Will Thornhill, as a young boy, has to overcome the loss of his parents, the destitution of his family, the starvation that hounded him constantly, the lack of schooling he had access to, and the poverty cycle he was stuck in.
As a young man, he had to overcome the burden of his siblings.
As a married man, he had to deal with the deal of his parents-in-law, the near starvation of his wife and child, and destitution, which led him to rob his employer.
As a convict, he had to overcome the challenge of overturning the death sentence and staying alive to support his family.
When he arrived in Australia he had to build up a life from scratch. He had to find a way to get a pardon granted to him. He then decided he needed to get a plot of land, which his wife Sal opposed, so he had to overcome her opposition.
When he gets to his home on the Hawkesbury, he needs to overcome his lack of knowledge with farming, his uncouth neighbours, and the Indigenous peoples who haunt the forests surrounding his home.
Will Thornhill was faced with opposition at every turn/ He was born under an unlucky star, but in the end he managed to overcome all physical obstacles and become a respectable man.
3. State and explain two significant quotations.
pg 149, "Thornhill bent down and pushed a seed into the dirt with his thumb. Ain't nothing to me if it's dead or alive, he said breezily. Long as it says Will Thornhill got here first."
This quote is said in the context of Will planting his very first seed into the ground at his chosen homestead. The seed was small and shriveled, and both him and his son were doubtful that anything would grow from it. This quote shows how determined Will was to have his own land, and have his official claim. It was his goal for the last section of the novel to obtain his own land along the Hawkesbury River, and at this moment he was achieving his goal by planting his very first corn seed. This has a huge significance, as it is the beginning of an era for him and his family.
pg 309 "The sun hardened around them. The clearing had a broken look, the bodies lying like so much fallen timber, the dirt trampled and marked with dark stains. And a great shocked silence hanging over them."
This quote was at the close of the great slaughtering of the Indigenous people. The former criminals living along the banks of the Hawkesbury River had decided to show the Indigenous people who was the master of the land. They took their guns and shot an entire group of them. When dawn's first light shone through the clearing, the men saw the aftermath of the broken bodies on the ground. Earlier in the text, it had stated that the bodies had fallen neatly, and it was almost as if they were sleeping. The entire feeling of the clearing had changed. Instead of being a bright, nice place to rest, it was an area which had the stench of blood and a feel of devastation. The last sentence of the quote demonstrates artful diction used by the author. She managed to convey that, despite the men's hatred for the Indigenous people and their desire to do them harm, their actions had been inhuman. They didn't know what to say, because they didn't realize how cruel what they had done was until it was too late. The taking of another persons life is one of the most vicious acts that a person can commit. Even though these men were criminals, they knew that they had outdone any of their previous crimes that night.
4. In what ways does the major character change from the beginning to the
end?
In the beginning of the story, the main character William Thornhill was a man who had been weathered and beaten by life and the circumstances he had been forced to bear. He was a very poor man whom was forced to steal to survive, as he had no other method of obtaining food for him or his family. He always wanted more in his life, so he aspired to achieve it. He became a working man under his wife Sal's father. He left his life of deceit and thievery behind and he worked very hard to support him and his growing family. After his father-in-laws' death, his quality of life plummeted and so did his willpower, and he returned to filching food, and other supplies. He got caught during one of his planned robberies, and is sentenced to death. His wife concocts a plan to save him from the death sentence, and he is then allowed to live. The condition for his life is that he must live in the penal colony of New South Wales the remainder of his days. After arriving in the colony, he begins to work hard again, and he and Sal establish a good life. He becomes longing for the unclaimed land which are available for the prisoners released from their sentence. He then moves to a plot of land in the jungle just off the river, and then becomes a fearful man, as the jungles are filled with the regions Indigenous peoples, known as the blacks. He becomes master over two new prisoners, and He turns to deceit yet again as he keeps secrets from his wife Sal. He then becomes a desperate man, and acts as a desperate man would. He kills some of the blacks later in the novel, during a massacre, which is something the Will Thornhill at the beginning of the novel never would have done. At the end of the novel, he is a prosperous man, which is so unlike how he was previously in the novel. He was a respectable man in the society, and well thought of. But at the very close of the novel, he had a feeling of hollowness within him, showing that even though he had achieved his goal of respectability and wealth, he was not happy. From beginning to end, Will Thornhill demonstrates that he is a very dynamic character. His goals change, his wants and needs change and his actions towards others change. One thing that remains constant is his desperate need to survive and achieve his dreams.
9. Does your book deal with social problems? If so, what problems or concerns were explored in it, and how does it deal with them?
Secret River deals greatly with racism. It takes place in the beginning of the 19th century, during Britain's imperialist reign over a quarter of the Earth's surface. In this era, most of the European people, particularly the British, were Eurocentric, meaning that they believe European society to be superior to anyone who was not of their culture. This feeling of specific ethocentricism is felt throughout most of the book. As the British began to use the Australian continent as a penal colony, they gradually pushed the regions Indigenous people further back, first from the coasts, and then from their jungle home. They believed that the 'blacks' were savages and heathens, and did not deserve the land like the 'white' people did.Throughout the novel, the former criminals who resided along the Hawkesbury River treat the Aboriginals like animals, forcing them from the land that they have claimed, and even at times torturing them. They feared the Indigenous people who they believed moved through the forests as little more than ghosts. Though at some points, certain characters showed compassion towards them, and some even accepted them as human beings and were able to coexist peacefully, most were cruel. Racism is one of the most prevalent themes in this novel, and it is explored greatly through Will's inner conflicts about his feelings towards the 'blacks' and his dialogue with other characters, some racist, others not.
12. Describe the setting. Explain why or why not the setting is important
to the development of the plot.
Will Thornhill grows up in one of London's most impoverished areas. The grey, blackened streets offered no comfort to him as a child. His home was small and dirty.Because of this, he was drawn to thievery in his life. He was unable to make a decent living for himself because of his birthplace, and his families circumstances. When he did work, he worked upon the River Thames, which was a grey river that flows through London. This river was his livelihood, until circumstances forced him to quit his work upon the river. This, along with other reasons, forced him to steal, which led him to getting caught. He was sent on a ship around the world to a new land. The ship was much like a jail, as they had crammed many people on it for many months. The second most important setting is that of Sydney, Australia, in the penal colony of New South Wales. It is a growing town and ship port, that has many inns, small trading shops and houses of criminals who were granted pardon for their crimes. Sydney is beautiful, and it is where Sal, Will's wife, wanted to spend their Australia days. They ran a small inn and bar for a few years, which they named after an inn in London. It is the thought of London which is sweet to Sal. Throughout the novel, London becomes a distant dream, a faraway place that they no longer belong. Sal desperately wants to return, and it is the thought of her grey home that keeps her going.
The most important setting in the novel is the plot of land that Will claims for himself just off the Hawkesbury River. It is in a heavily jungled area. The trees hide the Indigenous people who live in them. One of the main conflicts in the story is the silent fight between the Thornhills and the Indigenous people for the land. They both try to show to the other that the other does not belong on the land. The black people just want have their land left alone, as they have no concept of ownership; they just know what their life has been in the past and want things to stay the same. Will however, ignores their wishes and builds a small hut, as well as starts a farm. The area that he places his homestead is a place that is scarcely inhabited by European people, which also causes conflicts, as they are far from other people who are like them. Their distance from most of society and their closeness to the Indigenous peoples roaming lands makes for a tension within the Thornhill family and their workers, as well as with the other European inhabitants along the river. This hut is his home for nearly a decade before he moves to another previously established plot of 300 acres of land. He builds a large brick home which is envied by others at the conclusion of the novel. The setting is a large driving force for the plot as is is the basis for the main conflict. If Will Thornhill had not grown up where he had, he would not have been forced into stealing to survive, and therefore would not have been sent to Australia. If he hadn't been sent to Australia, he wouldn't have had his own land and conflicts with both nature and Indigenous people.
