Analysis Of Gary's House By Debra Oswald

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Gary’s House, Debra Oswald, features the story of an Aussie couple facing the reality of adversity. Oswald has represented common beliefs and representations through the four protagonists mainly focusing on Gary and Dave. Many beliefs and values in the book symbolize the dominant stereotypes of an average Australian. Oswald explores the concept of an Aussie battler and how it perpetuates and challenges the common stereotype of Australians. Born in 1959, author Debra Oswald began writing as a teenager. She rose to prominence with the debut of Gary’s House where it was shortlisted for the NSW Premier’s Award. Many of her works features abandoned and neglected children that grow into adults to fight their own demons in the past. Oswald writes about the importance of a family’s psychology, both real and surrogate. In Gary’s House, Gary had a bad relationship with his father that lead to neglection and eventually hate but when Gary himself becomes a father he disregards his past to provide for his future child. This is the author’s intention of representing how important family is. With only four characters in the play, each of these individuals plays a vital role in each other’s lives. Gary and Dave are juxtaposing characters in the play, with Christine and Sue-Anne being the other two. Prior to their first meeting, Gary was hardworking and determined, a classic Aussie tradie striving to build a house on a block of land he inherited from his passing father in hopes of providing a future for his unborn baby. Dave however, is quite contrasting in comparison to Gary. Dave is known for being laidback and lazy, playing a passive role. Despite not revealing much about himself, Dave is socializes well with the rest of the characters with c... ... middle of paper ... ...ges Dave’s carefree attitude into compassionate and empathetic. Characters in the play aren’t the only way Oswald interpreted common representations. Throughout the text in the play Oswald is able to create a vivid image of the location and background in the play. Oswald demonstrated how even setting and location could represent the dominant stereotype. The main location in the play is a building site on a remote bush block where Gary attempts to finish his house for Sue-Anne and their baby. This revolves around the general landscape in Australia. This includes the remote outback and the bush lands hence Oswald’s perpetuation of the setting in the play. The house plays a significant role as well. The state of the house often reflects on the emotions on the characters. Such as when Gary ended his own life the house was shown to be ‘deserted and abandoned’ (pg. 41).

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