Mr Watts• Known as ‘Pop-Eye’ at the start of the novel• Wears a red clown nose• Only white man on the island• Teaches the children after all the teachers have left on ‘the last boat’•He introduces Matilda to Great Expectations• He is married to Grace and their child died sending her into a deep depression• His house is the only building that is not destroyed when the rambos come for the second time• He plans to escape the island with Matilda •He is beaten, shot, chopped up and fed to pigs – he is sacrificed

Matilda• is the narrator of the story and we see everything through her eyes•She is 13 years old at the start of the novel•Her mother rejects the ‘white world’ but her absent father (who works in Australia for the ‘white man’) embraces it•She is a very strong character who grows throughout the novel •She is fascinated by Great Expectations and the character of Pip•She escapes the island by accident after witnessing the traumatic deaths of Mr Watts and her mother•She meets Mr Watts’ first wife and finds he is not what she thought he was

Dolores• Matilda’s mother• hates everything that ‘the white man’ stands for• believes the ‘white man’ took her husband away from her and she is angry (or did her ‘strong’ personality drive him away?)• is highly religious but is a hypocrite•She hates Mr Watts•She causes the village to be destroyed• she is very proud and will NOT give in to anyone•She sees everything in very simple and very moral (in her opinion) terms - she refuses to be questioned•She is raped, chopped up and fed to pigs•But in this act she redeems herself and shows great courage as she protects Matilda

Grace • Mr Watts’ wife•She is the reason Mr Watts came to Bougainville• Mr Watts pulls her around on a trolley•Was an actress who played the Queen of Sheba•Lost a child •Suffered with extreme grief•We learn about her by the things she wrote on the attic walls•Dies without much mention

Bougainville• Is part of the Solomon Islands•Has a tropical climate• it is rich in copper which was mined and is a valuable resource hence the wars• a war torn country• Suffered two major civil wars in 1975 and 1990• Setting for Mister Pip

Redskins• Papua New Guinea (PNG) military force• they were armed with military weapons; wore uniforms• believed that Bougainville belonged to Papua New Guinea and should not be independent•Committed many atrocities on their own people

Rebels•Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA or Rebels)• they had no guns and used basic weapon; no official uniform• they believed that Bougainville should be independent from Papua New Guinea •Committed many atrocities on their own people

•It became difficult to tell the difference between the Redskins and the Rebels.

Themes Conflict Loss Education Escape Horror of war Brutality Loss of innocence Religion

Conflict Matilda’s internal conflict The redskins and the rambos/rebels Mr Watts – a ‘white’ man in a ‘black’

world Dolores and Mr Watts Religion and education

Loss Dolores ‘looses’ her husband to the

‘white’ man and does not want to loose her daughter too

The death of Dolores The death of Mr Watts The loss of possessions The loss of their way of life The loss of children from the village and

the death of Grace and Mr Watts’ child Loss of teachers and formal education

Education The impact of Great Expectations on the

village and on Matilda Education verses religion The lack of formal education of the

women that come to ‘teach’ the children in the school

The lack of understanding/education of the rebels and redskins

Grace – Matilda learns a different side to her

Matilda’s life after Bougainville

Escape Great Expectations The last boat Mr Watts’ plan to escape from the island The inability to escape – death of Dolores

and Mr Watts Matilda’s accidental escape The children and babies that died due to

the lack of treatment for malaria – they escaped the suffering (you could argue)

Horror of war Death of Dolores Death of Mr Watts Gilbert Black the dog Burning of possessions Helicopters throwing people out of them Daniel and his grandmother

Brutality Violence and punishment Dolores’ treatment of Matilda Black the dog

Loss of innocence Death of Mr Watts and Dolores Witnessing the horror of war Daniel and his grandmother

Religion God verses education Religion used for hypocrisy Religion used as abuse Sacrifice Fear Resentment

Answering the question Section B - Part A (this is about the extract only)

Use PEEL P - Point – make it brief and relate to the

question E – Evidence – pick an appropriate

quotation aim for 5 words or less E – Explanation – write about the effect of

language, structure or form L – Link – link what you have said back to

the question

Language Analyse the words the Jones uses and

relate it to the question For instance what words show feelings –

identify them in your quotation and talk about the effect of individual words

Structure Slow progressive build up – flies; dragon-

flies; dogs Matilda loses track of time as the

Redskins burn her calendar This is important as it reflects how cut off

the villagers are from the outside world

Form First person narrative – gives us only

Matilda’s viewpoint – Matilda is a witness to the truth – she ‘observes’

Jones uses a ‘blunt’ tone – it is very matter of fact and Matilda expresses no emotion nor does she pass judgement

The novel follows a chronological order A record of the events in Matilda’s life