mr pip; section 1
Mister Pip
Section 1
1 – Mr. Watts
‘He looked like someone who had seen or known great suffering and hadn’t been able to forget it.’ p1
‘We never saw him smile.’ p1
‘Because Pop Eye was the only white for miles around, little kids stared at him until their ice blocks melted over their black hands.’ p3
‘She could not see what us kids had come to see: a kind man.’ p41
2 – Themes
1. Island life there was a lot told about island life, what the environment is like, what the people are like, and how they are isolated. There is a lot of green, all the people are black (except for Mr. Watts) and they don’t know much about life outside the island, because when all the relatives come talk at school it is mostly very different from usual school subjects.
2. Education when the last teacher leaves the children don’t have to go to school any more. Mr. Watts finds it important to teach them but he doesn’t know much more than about the book Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. So that is what he teaches them when they come back to school.
4 – Summary
The novel opens with a colorful description of Mr. Watts, whom the children call Pop-Eye due to his eyes that "stuck out further than anyone else's". We learn of his marriage to Grace, a native of Bougainville, which serves to explain why he remained long after most of the white men had abandoned the island. With military tension rising and the school room growing over with creepers, Mr. Watts decides to take on the task of educating the children. Despite his claim to be limited in intelligence, he introduces the students to one of the greatest English authors, Charles Dickens.
Section 1
1 – Mr. Watts
‘He looked like someone who had seen or known great suffering and hadn’t been able to forget it.’ p1
‘We never saw him smile.’ p1
‘Because Pop Eye was the only white for miles around, little kids stared at him until their ice blocks melted over their black hands.’ p3
‘She could not see what us kids had come to see: a kind man.’ p41
2 – Themes
1. Island life there was a lot told about island life, what the environment is like, what the people are like, and how they are isolated. There is a lot of green, all the people are black (except for Mr. Watts) and they don’t know much about life outside the island, because when all the relatives come talk at school it is mostly very different from usual school subjects.
2. Education when the last teacher leaves the children don’t have to go to school any more. Mr. Watts finds it important to teach them but he doesn’t know much more than about the book Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. So that is what he teaches them when they come back to school.
4 – Summary
The novel opens with a colorful description of Mr. Watts, whom the children call Pop-Eye due to his eyes that "stuck out further than anyone else's". We learn of his marriage to Grace, a native of Bougainville, which serves to explain why he remained long after most of the white men had abandoned the island. With military tension rising and the school room growing over with creepers, Mr. Watts decides to take on the task of educating the children. Despite his claim to be limited in intelligence, he introduces the students to one of the greatest English authors, Charles Dickens.