Port, a small town with a small population. The community is white and the residences go about their business everyday like everybody ells. Except in this town racism has unfortunately dominated and has become accustomed throughout the town. The issues that the aboriginals have to put up with are thanks to the town as a hole, so here are just a few views expressed by the residences of Port

Gary Black, the novel’s main character respects and defends the Aboriginal community even when that means he will be disliked by his friends and family. He is known to be on good speaking terms with a few of the aboriginals in the community.

Conversely, Gary’s father Bob is usually drunk and occasionally a violent man, he has a family and spends most his time in the pub. He is known to be violent and discriminative towards the Aboriginal community, something that no one has a problem with.

A good football coach Arks has a team made up of mostly Aboriginals and without them their would be no team. But despite this he does not want anything to do with them and is just like the rest of the community.

Cathy a tourist from the city, she is not informed about the Aboriginal status in the community and stays her distance. She and her fellow campers have a misguided opinion of them. As an example she asks weather the Aboriginals are aloud to jump of the light house, but if they where white she wouldn’t have cared.

A little known person in port Darcy has nothing to do with the Aboriginals. He just sells maggots ( gents ) and assumes that the aboriginals have STI’s.

A good example of a racist teenager in port. Jeff is all for words and is a slob. He will be the first to shout out and abuse an Aboriginal but wont stand up for his actions.

Victor MacRae is the towns pub owner he has always been racist towards aboriginals forcing them to drink and sit in a different area from the white people. Victor shoots 3 Aboriginals and kills 2 of them.

Aboriginals as stated before a portrayed as stupid, dirty, filthy and lazy “boongs” . The way they live is told as a broken and destroyed town with no proper layout. But they actually have a normal town just like the port. They are treated as second class citizens and are forced to live in a life of racism. The rumours of the town are spread to everybody who visits or passes through. Unfortunately this view of the Aboriginals is now a way of life. Generally the towns only connection to the Aboriginals is football but they are not recognised as part of the team and there only their to fill up the places. As the Aboriginals are looked down upon any relationships formed between an aboriginal and a white person they are forced to leave the town on their own accord due to the unacceptance of their relationship.

The interaction of both the Aboriginals and white people is that of an uncomfortable one and it shows what the effect of racism has had on the community. More importantly the character of Blacky has had a previous relationship with an Aboriginal called Lovely. It shows that when she walks buy him on the beach when he is with his friends and Cathy it is expected of him to ignore and be racist to her. He hopes that she will not notice him and that proves that he is feeling like he has to do what everybody ells is doing and as said before act as if she doesn’t exist.

Nobody can speak for the Aboriginals about there circumstances
or how they view themselves because nobody but them have experienced it. But they have been pushed to breaking point and this issue needs to be solved and that just doesn’t mean port.

In conclusion I found that Phillip Gwynne is ether writing about what he sees is happening in the aboriginal and white communities. Or is just the way he views how they are treated. I get the impression that he is writing about past experiences and this book is to bring awareness to the plight of the aboriginal communities.