Australian Concepts: the Merry Go Round in the Sea

Australia during the wartime. The conception of Australia from the viewpoint of six year of age(predicate) pluck Coral at the start of The Merry-Go-Round in the Sea, is non actually close to the country itself, only if i that Is solely establish upon his Immediate surroundings. The security of his family and of the land that Is his home, ar the affairs that provide him with safety and identity. He thought, a great deal, of himself, of who he was, and why. He would think I am Australian, and wonder why. How had he come to be Rob Coral, living in this town? This iterate is taken from the beginning of the book. Here Rob is cost and often struggles to manipulate his own Identity. The continual presence of the large Nameplates caste that he be yearns to is truly important, as it signifies, what Rob comes to believes, is his place in the world. This quote is an example of the security and protection Rob feels with family. After that, the boy stopped listening to his mothers warnings of doom. scarcely because no catastrophe was possible which she would not have foreseen, he tangle secure with her, he felt that she could thwart any danger, except the atomic number 53 danger he very feared, which was made up of time and throw and fragmentary talk of war.Rob is engrossed in Geraldine, his home. The single connection with the out posterior(a) world he has Is of the war, which links to him simply because of his first cousin and Idol, b last, and having to move homes each now and then. The importance and value of close family bonds is a fundamental Australian belief that is still held today. Family is where we draws our base set of values and beliefs, and the frequent visits and gatherings Rob shares with his tens of aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins Is one of the elements that define his world.Australia is depicted in hundreds of literary texts by images of the bush and outback. The beautify portrayed in most of the novel is set in to a grea ter extent rural areas of Australia. Randolph pack, the author, goes into a large amount of detail describing the scenery with Its sights, smells and sounds, as demonstrated by the following quote In the summersets along the modify creek that wound almost to the river at Install, cockatoos swirled like torn paper, contractable the light. Rising from one tree, they flashed and screeched across the tiger striped sky to another, a quarter of a mile out.They Infested the tree like migratory fruit-b ventom, flapping, tearing, and relining. or so all of the descriptions are positive, planting the land In a pretty and attractive light. The frequent mention of native animals and plants, FIFO together Walt ascriptions AT ten vastness Ana emptiness AT ten eternal Is lead-free Australian. Robs breeding throughout the novel revolves whateverwhat school, the beach and most importantly, his cousin Rick. It is the relationship surrounded by the two that supports the entire novel.The p ayoff of Ricks character is complicated, as we see him largely through Robs point of view. Being absent for half(prenominal) the book, his character can be official to grasp. While Rob adores and dollies Rick, the adults in the family are continually criticizing him after his return from the war. Rick was immature. He was lazy. He was a narcissist. He used dirty language. He had stayed at the genuinely bottom of the army. He refused to be a farmer. He talked like Hitler about the Bomb. He looked bored and miserable when he was with people Rob care Before leaving for War, Rick had been a golden boy, but he neer lived up to the familys expectations in the end. Although the war had a shattering effect on Rick, both physically and psychologically, it was this that lead to the development of his character his loss of innocence and carefree attitude. He came home a smorgasbordd man. While Ricks stovepipe friend Huge, whom he meets in the War, has managed to put the impressions of th e War and its impact rotter him and move on with life, memories of War wait to haunt Rick long after he returns home.Although this change in Ricks character is obvious to issue Rob, he continues to admire his cousin. Quotes from the end of the book Justify this. Robs love for Rick was like an ache in his body, and He (Rob) seems o be toilsome to turn himself into a carbon copy of Rick, Margaret Coral said. Towards the end of the novel, Robs scholarship of the world, his concept of Australia, has changed. The world the boy had believed in did not, after all, exist. The world and the clan and Australia had been a myth of his mind, and he had been, all the time, an individual. In Ricks words, Families and countries are biologic accidents. Rob is forced to question the idea that although everyone comes from a family and country, it doesnt provide us with any identity, and everyone is an individual. As the novel progresses, Rob starts to doubt the beliefs of his family, beliefs t hat he had never challenged before, mainly due to Ricks actions and reactions after experiencing life so close to death, and his closing to leave Australia forever. Look, kid, Rick said, Eve outgrown you. I dont want a family, I dont want a country.Eve grown up, and Im on my own. Rick was turning his back on his home and as Robs idol, forcing Rob to consider a life outside of what he had always known. While a great ken of The Merry- Go- Round in the Sea goes into detail featuring and ascribing the landscape, pass of the ordinal Doll, another ordinary Australian story, does the opposite. Being a p commit, the dialogue is the main thing that drives the plot, but with the novel, a variety of different scenes and settings is easier to portray. Setting in the play consists of only two locations, both indoors.The time periods of both stories are different, with The Merry- Go- Round in the Sea set during the wartime and depression, while Summer of the S take downteenth Doll, a few eld after. This contributes to the different behaviors and way of life of the harassers in the stories. The main similarity surrounded by the two texts is the symbols of the kepi doll and carrousel. both(prenominal) are recurring motifs in their own stories. The kepi doll is a representation of the relationship between Olive and ROR, two main characters in the play.Unmarried, and taking the chance to see each other for only Twelve months every year, tenure Is never any progress In tenet relations anon t doll signifies the fragility and artificial bond between them. Olive wants to deem their relationship the way it is, like a teenage romance. The doll is flawless, but its refection is fake. The merry-go-round has similar significance. It too, is a symbol of perfection, of Robs ideal world. At the beginning, it is one of Robs greatest desires to learn how to swim to what he believes is the merry-go-round in the sea, which is really the mast of a sunken shipwreck.When Rob asks his mother, Why? Why cant we go on that point? , she answers with, Oh- because of the war. This leads him to dislike the war, in addition to it withal taking Rick away and causing change in Robs life and home. He imagines that when the war is over, he will swim to the merry-go-round, Rick will return, hell move home, and things will be perfect. However, this is not the case. The last sentence of the novel reflects the change from start to end of the story, and Robs growth towards maturity. He thought of a windmill that had become a merry-go-round in a backyard, a merry-go-round that had been a stand-in for another, now ruined merry-go-round, which had been itself a crude promise of another merry-go-round most perilously rooted in the sea. The major themes of time and change are shared in both stories. The world would revolve around him (Rob), ND nothing would ever change. He would bring Rick to the merry-go-round, and aunt Kay, and they would stay there always, spinning and diving and dangling their feet in the water, and it would be today forever. This quote demonstrates Robs aversion to change and times unceasing forward momentum. He wants everything to be the way it was before Rick went to war, and this is also symbolized by the merry- go-round in the sea. This fear of change is identical to Olives feelings in Summer of the Seventeenth Doll. correct after seventeen years of no change and progress, Olive is introduce in a time warp, wants to keep things the way they are and continue acting like a young adult.She is afraid of commitment and not feeling youthful any more than than, causing her to cling on to her young and loose kepi dolls for security and comfort. Olive (to ROR) l want what I had before. You deed over it back to me give me back what youve taken. When things start to change in the 17th summer, Olive doesnt react well and by the end of the play, she is left with nothing. The tradition of metathesis, although frequent in other countries as well, is a very rabies part of Australia and the bond between its men.The outback man is a famous Australian icon that is incorporated into thousands of movies, poems, novels and songs. The strong, very masculine impressions they exude of power, pride and macrocosm one with the land is a famous and commonly used Australian stereotype. Both Rick and ROR in the texts radiate the outback man persona. They are strong, much more physically than mentally and both are very tough. The metathesis between Rick and Huge is very deep, largely because of what they shared through the war.When in a fife and death situation, the trust and loyalty between the men had to be strong, and the experiences they went through together is something neither will forget easily. The skeleton of Hugh McKay lay on the floor. Rick, Hugh said, breathing painfully. I drank your water. Thats all right. No, no- bastard of a thing to do. Dont be stupid, Rick said. Whats a mate for? This quote reveals how mean ingful are on the verge of death. This metathesis is similar to that of ROR and Barneys in Summer of the Seventeenth Doll.Although their bond may not have been as deep, hey still relied on each other a lot during the cane season up North where they worked as cutters. ROR and Barney have the same loyal and got your back attitude, which, even though it comes into question, proves to be strong by the end of the story. While Summer of the Seventeenth Doll is similar to The Merry Go Round in the Seas themes, symbols and characters, the poem, My landed estate by Throated Mackerel is comparable to the novel through images of Australias landscape. Depictions of its beauty and splendour are plentiful in both texts.The book concentrates on a mall area of Australia because it is where the action takes place, whilst the poem gives a picture of Australia as a whole. Mackerels attitude in My Country is enthusiastic and positive, while Stows is more restrained. There is similar imagery between th e two texts in some descriptions. l love a sunburns country a land of sweep plains refers to Australias vast, brownish-red land, and its sun drenched weather. A vision like this is also expressed in the novel. The hills and soils were red- brown and stony, brownish purple in the distance. Australia is often represented by TTS landscape and so it is not common to take in that different texts have described the country in comparable ways. Stow has masterfully captured the atmosphere of growing up in Australia in the sasss. The concept of Australia explored by the novel has reinforced my perceptions of the land. Its conception of the landscape, what it means to be Australian and whether it is possible to outgrow your country has broadened my outlook and even question a few of my own values. It raises profound issues that cause readers to stop and consider what it really means to be Australian.