and their journeys one afternoon. The author Patrick White comments in the story about the characters standards, principals, morality, values and judgemental and discriminatory behaviour, but most importantly life.

A life without love, a life without meaning, this is not a way to live, but many of the characters in the story are contradicted to have lost their love of life in general. They live lives without meaning, purpose; they are living zombies. Patrick Whites story Down at the Dump’s theme is found through the setting and characters. Daise Morrow the authors ‘voice’ is Patrick Whites way to make a social comment, through the characters we depict the theme of the story and find it to be ‘life in general’.

Patrick White has dramatised an event in life, such as a funeral, and given us a believable insight into our culture. One of the families is off to the funeral of Mrs Hogbens sister Daise, while the Whalley family is off to Sarsparilla dump, for business and pleasure ‘I thought the beer was an excuse for comin’ (p195).

Patrick Whites use of setting also conveys the theme of the story.

‘Down at the Dump’ is a story revolving around the two families the Whalleys and the Hogbens. The characters use of language reflects directly their class and education, for example the Whalleys speak from the heart, with a distinctly working class accent. ‘Ere! Waddaya make me out ter be? A lump of wood’ (p183). While the Hogbens speak more sophisticated English and live a snobby middle-class way. Patrick Whites characters are used to comment on sexuality, intimacy, love and ‘life in general’ as being a social construct. We observe this through certain behaviour in each family and the townspeople. ‘Even if their rage, grief, contempt, boredom, apathy and sense of injustice had not occupied the mourner…’ (p210). In this quote White is commenting here that the townspeople are disconcerned with the death of the ‘loose woman in flora cotton’ (p210) and are more concerned with their own position in society and how the townspeople view themselves and others. White talks about ‘life in general’ and the way people live it. From the character Myrtle we can define her as a plain old lifeless stubborn woman with a wooden attitude. She is used an example of one of the many characters that are stuck in life, they have no where to go and have made no successions in life, while on the other hand Meg Hogben and Lummy Whalley are destined for more in life. If they continue the life they are living they will blossom in life and love. Daise Morrow one of the characters in ‘Down at the Dump’ is exemplified as a character that lived a good life and lived a good gener

Some topics in this essay:
Patrick Whites, Lummy Whalley, Patrick White, Daise Whites, Daise Morrow, Whalleys Hogbens, P195-196 White, Daise Whalley, Meg Hogben, Lummy Meg, patrick whites, patrick white, ‘down dump’, ‘life general’, theme story, ‘life general’ patrick, lived life, general’ patrick, daise morrow, life love, love life, ‘down dump’ story, metal pushing scrub, patrick whites story, pushing scrub gully,