Racism
This is not a traditionally racist novel; the white Australians are not prejudiced with regards to a person's color, or even their ethnicity if they happen to hail from a white or Mediterranean country. Their racism extends simply to the indigenous peoples, the Aborigines, and this feeling of dislike is reciprocated by the Aboriginal people as well. The town is divided into different sections that are home to either one group of the other, and never the twain shall meet. However, some younger residents of the town, such as Blacky and Dumby, do not share the racist views of their elders and are determined to carve out a friendship.
At first Blacky, who is not a racist kid, does not really stand up for what he knows to be right. He is friends with Dumby but the friendship is on the down low, rather than public. Outside of football, they do not really hang out very much (which doesn't matter because football takes up the majority of their time.) It is only when Blacky realizes that Dumby is dead that he is shattered emotionally and begins to understand that he will never have a comfortable relationship with himself if he does not start to take responsibility for the world around him. This means taking a stand against racism.
The relationship between Clarence and Blacky is fundamentally wrong to both sides. There is no tolerance for inter-racial dating in the town; it is forbidden, yet both are determined to make it work, and break through the racial boundaries that have kept them separate for most of their lives.
The Unifying Language of Sports
Even when diluted down to local or inter-village competition, sport has the power to bring the Olympic ideal of peace, friendship and inclusion to even the most divided of places. This is what happens in this novel. Both Blacky and Dumby become friends because of their shared passion for Australian Rules football. They have a fundamental obsession in common, which makes it easy for them to find other common ground. The football field is the only place in town where white people and Aboriginal people will be deliberately and willingly associating with each other. This is because there is something about the love of a sport and the dedication involved in playing one that crosses these boundaries and brings the community together.
Coming of Age
This is not a traditional coming of age novel in that Blacky does not really change very much from the beginning of the novel to the end. He seems to have been born with a social conscience and this does not change despite the world around him. What does change is his realization that he needs to be the change in the world, and that he needs to stop avoiding all responsibility in his life if it is ever going to mean anything.
