English Literature Practice Question-Mr Pip

What is the message of Mr Pip?

The message of Mr. pip is that education and escapism can be a form of escaping from an oppressive situation. Escapism is a main theme, as Mr. watts reads the book Great Expectations to allow the children to mentally escape from the war. Matilda talks throughout the novel about how Pip is like a "friend to her” and she constantly compares his life to hers. Jones also represents Matilda, getting annoyed that Pip is growing up, whilst at the same time getting annoyed at her mum for not allowing her to grow up, which shows even more naivety from Matilda. This also shows that Jones is portraying her as subtle relating to her mum whilst writing the novel, which means Jones also portrays reading and education as helping you relate to others and realise things you would not otherwise realise. Lloyd Jones is conveying the message that reading and education can help you escape from what is going on in your life, no matter how bad it is, and let you relate to things going on in your life.

Furthermore, Lloyd Jones shows the different opinions of people when it comes to religion and education and shows that leads to feuds. Jones shows this by making Dolores strict towards faith and Mr. Watts towards education. Throughout the novel, Dolores, and Mr. Watts clash when Dolores thinks he should be teaching more about the "Good Book" than "Great expectations," and that regularly leads to arguments between Dolores and Matilda as Dolores is loyal towards faith, whilst Matilda enjoys reading as a form of escapism. Lloyd Jones conveys the message that when people have different forms of escape, it can create feuds.

Moreover, Lloyd Jones uses the book Mr. Pip to talk about the conflicts between Mothers and daughters whilst the daughters begin to grow up. Throughout the novel, Jones talks about the arguments between Dolores and Matilda, starting with the one when Dolores finds out that Matilda is not learning about the “good book,” and is instead enjoying a book that she thinks is,”un-necessary,” and,” a waste of time. This leads to arguments and Matilda becoming fonder of Mr. Watts than Dolores. Lloyd Jones is conveying the message about Mother-Daughter arguments and how that leads to the daughter coming closer to other significant figures in their lives.

Also, Lloyd Jones conveys the message about the portrayal and how different races see each other. In the novel Matilda states that, whites as the white of your eyes, only sicker", which shows how the natives see white people. Also, throughout the novel it shows the difference between black and white. Matilda grew up believing white "to be the colour of important things," which led to her believing Mr. Watts was more important than anyone else. This is also shown when the redskins spare his house when all the others are burnt down, the villagers were therefore led to believe it was because they (the redskins) would not do anything to cause white displeasure. Lloyd Jones throughout the novel is conveying the message about how different races see each other, through what they have done to them.

Overall, the message in Mr. Pip is that education and escapism can help people in all situations, different opinions when it comes to education vs faith can cause disagreements, portrayal of how different societies see different races and conflicts between Mothers and daughters becoming young adults.