Abstract
Award-winning New Zealand writer, Maurice Gee, has written five realistic novels for children, each set during a defining period in New Zealand history. This essay examines Gee’s use in The Fire-Raiser of historical material, particularly that related to Nelson Central School and its lively headmaster, F. G. Gibbs. Through his accurate reproduction of precise detail Gee vividly evokes small-town New Zealand during World War I. But Gee also adapts historical material in order to pursue his ideal of balance.Vivien van Rij is a lecturer in Victoria University's Faculty of Education, specialising in children's literature and literacy.Correspondence about this article may be directed to the author at vivien.vanrij@vuw.ac.nz
Highlights
Award-winning New Zealand novelist, Maurice Gee, once described the transposition into his fiction of Frank Sargeson‟s short story, „An Affair of the Heart‟, as „a straight steal‟
Gee discovered much of the novel‟s material in the course of research he undertook to write his only non-fictional text, Nelson Central School: A History, which came about partly because in 1975 Gee shifted to Nelson with his wife (Margaretha) and young family
Nelson Central School: A History has been rightly described as unusually vivid and „a major contribution to the history of education based on extensive oral research and Gee‟s sensitivity to social issues‟ (Wattie 197-98)
Summary
Award-winning New Zealand novelist, Maurice Gee, once described the transposition into his fiction of Frank Sargeson‟s short story, „An Affair of the Heart‟, as „a straight steal‟ (van Rij „Interview‟). For example, that Gibbs was fervently anti-jingoist and well known locally for defending a German music teacher against racist attacks during World War I He describes Gibbs‟ subsequent reputation of being proGerman, unfair castigations of him as „a dirty German Jew‟ and „German Sausage‟, and the resulting nickname „Sos‟ (49). Gibbs‟ involvement in a dispute over riparian rights to swimming holes on the Maitai River in 1916, and the ensuing court battle against landowners, a Mrs Richardson and her two daughters, emphasise his petty vindictiveness, as does an ex-pupil‟s recollection of an incident involving the Richardsons‟ hydraulic ram: „I have seen Mr Gibbs deliberately stick little bits of wood or leaves into the flapper of the valve to jam the mechanism He did it in front of the boys and thought it was clever. Where Mann emphasised Gibbs‟ public persona, Gee emphasises that, and the private, less pleasant individual, and different perspectives (his own included), constructing a portrait of Gibbs that is rounded, authentic and balanced
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