Parallels and Intertextuality in Mr.

Pip

Background on Great Expectations

Great Expectations is novel written by Charles dickens published in 1861. It was set in an
earlier English context than when it was written.
About Charles Dickens.
Charles Dickens was Born on the 7th of February 1812 and died on the 9th of June 1870. His
work was extremely popular during his time and is regarded as one the best novel writer of
the Victorian era. Dickens left work at a young age to work in a factory as his father was
jailed. Despite not having a formal education he wrote hundreds of short stories and 15
novels, one of which is great expectations. Most of his novels were published in weekly or
monthly instalments which allowed him to gauge the audiences reaction and often modify
the plot and characters based on this feedback.
About Great Expectations
The book follows the story of Pip through different stages of his life as he goes on a journey
becoming a gentleman, falling in love and solving the mysteries of his life.
The novel is about rising to wealth, leaving and meeting friends and reflecting on the
decisions that were made in the past.
Mr Pip
Published in 2006 by Lloyd Jones from New Zealand.
Set on the island of Bougainville in the 1990s during the civil war.
Follows the story of a young girl called Matilda caught amidst the war and is guided by the
reading of Great Expectations from their teacher Mr. watts. She learns though relationship
with the fictional character Pip (Main character of Great Expectations) about how similar
her life is with him. Eventually after seeing her mother and teacher killed she escapes the
island and finds her way to her father.
Bougainville context
The islands of Bougainville were part of German New Guinea from the 1880s until World
War I, when they became annexed to Australias New Guinea territories. Later, in 1975 they
became part of independent Papua New Guinea.
The people of Bougainville lived off their land largely from subsistence gardening, hunting
and fishing, in a matrilineal system where each person was identified by membership of
their mothers clan.
Discovery of copper deposits in the 1960s led to the establishment of a huge copper mine
on the island of Bougainville by Conzinc Riotinto Australia (CRA). The Panguna open cut
mine was at that time the largest in the world. The company registered various traditional
landowners of the Nasioi language group, but excluded women despite their position as
traditional custodians of the land under the matrilineal system.
The mine started production in 1972 under management of Bougainville Copper Ltd (BCL)
with the Papua New Guinea government as a 20% shareholder. The Papua New Guinea
Independence Constitution had stated land ownership was to just below the surface of the
soil; this meant that all mineral rights would belong to the State. Bougainvillians had a
different concept of land, seeing it as their lifeblood in political, emotional and social terms.
As mining operations continued and provided 45% of Papua New Guineas national export
revenue, some groups in Bougainville felt resentment at substantial payouts going to certain
landowner groups and not to others.
Anger over the non-payment of royalties, the pollution of the rivers by the tailings from the
mine and a belief that the mining land would never be restored to its natural state, made
many landowners resentful that their traditional lives would be lost forever to the mining
operation. There was also conflict between some native Bougainvilleans and others (mainly
workers from the main island of Papua New Guinea) brought in to work on the mine.
Tensions exploded in 1988 when disgruntled landowner (and later secessionist campaigner)
Francis Ona led sabotage attacks on the mine. By 1989 he had forced the mines closure.
The Bougainville Civil War that followed was a multi-layered armed conflict fought from
1988 to 1998 between Papua New Guinea and the secessionist forces of the Bougainville
Revolutionary Army (BRA), and between the BRA and other armed groups on Bougainville.
The conflict left an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 Bougainvilleans dead.