violent war interrupted the children’s education when the Redskins throw everyone’s possessions in a pile and set it on fire. Soon their homes were also burned, and the book, “Great Expectations” became ashes. Mr. Watts then encouraged the students to recall all of the fragments and bits they could remember about the book. They did, and wrote them all down

He taught them: “…to dream freely.” “You cannot pretend to read a book. Your eyes will give you away. So will your breathing. A person entranced by a book simply forgets to breathe.”

That’s what happened to me as I read the whole of “Mister Pip”. Mr. Watts and Matilda’s mum died, victims of the war, and Matilda dreamed that she might die or be reunited with her father and live her life with “Mister Pip”.

And for my “Great Expectations”, I can hardly wait to enrich my education by pursuing the classics I neglected, but can find at the Columbus Public Library. My list is long; won’t you join me?

Recent donations to the Columbus Library Foundation include those in memory of Steve Fremarek from Mr. and Mrs. Leon Wragge and Mr. and Mrs. Richard Luebbe. The memory of Christopher Saalfeld was honored by a memorial from Shirley Thompson. Edna Loseke was remembered by a donation from Mr. and Mrs. William Klug and Dr. Jeff Korte was remembered with a memorial from Mr. and Mrs. Richard Luebbe.