A typical example: the work of a gui application is divided into separate classes for modeling the factory, providing GUI elements, and handling a user`s clicks. The factory model class maintains a stack of factory configurations and lets clients register for notifications of changes in the factory. The visualization class which registers for the notification that the factoryModel class provides changes factory events into GUI changes. The visMdediator class translates GUI events into appropriate changes in the factory model. In a word, the three class in the mvc pattern play the respective roles.
A more authoritative explaination about Java Mvc: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/articles/javase/index-142890.html.