Deadly, Unna? Essay
The novel Deadly, Unna? written by Phillip Gwynne in 1988 demonstrates how the protagonist, “Blacky”, realises his town is racially prejudiced towards Aboriginals and reacts towards this. Literature has the ability to expose the diverse truths of world and question the issues faced in today’s society. In Deadly, Unna? The readers are explicitly displayed the Australian society from the segregation of the ‘Goonyas’, white people, and ‘Nungas’, Indigenous people. The themes exhibited throughout, such as racism, individualism, and and prejudice, all play an essential role. Hence, through the use of these themes, they convey the significance of literature in the society.
The various racist discourses in the novel embody individual beliefs, attitudes, and the values. Satire and epiphany was used in “And the priest told the truckie, don’t worry, I got the black bastard with the door! And they all laughed… But I didn’t. I don’t know why…” manifesting racism. Although, this action is not as racist as telling a joke like that directly to an Aboriginal, it is still full of ignorance and racism. This persuades the the readers that Aboriginals are not inferiors and that racism is inapposite. Furthermore, through the use of solecism in “Mac, any chance of getting a beer over ‘ere?’ He was in the back corner or the black corner as everybody called it…” represents segregation and racism as it displays that Aboriginals were in the back of the bar, whereas the white people got to stay at the front of the bar. This confirms that racism is inequitable and discriminatory as it is unfair that the Aboriginals are restricted to stay in the front of the bar because of their racial traits. The quote portrays that Blacky’s change is significant and that his developing maturity allows him to not only see the racism, opposite to where he could not at the beginning of the novel, but also try to change it representing he can be mature and brave, even in a bigoted town. Thus, this exhibits the competence of literature as it confirms and persuades the readers that racism is a preconception.
Individualism was used to demonstrate Blacky’s altered mindset towards Indigenous people. First person was used in, “They had no time, but I did. I had heaps of time… I could get rid of that stupid graffiti ‘BOONGS PISS OFF’.” implies the willingness of Blacky wanting to ...
