Spies And Mister Pip Comparative Essay

Comparison of Spies and Mister Pip’s openings: 1. In Mister Pip and Spies, the Narrator is the main character. It is written in first person throughout both novels and the reader is taken through both stories through that one characters perspective. In Mister Pip the Narrator is a teenage girl, of a black background whereas in Spies, the Narrator is a Man, possibly in his late or early 60’s/70’s. 2. In Spies, the Narrator is not chronologically telling his memories, in contrast to Mister Pip. In Mister Pip, we are being shown the Life of Matilda in order from her memory. In Spies the memories seem to be spontaneously drawn from the Man’s memory, sometimes even unnoticeably. The point of interest is both in the past and present for Stephen in Spies as he is going back to a place that has clear sentimental value for him and while there he is having flashbacks of the memory of this place while being there physically in the present. He keeps comparing the past and present state of the place also. In Mister Pip the past is the point of interest, all the while building up to the present in the last few chapters. The
In Spies, a sense of mystery is set up by the story being set first in the present. As the reader we are thrown into a present situation the character is experiencing, forcing us to ask questions as not much is revealed. Whilst the man is having a memory, the reader feels uninvolved as you are unaware of what is going on, this leaves room for mystery and questioning. The reader wants to know, why does he feel such a strong connection to this vulgar smell? Who is Keith? Where does he want to go? What is he longing for? What has happened to him? In Mister Pip, it begins with very strong description from Matilda, you begin to picture her surroundings but you are still left in doubt as you have no actual background knowledge of any of the characters. You as reader are wondering, who is Mr and Mrs Watts? What kind of place does she live