Racism
Racism is a central theme in the novel. The white settler population of Desperance discriminates against the town’s original, Black Indigenous inhabitants. They see the land as theirs and wish the Aboriginal population would just disappear. The white settlers control the town’s government and police, which treat the Westside and Eastside mobs with violence, contempt, and entitlement. Faced with this colonial racism, some Aboriginal inhabitants make deals with the white population, some seek to avoid them, while still others actively resist their power.
The environment
Damage to the environment is an important theme in the novel, even though the author does not explicitly frame it as such. The mine has changed the landscape of the region and caused social and environmental damage. Industry and shipping have polluted the land, air, and water. There are more frequent and unpredictable storms. The narrator explains that “[c]ountry people, old people, said it was the sound of the great spiritual ancestors roaring out of the dusty polluted sea all of the time nowadays….The country looked dirty from mining, shipping, barges spilling ore and waste.” In this sense, Mozzie’s and Will’s fight against the mine is also a fight against environmental destruction and climate change.
Home and family
The novel explores the theme of family and the meaning of home, most prominently in connection to the Phantom family. It is an imperfect family. Angel Day, the Phantom family mother, often behaves selfishly, as seen in her abandonment of her home for Mozzie Fishman. Norm Phantom is a passive father who seems to care more about the sea than his family. He does little to defend his family from danger, as seen from the examples of Will, Kevin, and Girlie. Nevertheless, the family tries to support each other as they face oppression and violence from the white settlers of Desperance and from the mining company. The image of Norm and Bala going to build their home after the flood and waiting for Will to find his way back represents the hope of healing and rebuilding the family.
Traditional ecological knowledge
Traditional ecological knowledge is a term that refers to the knowledge that many Indigenous peoples have of their ecosystems. Often, Western science has looked down on this knowledge as non-scientific. However, a growing group of scientists is pushing for recognition of the value of Indigenous environmental wisdom.
In Carpentaria, many of the mystical-sounding stories that Norm and other Aboriginal elders tell about the Gulf are really detailed descriptions of how their unique ecosystem works. One example is Norm’s story about fish taking a spiritual journey to the sky during the summer season. The author demonstrates how Norm’s story accurately represents seasonal weather, migration, and breeding patterns in the region.
Myth and reality
Carpentaria calls common notions of reality into question. Often, the line between dream and reality is blurry. The narrative includes descriptions of spiritual beings whose actions have real effects in the world. Yet the author Alexis Wright has insisted that rather than viewing these aspects of the novel as “magical,” they should be seen as accurate reflections of how Aboriginal communities experience the world. In this worldview put forth by the author, time is cyclical and nature is imbued with spiritual powers.
Colonialism and neocolonialism
Colonialism is a central theme in Carpentaria. From the very beginning, the author sets up a tension between the white settlers and the Aboriginal residents of Desperance. The white residents maintain the attitude of their colonizing ancestors. They believe they own the town and they treat Aboriginal communities with disrespect and violence. They would like to destroy the Aboriginal settlements on either side of the town. The Aboriginal community has different responses to this ongoing colonial violence, with some residents seeking to form beneficial relationships with white people, others seeking to ignore them and minimize their influence over Black communities, and still others fighting an active war of resistance against white power structures. The mine becomes a key symbol of neocolonialism, which refers to the continuation of colonial forms of power and oppression in modern times.
Fate
In the novel, there are higher, spiritual forces at work that seem to determine the characters’ fate. One example is the fate of Chuck and Cookie, the mine workers who capture Will. Will wants to avenge Hope’s death by killing them. Yet fate has a different plan. Chuck trips on a rock, splits his head open, and dies. This rock has been “untouched by humankind since the ancestor had placed it in this spot, as if it had planned to do this incredible thing.” In this and other similar instances in the novel, a greater force that is linked with nature and ancestral spirituality overpowers the plans and desires of individual characters.
