Phillip Gwynne explores the complex issue of relations between indigenous and “white” Australians in his novel Deadly Unna. Dumby and Blacky lead very different lifestyles and are faced with the task of overcoming their racial differences. I will be explaining how they both suffer and grow from their relationship with each other.
Because of their racial differences Dumby and Blacky suffer from their friendship together. The Nunga people generally stayed out at the Point unless they had to come to the Port to play football or buy groceries “…the two towns didn’t have much to do with one another. The footy was really the only place where Nungas and Goonyas got to hang around together.” Blacky wrote.
They didn’t come into town much because the Port was an extremely racist town. Slogs had written ‘BOONGS PIS
Blacky and Dumby couldn’t really hang out like normal friends would so the only time they saw each other was at the football. The Nunga’s way of life was completely different to that of the “white” people. Blacky and Dumby couldn’t easily fit in with each others lifestyle because of the attitudes to mixed cultures in the Port. Blacky’s mum once said when Blacky asked to go to Dumby’s funeral “….It’s for the people out there at the Point. It’s their business, not ours.”
S OFF’ in the shed, and the general attitude of the town was that the Nunga’s should stay out at the Point. Blacky writes “If you wrote something like ‘MONICA IS A
Example Essays Home
