Secret RiverThe two part series The Secret River, is based on Kate Grenvilles book of the same name. The series is about the colonisation of Australia through the story of Will and Sal Thornhill, who 'takes up land' on the Hawkesbury River. Will is a convict, his character may be seen as akin to many poor Dickensian characters. Once freed in Australia he has an opportunity to start a new life, which he wants to do on a point of land along the Hawksbury River. It is here the main issue of the book manifests; the cultural differences between the white settlers and the Aboriginal people, who have very different perspectives on the issue of land ownership. The story is of the bloody and brutal settlement of the area, with characters such as Smasher Sullivan, Saggity Birtles, and Ned's perceiving the Aboriginal people as nothing but uncivilised savages, who they can abuse.
When Will is presented as wanting to settle the land, he is full of exuberance and passion. He is presented as a good father and husband, effectively civilised after his criminal [pat has been overcome. His view on the land is typical of western standards; if the land is unsettled it is assumed that the land is not owned making it free for a settles to take. His desire to own the land and make his mark is seen with the way he titles the land Thornhills Point.
The underlying theme is that of cultural misunderstanding and different attitudes. While ownership to the western world meant possessing and often using the artefact or land owned. Where there was land which did not appear to be worked, and no ownership rights exerted, it was assumed the land did not belong to anyone. Indeed, after Captain Cook discovered Australia, he claimed it for the Crown as terra nullius, or uninhabited, indicating that it was an empty continent (Eckermann et al., 2010). This attitude denied any rights or legitimacy to the Aboriginal people. This ethnocentric approach towards...
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