Lloyd Jones “Mr. Pip” presents to the world a perspective on colonialism that most post-colonial literature rarely explores. This story of violence and civil war is played out on the beautiful and serene South Pacific island of Bougainville. In contrast to what most might expect from the actual horrible events that occurred in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s the novel breezes over specific violent events. Jones prefers to delve into the struggling lives of those left on the island who have found themselves as pawns between the island rebels and ‘red skins.’ Jone’s two primary characters he focuses on are that of Mr. Watts and the young Matilda who presents the story through her eyes.

            Mr. Watts is an odd character that is symbolic of Umberto Eco’s quote that Jones uses in his opening pages “characters migrate”. As the rest of the white foreign people working on the island are evacuated off the island Mr. Watts chooses to stay with the rest of the villagers who find themselves cut off from the rest of the world. He becomes this moldable character that is shaped to fit into whatever position is needed.  As all the primary educators are evacuated and schools shut Mr. Watts steps in to fill the role as teacher. He acknowledges the fact that he is not by any means the most qualified but he provides them with an invitation to grasp the power of their imaginations and escape to find hope of life continuing on beyond such uncertain times.

            Most post-colonial literature it seems the white man is seen as the cause of all evil.  In contrast to that through Matilda’s perspective we can come to see the inherently good nature of his character that unfortunately only the children can see. On the other hand, though it is not voiced directly to him by the villagers he is representative of the white men. The white men that “were to blame for the mine and the blockade” (p.49). Matilda’s mother Dolores is extremely hard to convince. Only until the last moments of her life she believes that “she had Mr. Watts all summed up. She could not see what us kids had come to see: a kind man. She only saw a white man” (p. 49).  Sadly it takes the deepest kind of kindness, self-sacrifice, for them to realize his good nature.

            This novel differentiates itself from other post-colonial pieces of literature by not showing the direct fight between the colonizer and the colonized but by the ethnic tensions between a country’s own people brought on by colonialism and of those caught in between. He not only touches on aspects of assimilation and exile but he also sheds light on the hard position of being stuck in the same category as colonizer and the significant impacts that has.

Moldable eraser monsters make good [still] life models. :]

Pg 131 – “Goals, strivings, and possible selves may serve functions other than self-regulation. They can facilitate optimism and belief that change is possible because they provide the sense that the current self is mutable (Markus & Nurius, 1986). Thus goals or possible selves may simply make us feel good about ourselves, particularly if the goal or future self is vague and carries no specified action plan (Gonzales, Burgess, & Mobilio, 2001).”

~ So possible selves might help cultures with negative stigmas reach more positive stigmas, so it might explain why a culture with extremely negative stigmas continues to have members with developed identities, because of possible selves.

Pg 131 – “By allowing one to feel good about the self and providing hope for a better future, personal strivings, possible selves, and other future oriented aspects of self-concept may fulfill self-enhancement goals.”

~ Why you should think on the bright side.

Pg 132 – “In this sense, possible selves and other self-directed goals can serve to guide and regulate behavior, providing a roadmap connecting the present to the future. The more plans connect self-directed goals to specific strategies; the more likely they are to be carried out (Gollwitzer, 1996).”

~ Possible selves also direct actions. So not only concrete identities are important, but also possible identities, because they also set guidelines and constraints for actions.

Pg 132-3 – “Indeed, some possible selves are quite malleable, shifting in response to feedback either about one s own likely success in attaining the possible self (Kerpelman &Pittman, 2001) or similar others successes and failures in attaining the possible self (Kemmelmeier & Oyserman, 2001).”

~ Possible selves are moldable, like identities.

Pg 144 – “Indeed, in our sample of primarily minority youths from high poverty schools and neighborhoods, those with plausibly self-regulating academic possible selves did have significantly greater chances of academic success. Plausibility of self-regulation was a significant predictor, even after previous academic attainment (in the form of first quarter GPA) and previous level of the specific dependent variable were controlled.”

~ Self-regulation the key to positive improvement, or really any change.

Pg 144 – “Significant improvement occurred only for youths with plausibly self-regulatory academic possible selves.”

~ So possible selves do not matter as much as self-regulatory possible selves. This is a limitation.

Pg 145 – “Our results point to the importance of considering not only the extent to which youths have academic possible selves or whether these possible selves balance positive expectations with concerns but also whether these possible selves are likely to promote self-regulation as opposed to self-enhancement goals.”

~ Self-regulation the key to positive improvement, or really any change.

Oyserman, D., Bybee, D. Terry, K., Hart-Johnson, T. (2004). Possible selves as roadmaps. Journal of Research in Personality, 38. Retrieved on October 17, 2008 from http://sitemaker.umich.edu/culture.self/self-concept_and_possible_selves_publications.

“Without involvement, there is no commitment. Mark it down, asterisk it, circle it, underline it. No involvement, no commitment.” — Stephen Covey

What are you committed to?   Are you committed to doing better today than you did yesterday?

“You are always free to choose a different past or a different future.”  Richard Bach

Are you a person who laments the good ole days of the past?  Yesterday was better than today.  What would make today better and how would you make it better?

Today is like clay in our hands, it is moldable, shapeable and changeable.  We have the means to change today.   We are the creator of today.  You are the creator of now.   What do you want it to be?   It is hard work to create something from a lump of clay.  It takes time and effort along with an idea that is waiting to be formed.

Yesterday is more like fired clay it is now hard, formed, breakable and a relic of the past.  Perhaps it is the memory of yesterday we cling to.  Why?  Yesterday is a legacy.  It is a reminder of what we have done.   We can pick up the object we created and be amazed at what we are able to create, however each day is a new day and each day asks for its own creation.

Tomorrow is the dream of what can be.  It is not solid, it has no form, it is ethereal, just an object in our mind.  Until it takes form it can be shared with no one.

Are you a collector, creator or dreamer?  

/:Defining Celestial:\

There is much imagery as to what it will look like, many disagreements on how life will be lived there, and it was what Jesus talked about more than anything else:

Heaven.

Now, despite all the questions, thoughts, and disagreements we may have about such a place, there is one universal feeling that we all share:

Heaven is UP.

Theologically this just makes sense. Throughout the Bible we see God make Himself known several times in some way, shape or form in high places. Especially mountains. He whispered to Elijah on a mountain. He radiated Moses’ face on a mountain. He transfigured Jesus on a mountain. When we think of high places, we think of high authority. We subliminally relate height with power and therefore, it only makes sense—theologically or logically— for the Almighty God to dwell far beyond the clouds. Upward. Heavenward.

Now if I were to ask you to describe the non-physical characteristics of Heaven, you may find yourself answering with such terms as:

Good|Perfect|Happy|Holy|Paradise|Bliss|LOVE|Sinless|Righteous|Moral|Pure|Eternal|Saintly|
Wholesome|Virtuous|Godly|Devout|Divine|Sanctified|Sacred|Spiritual|High|And|So|On|And|So|Forth

It is words like these that show us Heaven is in essence: good. In other words, good is the indispensable quality that determines the character of Heaven’s very existence.* Knowing this, we can conclude that if any characteristic that contradicted such a quality were to enter Heaven, then the very essence of Heaven would no longer be that of which Heaven is—

It would be earth.

/:Defining Gehenna:\

There is much imagery as to what it will look like, many disagreements on how life will be lived there, and many different theories about its existence:

Hell.

Now, despite all the questions, thoughts, and disagreements we may have about such a place, there is one universal feeling that we all share:

Hell is down.

This just makes sense. We subliminally relate depth with lowness. “You’re at the bottom of your game.” “Work your way back to the top.” “Make your way up the social ladder.” Therefore logically, it only makes sense for all that is anti-God and anti-Heaven to be at the lowest depth imaginable. Downward. Hellward**.

Now if I were to ask you to describe the non-physical characteristics of Hell, you may find yourself answering with such terms as:

Evil|Imperfect|Sadness|Cursed|Misery|hate|Wicked|Sinful|Immoral|Dirty|Eternal|Ungodly|
Profane|Secular|Torturous|Mourning|Isolation|Burning|Depressed|Painful|Low|And|What|Not

It is words like these that show us Hell is in essence: evil. In other words, evil is the indispensable quality that determines the character of Hell’s very existence.* Knowing this, we can conclude that if any characteristic that contradicted such a quality were to enter Hell, then the very essence of Hell would no longer be that of which Hell is—

It would be earth.

:/You Are Here: The Middleground\:

There are thousands of sights we have seen, many disagreements on how to live life, and hundreds of theories as to how it all came into existence.

Earth.

Now, despite all the questions, thoughts, and disagreements we may have with one another about who’s way is better, there is one universal feeling that we all share:

We are the CeNtEr of the universe.

Logically this just makes sense. We explicitly relate ourselves with higher importance than those around us and make choices that reach out into the heights of Heaven as well as ones that stretch into the depths Hell. We are the center between the two.

Now if I were to ask you to describe the non-physical characteristics of Hell, you may find yourself answering with such terms as:

Good|Evil|Perfect|Imperfect|Happy|Sadness|Holy|Cursed|Paradise|Misery|Bliss|hate|LOVE|Wicked|
Sinless|Sinful|Righteous|Immoral|Moral|Dirty|Pure|Eternal|Ungodly|Saintly|Profane|Wholesome|
Secular|Virtuous|Torturous|Godly|Mourning|Devout|Isolation|Divine|Burning|Sanctified|Depressed|
Sacred|Painful|Spiritual|Low|High|And|So|On|And|So|Forth|And|What|Not

Earth: all of the above.

It is words like these that show us that Earth is in essence: moldable. In other words, the indispensable quality that determines the character of Earth’s existence is it’s ability to be molded with the characteristics of either Heaven or Hell. Knowing this, we can conclude that all characteristics are able to exist on Earth.

Welcome to the Middleground.

More thoughts to come on this…

*Oxford American Dictionary

**It’s a word! Look it up!

Dupa mouse-ul gonflabil vine mouse-ul care poate fi modelat dupa dorinta, un shapeshifter adevarat, pentru cei care se plictisesc repede de forma mouse-ului lor. Read all about it!