Self-Destruction
A common theme in this book is the self-destructive patterns of behavior perpetuated by Connie's family. The pattern begins with Cornelius, who brings his family from Canada to Australia. He backs his principles by risking his career as a journalist. The gamble fails and Cornelius loses his job. After illness, violence, and poverty visit his family, he decides to leave one day. He just walks off the property and never returns, leaving his wife to lead the younger two generations on her own. The implication here is that Cornelius kills himself.
Following his Uncle Harry's violent and untimely death, Will also leaves his family behind. He visits the family land out in the wild and never returns, although the implication of suicide is much stronger this time. He takes great pains to load and place his gun in the car without Connie watching. Finally the middle-aged Reever stakes his claim to the environment and wills himself to die for its protection. Having failed to prevent the new road and surviving his Uncle Will's departure, Reever also walks out into the Outback.
Each of these men choose death on their own terms, alone. The decision to deal with their problems on their own, in the midst of arguably the world's most dangerous wildnerness, proves fatal and irreversible for each of these men. Rather than address their problems in the light, they propogate this self-destructive pattern which keeps their family sorrowful and poor.
Identification with One's Ancestors
Connie, as narrator, holds full artistic control of the narrative. She has chosen for herself to interpret events as if she is only one link in a long chain of her family members and that their lives continue to impact her own. She identifies so closely with her ancestors that she believes she actually is a modified culmination of their spirits. Watching his mother whisper such phrases to herself continually, Reever starts to adopt this habit. He too believes that he is the next link in the chain.
Although their heritage is rich and the recognition of this fact saves them great heartache, Connie and Reever neglect to forge identities for themselves in their reverence for the past. The truth is their identification with their ancestors cannot save them from practical problems like poverty, illness, or death. While there is depth in the recognition of heritage, Connie and Reever's near obsession with their ancestors often prevents them from buliding a future for themselves or their family. Rooting so much value in the past, they fail to live in the present or establish a future.
Racial Oppression
Living in Australia, Cornelius and Jessica quickly learn about the clash between white settlers and the native, aboriginal peoples. They bear no ill will for the natives themselves, so the couple are situation in a near paradox of community. In order to receive the acceptance of their white neighbors, they are expected to derride and fear the natives. At the same time, Cornelius and Jessie suffer no prejudice against their aboriginal neighbors and desire their approval as well.
Eventually this tension comes to a head when Cornelius, according to his conscience, must speak out against racially motivated hate crimes in the area. He loses his job for it, but he doesn't care. The Laffey family's steady openness to all people bring them friends in the Mumbler family, some natives whom Cornelius befriends. The two families enjoy a comeraderie for generations, their stories often intersecting for one another's benefit. Although they do not understand one another, these two families manage to co-exist in an affable and generous way, thus disproving the immense fear of the natives on the part of other white settlers. Their hatred and violence remains unjustified.
