Kate Grenville’s novel, The Secret River, has become a classic Australian bestseller, and with its 3.8 star rating out of 5, it has been named one of the most entertaining, accomplished and engaging novels written in this country. My name is Jordan Moy, and I join you today, at the Brisbane Writers Festival, for the workshop – Great Australian Characters in Great Australian Novels, to present my interpretation on The Secret River’s prejudiced protagonist, William Thornhill. Throughout the novel, Thornhill is perceived, in utmost ways, as egotistical and materialistic. This is due to how the manner of his actions is contrasted with his lack of responsibility regarding the law. I will discuss with you a variety of major events from the novel …show more content…
and examples of Grenville’s writing intentions, which support this and provide evidence of Thornhill’s intrinsically egotistical and materialistic disposition. William Thornhill’s largely egotistical personality is concealed within the theme of social hierarchy and its levels of power throughout the entire novel.
It is recognised very early within the storyline that William suffers great degradation from the gentry while he lives a poverty stricken life in London. The influence of the gentry from London causes William to desire having power over others less important than he is while he lives a new life in Australia, as a superior. Because of William’s newly found ego, it is seen that he later acquires to construct a false hooded story to suit his new life. This is seen on page 321 of the novel, whilst William recounts his first portrait being painted by a newly arrived portraitist. William steals Loveday’s attention-grabbing version of his deportation, comprising of William being born in Kent and working for the King by transporting English spies into France, before being caught trafficking French brandy back into England. Grenville expresses that Thornhill fancies the sound of himself being considered as one of the London gentry who had once treated him so poorly. She communicates this through the use of a metaphor. She writes ‘William had not been caught greasy with fear, sweating over pieces of timber belonging to Prime Lucas, but by the excise men on some pebbly beach with a boatload of French brandy’ (Page 321, Thornhill’s Place). Grenville also uses irony in this excerpt from the novel when she indicates the comparison of William originally being ‘a poverty suffering criminal caught stealing, greasy with fear’ to him becoming ‘a well-to-do and educated gentleman haphazardly caught smuggling classy alcohol into England’. Vanilla Ice once said ‘If you don’t talk big game, you never get anywhere. If you don’t think big, you don’t get big. Some people call it egotistical, some people call it high hopes, and some people call it confidence. It’s all in how you want to dissect it’. This quote is significantly relatable
to Thornhill’s depiction as being egotistical, as it reflects upon his conceited and hypocritical nature in which constructs him as self-centred, yet makes him so successful and authoritative in his new life in Australia. William Thornhill is a man who is perceived to be exceedingly money-orientated. He has the tendency to be overly infatuated with material possessions. Those who practice this are termed Materialistic and it is one of the many acquisitive traits that William strongly possesses throughout the novel. An example of William exhibiting this greedy characteristic is seen on page 317 during the final chapter, Thornhill’s Place. When William fails to take Sal and the children home under his own desire, he promises Sal that he will strive to make a contented home for her here, in Australia. He purchases a pair of arm chairs and a sofa to go with them, a girl to do the cooking and cleaning and another to do the washing, a shawl worth a year’s income if he had still been working as a waterman in England and a pair of silk slippers. William believes he is acquiring these goods for Sal’s satisfaction, but it is soon discovered that William will never change from his conceited self and is only purchasing ‘silk slippers’ and ‘expensive shawls’ for his own benefit, and the benefit that Sal will look the part of that as ‘the daughter of a well-to-do shipowner’ (Page 321, Thornhill’s Place). These possessions prove to him and others that he is no longer a lowly waterman. He now has the power and authority that he once greatly envied of the gentry in London. Grenville uses examples of repetition within this paragraph discussing all of William’s newly obtained assets. She writes ‘So, rather than taking them Home, she had made Home here, and Thornhill had gone along with it in every way he could think of. He made sure she had all that Home had promised…’. By repeating the word Home, Grenville expresses William’s desire to acquire material possessions, to what he feels, will satisfy Sal and his family. But, I’m sure we can all agree, really these possessions only satisfy him, as he is self-centred and only pays attention to his newly established superior label. No matter whom you are, materialism is one of those things we get a little caught up in every now and again. As a civilization we are obsessed with the idea of getting new things, or getting better things. Yes some have a stronger case of it than others, like that high class elitist contemplating whether to buy a Mercedes Benz over a BMW, but we all have it. This allows us to understand why William, a poverty-stricken, low class waterman, discovers that he must acquire physical properties, as momentarily as he builds a new life for himself and becomes the master of those who reflect the self he once was. He must prove that he is no longer a poor waterman and possess the power that the gentry once had over him. In conclusion, the Secret River is a wonderful read, comprising of outstanding and delighting work of historical literature. It has been discussed that the prejudiced William Thornhill is perceived as an egotistic and materialistic narcissist who lacks responsibility regarding the law. Through themes such as social hierarchy, power and wealth, Grenville has successfully portrayed Thornhill as a man of fortitude, resilience and ignorance. She has effectively depicted the character as the self-centred and money-orientated English waterman he is perceived as. Thank you all for joining me today at the Brisbane Writers Festival workshop, Great Australian Characters in Great Australian Novels, for my interpretation of the protagonist of the brilliant, The Secret River.
The novel “Nanberry” written by Jackie French, tells the story of early European settlement in Australia. Nanberry, Surgeon White and Rachel Turner are all main characters in the novel but three minor characters who could have been examined in more detail were Maria, Colbee and Mr. Trench. Each of these characters either performs something or states something that is vital to the story line and plot. This essay will also suggest ways that these three characters could have been developed to make “Nanberry” a little bit more thought – provoking.
Author and historian, Carol Sheriff, completed the award winning book The Artificial River, which chronicles the construction of the Erie Canal from 1817 to 1862, in 1996. In this book, Sheriff writes in a manner that makes the events, changes, and feelings surrounding the Erie Canal’s construction accessible to the general public. Terms she uses within the work are fully explained, and much of her content is first hand information gathered from ordinary people who lived near the Canal. This book covers a range of issues including reform, religious and workers’ rights, the environment, and the market revolution. Sheriff’s primary aim in this piece is to illustrate how the construction of the Erie Canal affected the peoples’ views on these issues.
The compassionate novel Deadly Unna?, written by Phillip Gwynne, creates vivid characters and depicts race discourses experienced by Gary Black (also known as Blacky) in a fictitious South Australian coastal community. The novel portrays a typical coastal town of the 1970s and is set mainly in the Port: the local Pub, the Black family home and the jetty, where the local children play. The story explores the racism between the Nungas (the indigenous population who live at the Point) and the Gooynas (the white population who live at the Port). As Blacky is from the Port, he only begins to develop awareness of the racism around him as a result of his friendship with Dumby Red, a Nunga football player, and consequently stops making racist jokes and comments. Analysis of racist ideas in the town, the marginalisation of the Nunga community, Blacky’s changing beliefs and how it influences and empowers him to respond to the death of Dumby Red, reveals that Gwynne encourages the reader to reject the racist values, attitudes and beliefs of Blacky’s community.
Life can sometime bring unwanted events that individuals might not be willing to face it. This was the conflict of O’Brien in the story, “On The Rainy River”. As the author and the character O’Brien describes his experiences about the draft to the Vietnam War. He face the conflict of whether he must or must not go to the war, in this moment O’Brien thinking that he is so good for war, and that he should not be lost in that way. He also show that he disagree with the consbet of the war, how killing people will benefit the country. In addition O’Brien was terrifying of the idea of leaving his family, friends, and everything that he has done in the past years.
Closure at the River In his novel, Saints at the River, Ron Rash develops the struggle to maintain the environment as well as spiritual peace. A young girl has drowned, and is now trapped, in the Tamassee River, bringing grief and sorrow to Oconee County. The father, Herb Kowalsky, is very troubled and tries to find help from anyone. This incident brings numerous diverse individuals together to support the Kowalsky family. One of the main supporters is a writer, Allen Hemphill, who felt great empathy toward the family.
In Reading Tim Wintons hopeful saga, Cloudstreet, you are immersed in Australia; it is an important story in showing the change in values that urbanisation brought to Perth in the late 1950’s such as confidence and pride. But it was also a very anxious and fearful time period in terms of the Nedlands Monster and his impact in changing the current comfortable, breezy system Perth lived in. The role of women changed significantly with more women adopting more ambitious ideologies and engaging in the workforce something never seen before. But most of all it was important because it changed Australia’s priorities as a nation, it shaped the identity of individuals that we now see today, and it created a very unique Australian identity.
Academic colleagues like, David Greenburg, would have been exasperated, part from envy of McCullough’s ability in not only story telling but to sell and he would object to the approach of this book. The colleagues would tear at the lack of compelling rationale for an overused topic, as well as the scene setting, and meager analysis.
● Frozen River is based on the life of working class families that live in mobile homes in Massena, New York who are trying to survive, solve struggles and meet their needs. One of the families consists of a single mother name Ray trying to raise her 2 children on her own. Ray works part time at a retail store as a clerk. She has worked there for almost 2 years hoping to become a manager. With the disappearance of her husband she struggles paying her bills, providing food for her children, and not being able to finance the purchase of a new mobile home.
The relationship you have with others often has a direct effect on the basis of your very own personal identity. In the essay "On The Rainy River," the author Tim O'Brien tells about his experiences and how his relationship with a single person had effected his life so dramatically. It is hard for anyone to rely fully on their own personal experiences when there are so many other people out there with different experiences of their own. Sometimes it take the experiences and knowledge of others to help you learn and build from them to help form your own personal identity. In the essay, O'Brien speaks about his experiences with a man by the name of Elroy Berdahl, the owner of the fishing lodge that O'Brien stays at while on how journey to find himself. The experiences O'Brien has while there helps him to open his mind and realize what his true personal identity was. It gives you a sense than our own personal identities are built on the relationships we have with others. There are many influence out there such as our family and friends. Sometimes even groups of people such as others of our nationality and religion have a space in building our personal identities.
Belonging is a fluid concept that adapts and shifts within a person’s lifetime. It is subjective and can encourage feelings of security, happiness and acceptance or conversely alienation and dislocation. One's perception of belonging, and therefore identity, is significantly influenced by place and relationships established within one's environment. This is evident in Steven Herrick's free verse novel “The Simple Gift” and the short story “The River that wasn’t ours” by Ashley Reynolds.
The events, especially the end, of "The River” do not seem representative of grace; however, on a more thorough examination, God’s grace is evident, shown in the symbolism of the pig earlier in the story and in Harry’s non-Christian family. If Harry had not drowned himself that day in the river, there would have been a substantial chance that his family would have led him away from the faith. O’Connor also portrays the pig/Mr. Paradise as the devil when Mr. Paradise attempts to save Harry. Should Mr. Paradise have succeeded in saving Harry, Harry would not have been spiritually saved.
Within the film, Mystic River, there are many symbols and themes; a major symbol is only half of Dave’s name written in the cement symbolizing that Dave is only half present and that he lost his innocence. Dave is shown as being withdrawn, awkward and shy, which is due to Dave being half present and his lost of youth. The theme of unspoken secrets is present throughout the film. Both the symbol and the theme help to drive the movie forward. Dave has unspoken secrets about what happened to him as a child, but also the night he killed a man.
Can you imagine having to leave everything you have ever known to live in a country on the verge of war? Lesley Shelby, the main character in One More River by Lynn Reid Banks, knows exactly how it feels. This Jewish Canadian girl has to emigrate to Israel with her family. Through the determination and courage of one person we see how challenges, complications, and differences of the world are overcome.
Sydney, Australia is a city built on of the most beautiful locations in the world. Even so, this wealthy and sophisticated place has a dark beginning. “The Floating Brothel” by Siân Reen is a work of prose non-fiction set in the 18th century which explores this part of the origins of Sydney, with the crew and “disorderly girls” of the convict ship The Lady Julian taking the spotlight of the novel. Moreover, the novel goes into detail of the events which occurred on the convict ship was well of world events vital to understanding these events, including the state of the Sydney colony and the crimes some of the female convicts committed. The information succeeds in providing us the events that unfold around The Lady Julian as well as the world
The novel River God by Wilbur Smith is set in Ancient Egypt, during a time when the kingdoms were beginning to collapse and the Upper and Lower Egypt were separated between two rulers. The story is in the view-point of Taita, a highly multi-talented eunuch slave. At the beginning of the story, Taita belongs to Lord Intef and helps manage his estate along with caring for his beautiful daughter, Lostris. She is in love with Tanus, a fine solider and also Taita’s friend. Unfortunately, Lord Intef despises Tanus’s father, Lord Harrab, and Intef was actually the one who the cause of the fall of Harrab’s estate, unknowingly to Lostris and Tanus. Taita’s goal is to bring back Egypt to its former glory, but with so many bandits and invaders it would be a difficult task.