How does Malouf use contrasts to present the main ideas in his text, Fly Away Peter?
‘Fly Away Peter’, written by David Malouf, is a text based around Jim Saddler, the novel’s main protagonist. Malouf explores his experiences with life in Australia and the first world war that follows. The author revolves the text around events such as the meeting of new friends, war and death. He presents many contrasting themes that connect with central ideas, highlighting characterisation, change of setting and symbolism. There is clear emphasis on the use of contrast and it is a common literary device used throughout.
The contrast of setting made between the Australian swamplands and the European battlefields present ideas of Jim’s journey, his innocence …show more content…
The comparison of setting symbolises a change in character, as the author later infers that Jim has more in common with his father than he thinks. – DON’T KNOW IF I SHOULD CONTINUE TO ELABORATE HERE.
He is also considered a “drifter” before acquiring his position for Ashley, “a young man who had been away at school in England”. Malouf infers that Jim would be simply content, “merely drifting” and therefore without Ashley’s guidance, would be less inspired and more lost. The change in setting is a catalyst for the dramatic transition from the “bird man” who “had been living… in a state of dangerous innocence” to a “soldier like the rest… a [man]”.
Malouf reiterates the idea of Jim’s journey from child to man when “outside, for the first time since he was a kid, [he] cried”.
Through the use of contrasting settings and binary opposites, Malouf is able to elaborate on the corruption caused by the brutality and nature of …show more content…
They also align with the initiation of friendship as it is birds that tie Jim, Ashley and Imogen together. Jim “[sits] for nearly an hour, watching [birds]” and when “[talking] to [Imogen], as when he [talks] to Ashley… they [speak] only of ‘the birds’”. Similarly, the discovery of the mammoth supports the continuity of life as it is “thousands of years old” and still being discovered, just as soldiers are still being discovered in war trenches. There is a link between the birds and the “great wonder… the mammoth” as they both symbolise resilience and strength. The birds’ self-control to stay within its limits and the mammoth’s might to stay deep within the earth’s roots are comparable. In contrast, the “cattle trucks… [that] [fit] eight horses or forty men” are designed to carry cattle to slaughter, symbolising death. Despite the “old smell of the animals”, “it is different with the men”, who “[are] impatient”. They are naïve as “they [go] up to Bailleul”, the truck carrying the soldiers, foreshadowing their death. The author uses another symbol to explore death, describing rats as “creatures of the underworld.” Comparable to the mammoth, the rats are “fearless” and dissimilar from the “guns”, Jim is unable to get used to them. Both of the symbols foreshadow death, the mammoth doing so ironically. While there are many
‘Fly Away Peter’, written by David Malouf, is a text based around Jim Saddler, the novel’s main protagonist. Malouf explores his experiences with life in Australia and the first world war that follows. The author revolves the text around events such as the meeting of new friends, war and death. He presents many contrasting themes that connect with central ideas, highlighting characterisation, change of setting and symbolism. There is clear emphasis on the use of contrast and it is a common literary device used throughout.
The contrast of setting made between the Australian swamplands and the European battlefields present ideas of Jim’s journey, his innocence …show more content…
The comparison of setting symbolises a change in character, as the author later infers that Jim has more in common with his father than he thinks. – DON’T KNOW IF I SHOULD CONTINUE TO ELABORATE HERE.
He is also considered a “drifter” before acquiring his position for Ashley, “a young man who had been away at school in England”. Malouf infers that Jim would be simply content, “merely drifting” and therefore without Ashley’s guidance, would be less inspired and more lost. The change in setting is a catalyst for the dramatic transition from the “bird man” who “had been living… in a state of dangerous innocence” to a “soldier like the rest… a [man]”.
Malouf reiterates the idea of Jim’s journey from child to man when “outside, for the first time since he was a kid, [he] cried”.
Through the use of contrasting settings and binary opposites, Malouf is able to elaborate on the corruption caused by the brutality and nature of …show more content…
They also align with the initiation of friendship as it is birds that tie Jim, Ashley and Imogen together. Jim “[sits] for nearly an hour, watching [birds]” and when “[talking] to [Imogen], as when he [talks] to Ashley… they [speak] only of ‘the birds’”. Similarly, the discovery of the mammoth supports the continuity of life as it is “thousands of years old” and still being discovered, just as soldiers are still being discovered in war trenches. There is a link between the birds and the “great wonder… the mammoth” as they both symbolise resilience and strength. The birds’ self-control to stay within its limits and the mammoth’s might to stay deep within the earth’s roots are comparable. In contrast, the “cattle trucks… [that] [fit] eight horses or forty men” are designed to carry cattle to slaughter, symbolising death. Despite the “old smell of the animals”, “it is different with the men”, who “[are] impatient”. They are naïve as “they [go] up to Bailleul”, the truck carrying the soldiers, foreshadowing their death. The author uses another symbol to explore death, describing rats as “creatures of the underworld.” Comparable to the mammoth, the rats are “fearless” and dissimilar from the “guns”, Jim is unable to get used to them. Both of the symbols foreshadow death, the mammoth doing so ironically. While there are many