John Grant; a mild mannered teacher who works in a small town called Tiboonda, has only 140 pounds for his six week leave. During his first night in an overnight train stop in Bundanyabba or the ‘yabba’ he wanders into a local pub because he was thirsty, and the water in the Yabba was ‘so heavily chlorinated and so hard with natural chemicals’ (page 16). After entering the pub, John buys a drink and heads to a quiet place for a cigarette this is when John meets the local policeman Jock Crawford. This encounter is the beginning of John’s downfall into debt, sorrow and alcoholism.
After Jock encourages John to drink with him, John is introduced to the local obsession of gambling at the ‘Two-Up School’, which proves to be the most detrimental mistake on hid downward spiral. Tempted by the thought of playing his way out of debt and out of the outback, John is immediately captivated by the game. When he wakes the following morning, broke and at the mercy of locals, he leaves his hotel (he couldn’t afford another night of accommodation) he finds himself in a pub meeting an amusing bow-tied man named Tim Hynes. Similarly to jock, Hynes persisted on John staying for some beers “ look, I’m flat broke and I can’t afford to drink! (John Grant) “ What’s that got to do with it, man? …show more content…
Sponge on you, burn your house down, murder your wife, rape your child, that's all right. But you don't have a drink, a flaming bloody drink with you, and it's a criminal offence, it's the end of the bloody world!” Now john is forced to pay his mistakes in numerous ways, he’s stuck in the Yabba until he can gain employment to go back to Sydney, in debt with countless people, lost his personal belongings, killed innocent kangaroos during a drunken crusade and to repay everyone he attempts suicide (Which the Yabba already has a high percentage
After Jock encourages John to drink with him, John is introduced to the local obsession of gambling at the ‘Two-Up School’, which proves to be the most detrimental mistake on hid downward spiral. Tempted by the thought of playing his way out of debt and out of the outback, John is immediately captivated by the game. When he wakes the following morning, broke and at the mercy of locals, he leaves his hotel (he couldn’t afford another night of accommodation) he finds himself in a pub meeting an amusing bow-tied man named Tim Hynes. Similarly to jock, Hynes persisted on John staying for some beers “ look, I’m flat broke and I can’t afford to drink! (John Grant) “ What’s that got to do with it, man? …show more content…
Sponge on you, burn your house down, murder your wife, rape your child, that's all right. But you don't have a drink, a flaming bloody drink with you, and it's a criminal offence, it's the end of the bloody world!” Now john is forced to pay his mistakes in numerous ways, he’s stuck in the Yabba until he can gain employment to go back to Sydney, in debt with countless people, lost his personal belongings, killed innocent kangaroos during a drunken crusade and to repay everyone he attempts suicide (Which the Yabba already has a high percentage