Suffering Children and the Absence of Role Models in ‘Kill the Possum’ Anonymous 12th Grade

James’s Moloney’s Kill the Possum is an intriguing and detailed story set in Australia about a girl "desperate to live a normal life" although her family is "tormented by a monster’s cruelty." (Penguin Australia) During the story, we see how the children act and how they develop with the environments and role models around them. Some of the choices they make, their suffering, and their failures rely on the lack of strong role models. The three main topics that need to be discussed are the situations the children go through that make it clear that they do not have efficient role models, the role models themselves and what makes them bad influences, and how the children can also be seen as role models themselves.

The children, Dylan, Kirsty, Tim and Melanie, lack strong role models. A good and stable role model can be defined as a person whose behaviour, example, or success is or can be emulated by others, especially by younger people. This form of relationship is never exactly shown throughout the progressing story, nor is it inferred that the children are able to look up to their role models, if they have any, success. It is clear to see that Dylan, Kirsty, Tim and Melanie do not have strong role models due to the choices they...