Breath - Tim Winton
The characters presented in the novel
Breath have a strong sense of “rebellion against the monotony of drawing
breath”.
We are first introduced to Bruce Pike a
twelve year old, who lives in Sawyer (near Perth) and a year older, Loonie.
Both of them become friends while pushing themselves to the limits of risk
taking – swimming to the bottom of a local river and then holding their breath
for more than two minutes, solely for the purpose of tricking tourists to
believe that they were drowning. Superficially such behaviour may appear to be
mere foolery however, it’s symbolic of the craving for thrill needed to break
the monotony of bare, existential plains of the Australian outback.
Both the boys have a chance meeting with a
semi retired surfer of repute - Sando, who the boys almost immediately take for
a guru. In surfing they find the
beauty of doing “something pointless and elegant, as though nobody saw or
cared”; Sando opens to them a whole new vista in risk mitigation by taking them
to surf in a remote shark frequented bay, or in the huge waves of ‘Old Smoky’
and even trying to attempt the Nautilius – a rock face infamous for ship
wrecks.
The author also explores the emotional side
of such risk taking attitude, especially in the portrayal of an unusual sexual
relationship between Sando’s wife Eva and Pikelet. Tim does not take a moral
standpoint on such behaviour of the characters and rather focuses on
undermining complex psychological issues which lead to the formation of such
attitudes. This urge of risk taking is best summed up in Eva’s words, “I miss
being afraid”.
(Ref.
m.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/may/10/fiction5)
The
Slap – Christos Tsiolkas
The Slap is essentially the story of modern
Australia’s social setting. The book opens with a Barbeque party, attended by a
multitude of Australians from different social backgrounds; though the
incidence of Harry slapping Hugo is treated as the central event or the primary
conflict around which the story revolves, the conflicts portrayed in the novel
are not limited to just that.
Tsiolkas develops the plot by means of 8
central characters, four men and four women. Conflicts between these characters
further the storyline. Australian suburbs play a pivotal role in developing
these central characters. These residential spaces are not just a back drop to
the events of the plot but also provide dynamism to the portrayal of characters
by relating social parameters as crime, affluence, security and prestige of
these neighbourhoods with the personal qualities of a character associated or
living in one of the suburbs cited.
However it would be inappropriate to assume
that the conflict in The Slap is only related to the conflicts in modern
suburbs of Australia. The problems or situations portrayed also have a strong
relation with the conflicts of varying ethnicities and social classes residing
in the country. Also varying individual behaviour and personal dilemmas in
terms of choices such as infidelity and sexuality play a role as important as,
the power dynamics influenced by wealth and position; bringing out the conflict
among different interest groups in 21st century Australia.
(Ref.
m.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/may/08/the-slap-chris)
Whose
Land
Oodgeroo Noonuccal is a native Australian
(of Aboriginal descent) poet. In her poems ‘We are going’ and ‘No more
boomerang’, she is addressing the issue of the impact of white settlers on the
native Australian way of life.
Although both the poems are reminiscent and
lamenting about the old, simple and innocent Aboriginal way of life which has
now been almost fully destroyed by the westernisation of their homeland by the
whites; the poems differ in their approach to the subject in quite a few ways.
We
are going analyses a first person perspective of an
aboriginal tribesman who is lamenting at the sight of the Bora ring being
disrespected by the white settlers. The tribe’s man is saddened by the thought
of how his culture is falling to ruin since the western ways brought by the
white men has lead to the aborigines defecting to a ‘comfortable’ western
lifestyle, forsaking their own cultural heritage; and so it is on the brink of
extinction. The tone of the poem is transitional and shows the period of change
from an aborigine way of life to a western way of life. The mood is best summed
up by the closing line, ‘and we are going’ – conveying a transitory phase.
No
more boomerang has a sarcastic and mocking tone
when compared with We are going. It
presents the other side of the transition, that is, the period when the western
way of life has completely taken over the native Australian value system.
Noonuccal uses this poem as a tool to lament as well as mock the blind
following of western ways by the Aboriginal men and women at their own loss.
The poem is a forewarning against the ruinous new values; the last line of the
poem perfectly captures this sentiment by simply stating how all progress is
useless since the modern atom bomb will ‘end everybody’ – mocking western
ideologies which advocate elimination of foreign cultures and ethnicities in
the guise of development.
(ref. www.phyllobl.net)
Nation
and Place
This unit discusses the notions of
Australian national character. Speeches by three Australian presidents have
been discussed in this context; all of which highlight the national character
as one of ‘mateship’.
Prime Minister Keating discusses the
bonding between the soldiers during the war to highlight the mateship
phenomena; whereas, Howard uses the loyalty and patriotism of the Australian
citizens to highlight the same. Lastly, Julia Gillard relates this phenomenon
to the camaraderie shown by the citizen during the floods. However, it must be
noted here that these political outlines of national character have made use of
mythical appeals. They have exaggerated upon certain characters and played
carefully on others so as to include all while describing the national
character, playing safe so as not to alienate a section of the society.
Due note must also be taken of Richard
White’s argument in ‘Inventing Australia’ that, national identity is a product
of three major factors. First being the scientific developments and revolutions
in the nation that bring about a homogenous character of nation’s citizens as a
result of a development or as a response to the revolution. Second being the
influence of the think tanks such as journalists, writers, artists and other
creative individuals who influence the society’s thought process. And lastly,
people with economic or social power.
Politicians fall in the third category
highlighted in Richard’s arguments. It can be said, that the politicians have inculcated
in the masses the idea of Australian mateship in order to bring them together
for a common cause and for winning their unified support in times of trial and
calamities such as war, floods or even elections.
If White’s understanding of national character
is true then it may be said that the future of Australian national character
rests in the developments in the three key fields stated by White.
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