James's Blog

 Of all the characters I read about this week, I found Dick to be the most intriguing. Growing up as an only child, I spent a lot of one-on-one time with my parents. I watched what they did and how they interacted in the world. I believe that a parent's actions have drastic affects on their child. I acknowledge some think that children have independence of thought and can therefore stray away from their parent's line of thinking. However, parents show their children how to get along in the world starting at day one. It did not surprise me that Willie accepted his father's treatment towards the Natives. He saw his role-model doing it and therefore saw it as just. Dick, however, strays away from his father's line of thinking and develops relationships with the local Aboriginal people. It is amazing to me that Dick can think so independently at such a young age. I would have expected him to be indoctrinated like his other siblings. Dick straying away from his family to be ...

 After watching Lecture part B, I realized that I had very little previous knowledge about the camps the Aboriginals were placed into. I learned that there were many boarding schools set up for Aboriginal children in order to assimilate them into Western society. The Aboriginal children sent to these camps often endured poor conditions and treatment. Many of them developed infections or common diseases from the living spaces they were put in.  I was also surprised to learn about the controversy around Grenville publishing The Secret River in 2005. As I mentioned in class, it's difficult to keep up with and pay attention to history that doesn't affect me. In my bubble, I learn a lot about US History but not the history of Australia. Many people were upset and claimed the Aboriginal perspective was nonexistent in the book and only showed the perspective of colonial settlers. I understand this frustration because I recognize that the Aboriginal perspective is largely misrepresent...

One part of the third section I found interesting was how fast Thornhill was willing to turn on his childhood friend, Dan, in order to gain a higher social standing in the New South Wales social hierarchy. Will Thornhill also treat the Aborigine people who are on "his land" as though they are inferior? Will he begin to act hostile towards the Aborigines as other settlers did?

 I regained a lot of historical knowledge regarding settler colonialism that I lost over the winter break slide. In both the settler colonialism displayed in Orange's There There and Grenville's The Secret River , we see a common theme of claims of ownership and displacement of groups as a result. In both stories, Natives of the land are displaced because of newcomers who claim ownership of their land. One difference between the two novels is that There There is from the perspective of modern-day Native Americans and how the actions of people from a few hundred years before affected their livelihoods. On the other hand, The Secret River  is told from the perspective of Thornhill, one of many Europeans who claimed ownership of the lands that first belonged to the Natives. The difference in time periods is key. Orange wishes to portray the ways of life for modern-day Natives rather than tell outdated stories about modern Natives' ancestors. In contrast, Grenville describes ho...

 Grenville starts the short section Strangers by describing the horrid, dirty conditions on the Alexander , the ship that departed from London to the British colony New South Wales in Australia. This serves to show the immense poverty that William Thornhill and his family are experiencing during this time period where poverty is normalized. I believe that this opening section acts as an introduction to readers of what will happen in the book. In other words, it acts as a hook to readers to get them invested in the book. It forces the reader to question why Thornhill and his family are on a ship headed to Australia. Did they make this decision? Was the family obligated to leave London? Thornhill is unable to sleep in the tight quarters of the boat while the rest of his family can. He thinks about the comfort of his home in London and the plans he and Sal had to continue their lives in London. He appears unsettled at the thought of starting a new life in Australia. Thornhill believes...

 What was fascinating about The Secret River to me was that is was written in the early 2000s and published in 2005. Often, the books I read are set in their respective contemporary times. After reading The Secret River, I understood the mass poverty that existed during this time period. It was common to be incredibly poor in London and people who were had very little chance up moving up the social hierarchy. One example in the text that shows how common Thornhill is in the eyes of the upper class is that he shares the same name as his deceased older brother, William. He also shares the same first name and last name as some of his cousins. This symbolizes that there is nothing unique or special about him. It symbolizes to elites that he is just another common, poor Londoner that will more likely than not remain a common, poor Londoner. Grenville also tries to humanize the poor characters in the book, which helped me as a reader change my perspective in the characters. Instead of vi...