Memory
Form equals function to explore the theme of memory in the book. The narrative thrust which moves the story forward constantly includes interjections and intrusions from the past. The past becomes a commentary upon the present which guides the way toward the future. May’s storytelling becomes an example of how the present is always at risk of changing due to the peculiarities of the effects of recollection the past. Memory thus become an essential component of how the present predetermines the future.
Identity and Colonialism
This is a story about the indigenous natives of Australia, the Aborigines. With almost any story about indigenous cultures within an oppressive society ruled by colonial majority, themes related self-identity and the imposition of identity by the oppressive majority become a driving force. This is doubly so in stories where the main characters are rootless, drifters, or subjugated to lives of enforced or coerced segregation and isolation. In this particular case, all conditions apply. As far as the particularities of the Aboriginal culture goes, one can even present a strong case that they remain at a level of oppression even more egregious than that applicable to Native Americans.
Addiction as Escape
A common element to many of these societies of indigenous cultures oppressed by immigrant majorities is the attempt to escape misery through mood-altering means. Alcoholism is rife throughout the Native American culture, for instance. May falls prey to the brief periods of escapist highs engendered by opium. Aunty’s gambling even qualifies as a form of this type of escape despite not being a substance abuse in the traditional sense. It does, nevertheless, contain the “substance” of addiction for the purpose of trying quell the miseries caused by living in poverty and the poverty, in turn, caused by systemic lack of attention to the needs of the underprivileged.
