Blackwood's Path
In contrast with the rest of the Thornhills, Dick has taken more of Blackwood's approach to interacting with the Aboriginals. Instead of trying to simply coexist like Thornhill, he makes the effort to understand their practices and culture. With him in addition to Blackwood, we can see how could have been possible for the colonists to have learned from and lived with the Aboriginals, given some effort and open-mindedness. However, seeing how Dick and Blackwood are treated by the other colonists shows exactly why that did not happen.
Dick and Willie
What I find most interesting is how different Willie and Dick have become. Whereas Dick works to understand and learn from the Aboriginals, Willie is hungry for violence. In contrast to this, Willie is loud but unintimidating (seen with his uselessness with a gun) while Dick is fairly quiet but his spear-throwing ability makes him the strongest in the family. It is somewhat reminiscent of Blackwood and Smasher, which alludes to what may come of the two boys. As tensions between the Aboriginals and colonizers escalate, Willie will most likely double down. However, as of now it's difficult to determine if Dick will stay on his family's side when he can already tell that they're on the wrong side of history.
I find your comparison between Dick and Willie really interesting. I wonder if their differences will increase as they grow up, or if their ways will combine and Dick's accepting nature will go away.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up a really good point in that there are many similarities between the siblings, Dick and Willie, and Smasher and Blackwood. It is a comparison that I never noticed until I read your post. I think that they way in which the boys' personalities reflect Smasher and Blackwood will dictate their future actions and how their life will evolve.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate how you explained the connection between Blackwood and Dick's character traits and ways they act towards the Aborigines. Blackwood and Dick are at the top of the list of my favorite characters in this novel, and their kind and welcoming actions towards the Aborigines highly contrast from characters such as Smasher.
ReplyDeleteThe contrast between Willie and Dick is such a standout dichotomy for me. They say that the biases or lack thereof of a parent will rub off on their child, and so the two children's polar opposite approaches to the aboriginals reflects the internal schism of their parent, William.
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