The document provides background information on several key characters in the novel Mister Pip including: Mr Watts, the only white man on the island who teaches the children; Matilda, the 13-year old narrator of the story; Dolores, Matilda's mother who hates the white man; Grace, Mr Watts' depressed wife; and the settings of Bougainville and the conflict between the Redskins and Rebels. The characters experience loss, conflict, brutality and the horrors of war as the village is destroyed during Bougainville's civil wars. Religion and education also emerge as themes in how the characters respond to their changing world.