The 20th century: Take home exam

Fly Away Peter, By David Malouf

The conversation with David Malouf about his novel Fly Away Peter allowed the responder to gain an enhanced understanding of the extraordinary and complex nature of humans and allowed for enhanced knowledge regarding the three main characters, Imogen, Jim and Ashley. During his guest lecture, Malouf also shed some light on the importance of bird life and the different views held toward land. It is through this conversation, I have personally developed a greater understanding of the text as a whole.

Fly Away Peter by David Malouf is an Australian novel that communicates the story of three dissimilar individuals who form a strong relationship because of their love for wildlife, more particularly bird life. Fly Away Peter has two juxtaposing settings, the Queensland coast and the Western Front. According to Janet Strachan “Malouf’s landscape provides a series of binaries to symbolise the best and worst in human nature: the airy Queensland bird sanctuary is bathed in metaphorical sunshine, and the blasted European battlefield is inhabited by death” (1).
The discussion with David Malouf began with the idea that Humans are extraordinary but violent. Malouf explained that we all have instincts similar to animals yet we have other qualities that differentiate us from animals too. Thus, Malouf stated during the lecture, “we have intellect, have created complex societies and structures of laws.” Yet, humans posses aggression and through such aggression institutions have formed that allow for violence, for example war.

A very interesting fact that I learnt through this discussion is that Malouf did a lot of research for his book. Researching bird life, and also the great war. After initially writing Fly Away Peter in Italy, Malouf then went back to Queensland, visited libraries and the local RSL clubs to provide himself with greater knowledge for his novel.

What I truly admire is Malouf’s ability and power to engage his audience through his detailed description of scenes. This is immediately evident in the opening page of the novel: “The swamp ended and the farmlands began, a clumsy shape had been lifting itself out of the invisible paddock and making slow circuits of the air, climbing, dipping, rolling a little…” (1). Likewise, Malouf provided a vivid and extremely realistic perspective of the gruesome realities of the war: “the earth was one vast rag and bone shop, the scattered remains of both sides lay all over it … old bits of humanity still adhering to metal or cloth or wood” (109).

Moreover, the conversation with David Malouf provided for a superior understanding of the relationship between the main characters. Malouf stated in his lecture, “It is much more interesting when people form a life long relationship, despite having nothing really in common.” Hence, in Fly Away Peter, the characters are united through their shared passion: “When he talked to Miss Harcourt, as when he talked to Ashley Crowther, they spoke only of the birds” (29). The love for bird life is again expressed; “The red beak in a spray of gum flowers, the tiny body at ground level among the roots, one of the seed eaters Coloured like the earth” (18).

After reading Fly Away Peter it extended my understanding of the different views held towards land. Malouf too discussed this point in his lecture. Whilst non indigenous Australians generally viewed land as a possession or an opportunity to make money, the indigenous population carried a greater appreciation for nature and the outside world. Malouf exposes this idea within his novel, he suggests that his characters have reached a point of development in which they too appreciate the land.

I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation with David Malouf. I personally felt it was a great opportunity for an aspiring high school teacher to attend, or any individual interested in literature for that matter. I would like to thank Michael Griffith for making this opportunity possible for us students.

A Word, By Kevin Hart.

I have chosen the poem A Word by Kevin Hart. When first reading this poem I felt confused and unsure of it’s orientation. However after discussing it in class I felt intrigued and deeply connected with what Kevin Hart was expressing. A Word is based on the magic of words and the power that language and metalanguage conveys. A major theme of A Word is the importance of the church and religion evident through biblical allusion and through reference to death and silence: “Your earthly years may be… swallowed up” (Hart, 5).
The poem is written in an opaque writing style and is abstract in nature. The title itself A Word is intriguing and urges the audience to contemplate the massive impact that individual words can have. Additionally, the title encourages individuals to reflect on what each word actually means to them, which is dependent only on one’s personal experience. Kevin Hart incorporates words such as: “alone,” “silence” “forest,” “wine,” “sleep,” “far,” and “final,” words that carry religious connotations. A Word is extremely dark in nature as Hart presents mysterious and obscure images to the responder: “Dipped in silence” and “wrapped in horizon” (Hart, 5). The personification here is fundamental in contributing to the gloomy tone. Harts delicate use of speech, short and powerful sentence structure and syntax allows the responder to feel a great connection to what is being expressed.

Not only does Hart successfully evoke a gloomy mood but there is a certain way in which A Word must be read aloud. Thus, the sound Hart presents to his readers is a discreet whisper. For example the line: “when you murmur, forest, wine or sleep…”(Hart, 5) would be read aloud as a whisper and with a pause. Furthermore, the high modality of: “There’s a word that has a darker night than any dead man knows”(Hart, 5) is extremely powerful and enthralling and again can be connected to religion and death. The next line which refers to the “Tall shadows” could be relating to the beginning of creation. The very last sentence of A Word, (which is a figure of speech,) “ In rich quiet the word still speaks to you” (Hart, 5) brings the themes of death, religion and darkness together.

According to Michael Brennan, “Kevin Hart’s poetry is a rare gift. Bringing together deep contemplation and worldly experience, an ability to give the self up to the unknowable coupled with a rigorous engagement with the abstract and spiritual” (1).

To conclude, Kevin Harts poem, A Word reflects on how individual words speak to us and how our individual experiences shape our thoughts. Throughout this poem, Hart draws attention to the existence of God in the world.