Columnar Barnacles and Oyster Borer

My investigation focus is to find the distribution pattern of Oyster Borer (Haustrum Scobina) and Columnar Barnacles (Chamaesipho Columna) and to show how the two species relate using quantitative data.

Description of Pattern

Barnacles

My data showed barnacles were often grouped together showing clumped distribution pattern. This was not necessarily because of resources but the clumping of barnacles is needed for reproduction as barnacles cannot move and need to reproduce with another barnacle.

My data also showed barnacles were most common in the intertidal zone (70cm-105cm above sea level) with an average of 1077 (in 15 quadrats) in the intertidal zone compared with 3.33 and 46.6 in the low tide zone and high tide zone respectively. Barnacles zonation is in the intertidal zone because the amount of barnacle predators increases with more submergence time.

Barnacle zonation was also extremely concentrated as shown by the sum of the number of barnacles. There were 16,000 barnacles in the intertidal zone compared with 50 in low tide zone and 700 in high tide zone. This shows that the biological markup of barnacles does not suit the environmental factors in the low tide zone and high tide zone and that once given the right environment, barnacles survive in large numbers.

Columnar Barnacles	Low Tide	Intertidal Zone	High Tide
Average	3.333333333	1076.8	46.66666667
Sum	50	16152	700

Photo from data collection day.

Oyster Borer

My data showed oyster borer were found in all three zones but were most common in the intertidal zone. This can be seen in the data by an average of 3.8 oyster borer in the intertidal zone compared with 0.67 and 1.2 oyster borer in the low and high tide zones respectively.

Oyster Borers had a clumped distribution in our research and data. We tended to find oyster borers together and this was because of resources such as barnacles which they eat.

Oyster Borer	Low Tide	Intertidal Zone	High Tide
Average	0.6666666667	3.8	1.2
Sum	10	57	18

Environmental Factor

An abiotic environmental factor which affects both oyster borers and barnacles is the tide level and vertical height which both determine how much time they both spend submerged underwater. This factor itself is important because it also controls other environmental factors like temperature (sea is colder than land) and expose to sun.

Barnacles

Barnacles are filter feeders and eat plankton, algae and bacteria that is floating in the water. Due to the nature of their food, they can only get access to the food while they are in the water as they use their tentacles so they need to be submerged underwater at some points during the day. They also need to get access to water so they do not become desiccated.

Because they are not covered by water all the time, they seal water inside them to last until the tide comes back out. (Explain how tide affects a barnacles and oyster borer)

Oyster Borer

Oyster Borer also need water to survive by preventing desiccation. For this reason they should be covered by water twice a day and the length of time covered it determined by them being in the intertidal zone. Oyster Borer also feed underwater so they need to be exposed to water to water long enough to eat the barnacles and to move to them.

If there was not enough submergence time, oyster borer would die because they wouldn’t be able to eat the barnacles.

If hypothetically the intertidal zone had a longer submergence time, barnacles would be eaten out by other predators and no food would be left for Oyster Borer and so they would die out. Oyster Borer cannot go too far down the zones because the further they go down, the less food source even though they can spend more time eating. These are the reasons why Oyster Borer stay in the intertidal zone.

Ecological Niche

Barnacles

Barnacles live on rocks in the intertidal zone avoiding predators who need a large submergence time while filter feeding on plankton, algae and bacteria. Oyster Borer are its main predator.

Adaptations

Barnacles

Barnacles have impervious shells that can resist predators and can take the impact of waves. The shape of barnacles is hydrodynamic which means waves can easily wave over it causing no damage to the barnacles. This is a structural adaptation. This allows barnacles to be on rocks that are impacted by waves a lot and some of these high rocks could be considered the intertidal zone where we find these barnacles. Because barnacles have this adaptation, they can live on exposed rocks when some other species cannot.

Barnacles have a high temperature tolerance which is important because in rock pools the temperature can fluctuate a lot.

Barnacles have a few adaptations which allow them to be in the intertidal zone as opposed the low tide zone where they are survive less. Firstly, barnacles have a valve which opens and closes to keep water in and process food while also preventing desiccation. While underwater, barnacles open their valves and extend their cirri (tongue like) to gather plankton and algae from the water. Once the tide starts going out, barnicles close their valves to process the food they have gathered and they process this food while outside the water. This valve is made up of multiple plates which successfully seal the water but also keep predators out. This valve allows barnacles to stay out of the water longer than other animals that cannot seal water inside themselves. Because of this physiological/behavioural adaptation, we find barnacles more commonly further up in the intertidal zone.

Barnacles are also able to stick themselves to rocks very solidly and this is a behavioural adaptation by which they release a cement to glue themselves down.

A physiological adaptation is enzymes the barnacles release to break down plankton, algae and bacteria.

Ecological Niche

Oyster Borer

Oyster Borer feed on barnacles in the intertidal zone avoiding competition because of their adaptations which resist desiccation and allow them to stay in the intertidal zone. Oyster Borers are eaten by whelks.

Adaptations

Oyster Borer

Oyster Borer had a tooth ribbon (radula) which allow them to drill into mussels and barnacles and eat the organisms from the inside out. This is a structural adaptation allows Oyster Borer to drill into mussels in as little at 45 minutes.

When feeding on barnacles, Oyster Borer insert their foot into the barnacle before consuming the flesh, this is a structural adaptation.

The shell of a Oyster Borer helps to camouflage it into the rocks around and also provides protection from the waves and potential predators. This is a structural adaptation.

Oyster Borers use a mucous near the entrance to the shell to stop desiccation as they live in the intertidal zone. This structural adaptation allows them to stay out of water from longer than therefore allows them to live further up on the rocky shore.

Interrelationship

The interrelationship between these two animals is predation. Oyster Borer eat barnacles on the rocky shore and so we would expect to find them occupying the same areas. As barnacles mainly occupy the intertidal zone, this is where we would expect to find the most Oyster Borer.

Barnacles and Oyster Borer

Discussion

The tide level/vertical height is an environmental factor that with a barnacles adaptation, can explain the pattern. The tide level affects submergence time and the more time spent submerged mean more access to water but it also means more predators for Barnacles. For this reason they survive more in the intertidal zone but they can only do this because of an adaptation that stops water desiccation. The valve of the barnacle closes up when the tide goes in so that the barnacle has water even when the tide is in. This valve is comprised of multiple plates that move to close up when there is low tide. The barnacle also has an adaptation which allows it to process its food outside of the water. These two adaptations mean that barnacles have to spend less time in the water each day to survive and can therefore live further up the rocky shore compared with other organisms. This suits barnacles because the intertidal zone, has less predators as many of their predator need to eat them underwater for extended periods of time.

Oyster Borer eat the barnacles that are living in the intertidal zone. This is why Oyster Borer stay in the intertidal zone, because of their food source. This is relevant because if barnacles did not have these adaptations they would live further down the shore and spend more time submerged underwater. This would mean other predators would eat the barnacles and so there would not be much left for Oyster Borer. Oyster Borer would then not fulfill their ecological niche and they would die out.

My data supports this theory that there is a relationship between Oyster Borer and barnicles. In the low tide zone we only found an average (from 15 quadrats) of 3.33 barnacles and 0.67 oyster borer. In the intertidal zone we found an average of 1076.8 barnacles and a higher 3.8 oyster borer. In the high tide zone, we only found 46.67 barnacles average and 1.2 oyster borer average.

This clearly support the relationship link as where there is a large amount of barnacles, the number of oyster borers is also larger. We could also see this when taking our data because many of the barnacles were dead and oyster borers were around.

Average Population in Quadrat	Low Tide	Intertidal Zone	High Tide
Barnacles	3.333333333	1076.8	46.66666667
Oyster Borer	0.6666666667	3.8	1.2

Total Population in Quadrat	Low Tide	Intertidal Zone	High Tide
Barnacles	50	16152	700
Oyster Borer	10	57	18

Bibliography

Between the Tides

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00288330.1975.9515574

http://www.seafriends.org.nz/enviro/habitat/shore1.htm

http://bio.research.ucsc.edu/people/carr/Raimondi%20Reprints/Barnacle%20chapter%20proofs.pdf

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/resources-rx/files/10feat_secret_life_of_barnacles-3061.pdf

http://www.seafriends.org.nz/enviro/habitat/rsmoll.htm

http://www.mesa.edu.au/atoz/Mulberry_Oyster_Borer.asp

Biology Adaptations 2.5

Biology Adaptations 2.5Tim Armstrong

Introduction

In this assignment I will be discussing how adaptations enable gas exchange in specific habitats for a mammal, fish and insect. The specific animals I am studying are Desert Kangaroo Rats, Migratory Locusts and Southern Bluefin Tuna. I will also compare the gas exchange systems, adaptations and identify limitations and advantages of each system.

Mammal

Desert Kangaroo Rat

Dipodomys deserti

Desert Kangaroo Rats are found in North America and live in dry areas with low rainfall and humidity. They live on sandy and rocky, open areas where they eat grass seeds, stems and fruit. Kangaroo Rats gain water needed for gas exchange though their food. Predators to the desert kangaroo Rat are coyotes, foxes, badgers and snakes. The arid conditions that Kangaroo Rats face presents an issue as water is needed for gas exchange to provide a moist surface area for the diffusion of oxygen and carbon dioxide and as there is no open water in most of their habitat they live in. Kangaroo Rats have unique adaptations to prevent water loss which enable them to survive.

Moisture

Desert Kangaroo Rats live in deserts with arid conditions for animals. Desert Kangaroo Rats need moisture for respiration and this moisture is retained within Kangaroo Rats through nasal passage physical adaptations which reduce water loss from respiration. Desert Kangaroo Rats have a form of countercurrent exchange of inhalation and exhalation in their nasal passage in which expired, moist air from respiration is cooled and the water vapor condenses before returning to the body via osmosis into the blood. This adaptation allows for very little water loss and energy loss that would usually occur from respiration. This adaptation allowed Desert Kangaroo Rats to maintain moisture and enables them to gas exchange by allowing oxygen and carbon dioxide to diffuse through this water. This adaptation is important because they rate of evaporation in the Californian Desert (where Desert Kangaroo Rats are most common) is 150 inches per year while their is only 2 inches of precipitation a year. This adaptation allows such efficient water conservation and gas exchange that Desert Kangaroo Rats never need to drink water as long as they have food in which they can get water from oxidization. This adaptation that minimises water loss is so efficient that Desert Kangaroo Rats have similar levels of water content to other animals that are in environment with large amounts of water. Without this nasal passage adaptation, Desert Kangaroo Rats would not be able to conserve enough water needed for gas exchange and would die out as a consequence in their natural habitat.

Desert Kangaroo Rats also have other adaptations which minimise water loss. Desert Kangaroo Rat’s kidneys can concentrate urine up to five times more than human urine resulting in less water being wasted. This adaptation is enabled by a lengthen loop of Henle in Desert Kangaroo Rats. Desert Kangaroo Rats also do not have sweat glands and don’t pant like other mammals to cool down. These two physical and behavioural adaptations minimise water loss in the desert furthermore resulting in retaining enough moisture to carry out gas exchange. In the desert, arid conditions make water valuable. Kangaroo Rats survive in their habitat because they don’t use waste much water.

Lungs

The adaptation of the lungs in Desert kangaroo Rats enables them to carry out gas exchange in their habitat. When Kangaroo Rats breathe in air, the air is pumped through bronchus into the lungs where  it goes into the alveoli. The capillary network which surrounds the alveoli then diffuses oxygen via water through the thin cell wall into the blood and gas exchange takes place. The blood from the capillary network is then pumped through the heart and around the body to the cells where they are given the oxygen from the blood and carbon dioxide is exchanged after the conversion of oxygen and glucose into energy. This carbon dioxide is then pumped back around the body into the lungs where it diffuses into the air and is pushed out due to pressure and vacuum provided by the diaphragm. Kangaroo Rats need a gas exchange system to survive in the desert. They use lungs because their environment lacks water and therefore cannot use gills yet they are too big for trachea air delivery system as there would be to much dead air inside the Kangaroo Rat and the trachea may not be able to support the weight of large animal (explanation of these ideas in discussion).

Surface Area

Alveoli adaptations create the large surface area needed for gas exchange in Desert Kangaroo Rats. Surface area in the lungs is increased by alveoli which are effectively small balloons with gas exchange surfaces within them. Alveoli increase surface area by splitting the lungs up into many small pockets which inflate when air is inhaled. Alveoli have a large surface area to volume ratio which is more efficient than if the lungs only had one flat gas exchange surface surrounding the lung. Large capillary networks cover the alveoli and helps large volumes of gases to exchange. The blood goes through the capillary network and carbon dioxide and oxygen diffuse over the cell wall. Without this increased surface area adaptation the Kangaroo Rat would not get enough oxygen and energy to power life processes resulting in them dying.

Concentration Gradient

The Desert Kangaroo Rat has a diaphragm and sealed lung adaptation which improves their concentration gradient for diffusion. The lung is sealed which creates a vacuum where there is only one exit and entrance for air. When the diaphragm contracts downwards more volume is created in the lungs and there is a lower pressure resulting in higher pressure air from outside coming into the lungs. The diaphragm adaptation increases the concentration gradient in Kangaroo Rats and this results in faster diffusion as opposed to passive diffusion of air into the body. The diaphragm increases the concentration gradient by sucking fresh air into the lungs that has a high concentration of oxygen (than the expired air) which better diffuses with the low oxygen blood. This adaptation allow Desert Kangaroo Rats to survive in their environment as they can pull in more air to diffuse oxygen from which is more efficient than passive diffusion of air into lungs. If the Desert Kangaroo Rat were to not get enough air, resulting in less oxygen being diffused into the body then the Kangaroo Rat would not have enough energy for life processes and would not survive.

Diffusion Distance

The cell wall between the alveoli and the blood is adapted to be very thin to allow gases to diffuse easily. The cell wall is from (0.5 - 2 microns thick) which enables the shortest possible diffusion distance.

Insect

Migratory Locust

Locusta migratoria

Migratory Locusts live in Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Migratory Locusts can inhabit many regions as they move such as plains, deserts and seashores. They like to feed on wheat plants and sugar cane as well as other forms of vegetation along routes they migrate. They move in swarms of millions of locusts and can eat as much as their entire body weight in a single day. Birds, snakes and lizards prey on migratory locusts however the impact of these predators is minimal. Fungi and bacteria as well as mites eat locusts eggs which has a big impact as the lifespan of locusts is less than one month. Locusts can only survive for a short period of time in dry conditions.

Basic overview of gas exchange in migratory locusts

Air is pumped through holes in the insect by muscular contractions and expansions of the abdomen. The oxygen in this air is delivered directly to the cells through the trachea network in the insect and at the end of this trachea is a moist area with water where gas exchange diffusion takes place. Oxygen from the air diffuses into the cell and carbon dioxide from respiration is diffused out of the cell into the air in the trachea and eventually leaves the insect.

One physiological adaptation of Migratory Locusts that helps them to carry out gas exchange is the spiracles they have on the surface of their bodies. Chemoreceptors detect the amount of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the body if there is high CO2 and Low O2 they open up allowing oxygen to enter the trachea of the insect. This opening and closing of the spiracles prevents water loss enabling the ability to have a moist environment for gas exchange. This moist environment allows the gases to diffuse through the cell wall using the water. Without this adaptation, Migratory Locusts may dry up in flight and might not have enough water for gas exchange and therefore die.

Another adaptation in Migratory Locusts which helps gas exchange is the muscular expansions and contractions of the abdomen which pumps air into the trachea for gas exchange. This adaptation enables efficient gas exchange by creating a high concentration gradient. These contractions and expansions of the abdomen creates differences in pressure between the inside and the outside and this change in pressure create air movement as the air moves from areas of high pressure to low pressure areas. Such contractions allow the insect to push out expired carbon dioxide, a product of respiration, and pull in fresh oxygen. This aids gas exchange because it allows a higher amount of oxygen to come in contact with the cells as the new oxygen is constantly coming in. The alternative is passive diffusion of air through the trachea which is much slower and would not suit the insects habitat and lifestyle where they are consistently flying and need maximum amount of oxygen.

Network of Trachea in Migratory Locusts

Migratory Locusts use a network of trachea throughout the insect to deliver oxygen directly to cells for gas exchange and also remove carbon dioxide from the body. This is efficient because it does not require a respiratory pigment such as hemoglobin to carry oxygen which slows the gas exchange process. The trachea gas transport system is much more efficient as it allow a high rate of oxygen flow.

The trachea tubes enable a large surface area:volume ratio as the larger branches of tracheae break into smaller branches of tracheoles creating more surface area for diffusion of gases into cells. As well as this, during exercise the insect releases more water near the ends of the  tracheoles where diffusion is taking places which increases surface area and moisture and allows oxygen to be diffused and converted into energy faster.

Migratory Locusts have a ring like adaptation on their trachea which maintain the structural stability of the air passage way. These rings provide structural integrity (can be seen in the image to the side) and enable the tubes to always be round and open instead of collapsing under the weight of the insects body. Without this adaptation, air would not be transported to the cells as the trachea would collapse under the weight of the insect.

Fish

Southern Bluefin Tuna

Thunnus maccoyii

Southern bluefin Tuna live in the southern hemisphere and are a fast swimming fish which can become quite large as an adult Tuna. Bluefin Tuna feed on a variety of fish and crustaceans including sardines, mackerel and eels. Their predators include orcas and sharks. Southern Bluefin Tuna are also over fished due to their high value as a food. Bluefin have two different muscles for swimming, one for short distance speed and another for long distance swimming as they migrate.

Brief description of gas exchange in Tuna

Water from the sea enters the mouth and flows over the gills, gill filaments and gill lamellae. Blood flows through the gills in the opposite direction of the water and diffusion takes place as the low oxygen, high carbon dioxide blood diffuses with the high oxygen, low carbon dioxide water. This blood is then circulated around the body and is delivered to cells where respiration occurs. The blood is pumped back to the gills where is diffuses with the water and the process repeats.

Surface Area

Southern Bluefin Tuna have a structural adaptation called gills which helps efficient gas exchange in reduced oxygen environments (when compared to air). Gill arcs in the mouth hold rows of thin gill filaments which are separated from each other. Additionally, gill filaments have rows of gill lamellae (see image) within them. This splitting of gas exchange surfaces creates more surface area than if it were just a flat surface. This increased surface area  (more places for diffusion to take place) allows more rapid oxygen and carbon dioxide diffusion resulting in more oxygen being gained. Tuna are fast swimming fish that need to be fast to catch their food. This adaptation increases the potential rate of gas exchange making gas exchange more rapid so they have enough energy to hunt.

Concentration Gradient

In addition to gills, Southern Bluefin Tuna also have an adaptation which enables countercurrent flow between blood and water over the gills improving the efficiency of gas exchange. As the water with high oxygen content flows over the gill lamellae, blood with low oxygen flows in the opposite direction. Countercurrent is efficient because the gas concentrations do not meet equilibrium as as such there is always a difference in the concentration gradient and so gases continue diffusing longer than in concurrent systems.

When the blood has diffused a decent portion of oxygen from the water and it is just about to leave the gills it meets fresh water which has 100% oxygen content and as the water is has 90% oxygen content, there is still a diffusion difference and diffusion continues to take place all the way along. Countercurrent flow is more efficient than concurrent flow because the blood and the water never meet equilibrium (50% oxygen in blood and water) and instead could theoretically reach 100% oxygen diffusion from the water if the gill was long enough.

These physical adaptations which increase surface area and enable countercurrent flow increase the amount of oxygen that can be extracted from the water. This helps Southern Bluefin Tuna to carry out gas exchange more efficiently which is important because the habitat for Tuna is water. In water there is less than 1% oxygen available to animals compared to 21% in air so Tuna need to be more efficient about extracting it from water and countercurrent flow achieves this. Tuna are also very fast swimming fish when hunting and need more oxygen than slower swimming fish.

Short Diffusion Distance

Southern Bluefin Tuna additionally have a very thin gill lamellae which are only 5µm thick resulting in a short diffusion distance which allows easy gas exchange between the cells as the oxygen goes into the cell and carbon dioxide is removed from the cells. This once again increases how rapid gas exchange can take place increasing the amount of oxygen which can be used in energy conversion.

Discussion

Southern Bluefin Tuna and Desert Kangaroo Rats both have the same demand, extraction oxygen and removing carbon dioxide. However, their habitats and environments are very different and they complete gas exchange in different ways. Tuna must have adapted a more efficient gas exchange system than Kangaroo Rats as the amount of oxygen in water is less than 1% while in air it is 21%. Southern Bluefin Tuna achieve this efficiency with adaptations that maximise surface area and enable countercurrent flow of blood and water. Gill lamellae maximise surface area so Tuna can get enough oxygen during fast paced swimming and countercurrent flow maximises the amount of oxygen that can be extracted from the blood. This is more efficient than Kangaroo Rats because Kangaroo Rats have concurrent flow which means they eventually reach equilibrium after only extracting 50% oxygen from blood and only releasing 50% carbon dioxide from blood. This contrasts to Tuna where they can theoretically extract 100% of the oxygen from the water. This efficiency allows Southern Bluefin Tuna to live in habitats with much lower levels of oxygen.

Countercurrent flow in gills may be more efficient but a limitation of gills is that they must be in water to work properly. Water gives gills, gill filaments and gill lamellae buoyancy and separates them allowing more rapid gas exchange as there is more surface area. Kangaroo Rats lungs have the opposite limitation as they cannot breathe underwater as they are not designed to extract oxygen from water like fish gills are.

An advantage Tuna having gills is that as long as the Tuna is submerged in water they will always have enough water for the moisture factor in gas exchange. This contrasts to Kangaroo Rats and Migratory Locusts where they need moisture preserving adaptations to survive in their habitat. Kangaroo Rats use countercurrent condensing of expired air into water vapour to retain water and migratory locust have spiracles which open and close to prevent water loss.

Southern Bluefin Tuna and Desert Kangaroo Rats use blood to transport oxygen around the body whereas Migratory Locusts use networks of trachea to deliver oxygen directly to the cells. There are advantages and limitation to both method of oxygen transport systems. The trachea system has the advantage of directly oxygen delivery to cells without the need for a respiratory pigment which makes it more efficient. The issue with this system is that it does not work on larger animals as the trachea could not support the weight of the body if it were the size of a Kangaroo Rat and the trachea would collapse in on itself denying oxygen to cells. Even though migratory locusts have the rings adaptation which provide structural integrity, it would still not be able to support more weight than an insect.

Another disadvantage of trachea is the dead air inside the insect it creates. Dead air is the expired air inside the insect that is not fully pumped out by muscular contractions as insects cannot pump out all the air inside them. This air is a limitation because as it is already expired it cannot be used for respiration and is instead taking up space for air that could have oxygen. Lungs also have this limitation while gills don’t as they don’t use air and the water can continuously flow.  

Tim Armstrong

Mister Pip Lloyd Jones Anaylsis

Mister Pip

Lloyd Jones

Extended Text - 24/02/2014

Lloyd Jones shows the suffering of a village through a girls eyes in his book Mister Pip. Matilda lives on a island in Papua New Guinea which is going through a civil war between the government (redskins) and the rebels. Matila, her mum and the other civilians in the village live in constant fear of both the rebel and redskin attacks despite the village having nothing to do with the war. In this seemingly unavoidable world of attacks, Mr Watts enables the village children to escape to 19th century England as he reads them Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.

When I read this text I felt shocked because of the miserable conditions these villages had to live in. Both rebels and “redskins” would demand unreasonable requests and actions and when the villagers could not comply, they would beat them and kill them. The villagers had nothing to protect themselves with and could only watch as their loved ones were killed. This helplessness over their fate is shown when Matilda says “‘This is what happens, you wait and wait. Until you wish the redskins would just come so that the waiting can be over”. This enabled me to think about how the pain of waiting can be worse than the act itself. I myself sometimes over analyze situations before had and find it to be more excruciating than the actual event. Sometimes its better to get it over and done with but Matilda has no choice but to wait for pain.

An idea which I found interesting was the idea of escapism which enables the children to be distracted from the ongoing civil war on their island. Mister Watts is the only westerner still on the island and he decides to educate them by reading them Great Expectations. Through this book the children become captivated and begin to live the life of Pip (the main character) on the island as if he were actually their as their friend. This is shown when Matilda says “I had found a new friend. The surprising thing was where I had found him...in a book.” This surprised me because a book set in 19th century peacetime England seems to connect and relate to kids in a modern civil war set in Papua new Guinea which is quite a contrast. The book Mr Watts reads and their current situation seem to show no similarities on the surface but Matilda begins to relate it to her experience on the island as shown when Matilda says “Now I knew fear as Pip had known it when Magwitch threatened to eat his heart and liver”. Though this book Matilda is learning about her emotions and she can deal with them because she can relate her experience to Pip and what he does. Matilda also relates the book to her current position in “I knew things could change because they had for Pip”. Even though the book is fictional, Matilda is given hope from the made up events in the book and this allows her to not give up. This relating of completely different worlds showed me that humans will adapt a story and a character to make understanding of what they were currently enduring even thought the idea may be different. Both Matilda and Pip are experience some form of conflict on different levels, Pips conflict of what is to be a gentleman, is nothing in comparison to whether Matilda is going to be alive by the end of the day. However, this conflict has enough similarity to relate her situation to Pips and essentially escape to 19th century England, even if it is only for a bit. This friend she finds in Pip allows her to make sense of her world when she is only a child and this understand means we never see Matilda break down until after she leaves Papua New Guinea. She learns how to deal with the conflicts she faces from Pip and she survives. Matilda not only escapes into Pips world, but also brings understanding back to her uncivilised world.

This was interesting to me also because it showed the power of books. In Matilda's physical and real world the most civilised thing is a fictional book written hundreds of years ago. This was interesting to me because it made me question if the closest we can get to proper civilisation is in fictional books. This made me question whether humans can actually achieve proper civilization or does moral corruption take over preventing a fully civilized society. In Matilda's world, Australian Mine companies brought money and civilization, but local powers become greedy and wanted more leading to civil unrest.

Tim Armstrong