Australia Short Stories

A humankinds Agreement by Elizabeth Jolley, The herdsmans wife by the total heat Law give-and- have and The Kangaroo by Eve S eitheris ar leash hapless stories that all convey a strong sense of Australian identity operator operator which contrasts to stereotypical gender roles. At the philia of all(prenominal) of these short stories is a digest autarkic womanhood entertaining their families. grace is correspond differently in all(prenominal)(prenominal) short falsehood but it is apply to compliment the strong women in A mans Agreement, The herders Wife and The Kangaroo.Elizabeth Jolleys A Gentlemans Agreement, tells the narration of a work class single find who fools a rich doctor into letting her and her family live on on his land for the rest of their lives. in that location is almost a complete opposite of stereotypical gender roles as unremarkably it is men who are the decision makers and manipulators in society but in this story it is the woman. The title of A Gentlemans Agreement, portrays the mother (who is the protagonist) as smooth talk of the town line of productsperson. Although she is unequal she is very intelligent, independent as well period as being a very caring person.She even takes favor of the rich by letting her poor neighbours into the luxury a per centumments she cleans. While these people were other(prenominal) at their arrive atices or on business prompts We had wedding receptions and parties in the penthouse and the old ethnic music came in to soak their feet. There is no dominant male figure in the family, so the only provider and bangr for the children is the mother, although she does devote a lazy, rude son who posteriort keep at integrity job. The mother represents one type of well loved Australian identity, that is battler, the underdog who is at offset printing disadvantaged, who succeeds in the end.If the aver the text is read for a gendered reading she also represents clever, u nflinching woman who evoke successfully find knocked out(p) after her family without a man. Australian adorn is represented as a mental hospital for the family in The Gentlemans Agreement, it makes them keen and brings them closer together as a family. We lost my brother and then all of a sudden we motto him running and running and shouting, his vocalise lifting up in the wind as he raced up the slope of the valley. I do believe hes laughing Hes able Mother just stared at him and she looked so happy too. I dont think I ever saw the country look so amiable before. The relationships in the family are strengthened by their surroundings in the countryside. The landscape is represented as a beautiful sap with its peaceful nature that helps the family forget their problems of the past and brings out the best in each of them. In contrast to landscape being represented as a psychiatric hospital is the landscape in Eve Salliss The Kangaroo which is represented as harsh and alie n.The family in this short story are Arabic and unfamiliar with the Australian pubic hair. On their trip to see relatives in Berri, they have a rather strange encounter with an iconic Australian animal, a kangaroo. The kangaroo was incredibly vicious, The kangaroo off to face him, rose high to a higher place his head and grabbed him from behind the neck with a huge obscure fist, sinking black claws into his nape. The kangaroo is represented as almost execration and is a threat to the family which is stopping them from acquire to where they want to go.This could be symbolic of the Australian government being a threat to immigrants and not letting them through to our country. The kangaroo represents an barricade that the family must overcome and Zeen is the character who overcomes it. She is some other brave and determined woman who wants to shelter her family. Although at the start of the story she seems instead superficial wearing patent whip stilettos and Candy Frost lip stick , she fights sound to save her married man who cannot fight off the kangaroo, which is another reversal of gender roles, the woman being stronger physically then the man.Although Zeen whitethorn not have been born in Australia she still represents the type of Australian identity that is in A Gentlemans Agreement, an independent women who overcomes a struggle to do what is best for their family. Another short story with a strong sense of Australian identity is The Drovers Wife by Henry Lawson. Although the drover is the head of the family, he is absent so his son Tommy tries to protect his family when they find a glide in the grass outside their house but his mother is the one who stays up all night in case the snake comes up through the cracks in the floor, to protect her children.The Drovers wife is the concrete hero of the storey, although she is isolated and lonely she puts up with living in the bush for hubbys sake even though she rarely sees him. The drovers wife has to take care of her children and cope with disasters without a man to turn to but she perpetually seems to rise above the struggles and throws dignity in the midst of chaos. Even when she is reduced to tears, she laughs when she pulls out her handkerchief and pokes herself in the eye because it is so tattered.The drovers wife tries to maintain a positive outlook so her children arent upset, although she may sometimes belief lonely she sacrifices her own happiness to take care of them, in the bush where her husband can support them. Although the landscape can be represented as evoke and isolating in The Drovers Wife. Bush all around bush with no horizon, for the country is flat. No ranges in the distance. The bush consists of stunted rotten apple trees. No undergrowth. Nothing to relieive the eye 19 miles to the nearest civilisation. The repition of bush is used to confront how similar the bushland looks and how it seems to be everywhere. In this flick Lawson describes the b ush in a track which makes it seem terribly ugly and harsh. besides this agency of the bush also adds to the representation of Australian identiy, that the woman has overcome the bush, to care for and protect her family no matter what. The Drovers Wife, A Gentlemans Agreement and The Kangaroo, are three short stories which depict a sense of Australian identity in that stereotypical gender roles have been reversed and in the motion-picture show of the brave women in each story.They are all incredibly strong and independent as they are doing what is best for their families. landscape is represented differently in each story (harsh and beautiful) but the landscape in all has in some substance helped contribute to the battle each woman has overcome in the short stories. The Australian identity of strong women is very pertinent to Australia to today and will hopefully deal to be a huge part of Australian identity in the future.