Matilda

Strengths
- Imagination - Pip/Great Expectations: in Matilda's escape, he helps her cope with the horrors around her - "It was always a relief to return to Great Expectations"
- Mr Watts- father figure and he feels the strongly about Pip too - he stands up for himself - "I do not believe in the devil" - he is different and teaches Matilda to make sure she is happy
- Strong willed, loyal

Beliefs
- Matilda believes in freedom in both learning, and the right to leave the island
- Through reading Great Expectations and learning about the war, Matilda learns that she hates the island - she constantly calls Bougainville an 'island' not 'home'
- "I had made a new friend" - she is still quite childish, so her beliefs are based around childish impulses - i.e. her interest in Pip is her desire for another world and a friend

How our impression of her changes
- Nosey at first, too inquisitive for her own good- she constantly asks about her father, looks into the life of Mr Watts etc.
- Just a child at first
- As the story progresses she becomes more of an adult - she shows more understanding of the western world as she is the only child who seems to be interested in it
- Grows out of the dependent child role
- Becomes a character of inquisition as opposed to those following what was told to them by the mothers of the village

Addition to storyline
- Progresses the story onward - she is the narrator - we see the story from a child's point of view
- Symbol of hope within the community
- Bridge between normality and what was happening on the island
- Brings escapism from the horror of the island
- Shows the ability to get out of a bad situation

Status/Job
- Begins as just another child on the island ("Everyone called him Pop Eye")
- Disregarded, mere child to villagers, including her mum (everyone except Mr Watts)
- Mr Watts realises she is quite intelligent and she cares about Pip as much as him
- In the end, she loses everything so then she knows the extent of loss and understands it

Symbolic Purpose
- Channels Pip and mirrors herself through Pip as a character - "Pip is my story"
- She is the voice of reason (good morals)
- Seen as Mr Watts' daughter - Matilda lost her father and Mr Watts lost a child
- She is seen by the reader as a light within the darkness of the war. But when it all kicks off she is helpless and lost.
- Caught up in the war - "We were alive I suppose."
- River (that she gets caught in) symbolises the war & Matilda is caught up in it - "It could only catch me and I wouldn't care" 
"Everything dear to me had been taken away- my mum and Mr Watts" - highlighting how she did nothing wrong and everything was taken, and she mentions the fact that Mr Watts was taken from her before even mentioning her missing father

Flaws
- Her mother - Matilda cares deeply for her mother but they often disagree on things. Matilda also blames her for not seeing her father after he left. She is also very keen to get her mother's approval: "I waited for my mum to bite","Great Expectations came between us"
- Relationships - her closeness to Mr Watts means that she eventually has to choose between him and her mother - "You can save Mr Watts because I am not going to be the one"
- Escapism - she begins to choose Pip over herself/others

Relationships with others
- Admiration for Mr Watts
- Relationship with her mother progresses
            START: irritation but she still loves her
            Struggles to show feelings due to social status
            END: shows love/loyalty - shows that she misses her mother
- Likes Mr Watts as a father figure + loves Pip, who represents the world that her dad left to, different from everyone else

Key Quotations
"Who was Mr Dickens?" P16
"Mr Watts had given us kids another piece of the world" P21
"What is a frosty morning?" P29
"But it was also clear that the white world had forgotten us." P42
"It was always a relief to return to Great Expectations." P58
"Things were changing" P70
"It was funny how...." P82 - shows irony
"I would have said the devil had gotten into her." P97
"He was back to being Pop Eye" P98
"Great Expectations would be lost forever" P103
"I was a mosquito...." P114
"This happened while I gazed at the sky" P179
"I had to survive" P184
"Pip is my story...." P219