Response to Away.

1. Select one of the characters and explain, using direct evidence from the text, how he/she is on a personal journey.

Tom is on a personal journey with his health. Tom’s parents have been keeping it a secret from Tom that he has blood cancer, although Tom already know himself. This is an extremely personal journey for Tom because he has to face the fact that he is extremely sick. You can see that he is suffering his own journey when he is begging Meg to help him, saying “So how about it? Help me. I’m going to get sick again. And it wont get better.”

2. Using direct evidence from the play, explore the way that the Australian journey is represented throughout the play. Keep in mind that each of the characters/families is representative of different elements of this journey so your response may be quite long and at times contradictory.

Corals and Ricks journey was represented by the tourist’s view of Australia. For their holidays they went to a luxuries hotel on the Gold Coast. It is constantly represented as a packed, but beautiful place. “We’ve never been to Queensland before… We got a house by the sea. I was a little worried about coming to such a big place. There are so many people staying here”. Coral is also always emphasizing on how lucky they are: “It seems so extravagant. We’re so lucky to be living in such a rich country”. However, although they are living in such prestige conditions within a beautiful, upper-class hotel, Coral is not satisfied that everyone is realistically enjoying himself or herself. “Everyone’s enjoying themselves, but, I don’t know, I feel it’s a bit forced, do you feel it?”

Gwen, Jim and Meg’s journey is representing the middle-class life. After reading the texts you can clearly see that this family is undergoing some difficult problems within their family. By renting the caravan you can see that although they cant afford as much as Coral and Rick, they are still bordering the middle-class society.

Tom, Harry’s and Vic’s journey is representing the lower-class life of Australia. Unlike the other families, they decided the best economical situation for their family was to by a tent. They also use this journey to make there family I closer net family, as everyone knows that Tom is sick, but Harry and Vic don’t know that Tom knows. “Not exactly. We’ve got a tent”

3. What is the representation of the Australian journey that you can see in the article, ‘Bondi Beach’?

When reading this article you can see that the representation of Australia has changed radically in comparison the description of Away. From the lovely beaches of Australia to the packed mess of Bondi beach, there has defiantly been a change. It is now overpopulated with tourists, surfers and locals between the hours of 4 and 5. It is unrecognizable throughout the day, however, when everyone packs up and leaves you can see that it is just the same as ever.

4. Considering both the play and the article, discuss the implications of different generations on the changing face of the Australian identity.

In the play ‘Away’ the beaches are represented as natural beauty. Over the years, it is now being represented as a tourist attraction, bringing litter and surfing with the locals. Eventually this leads to overpopulation. Therefore as the generations have gone on you can see that Bondi beach has had to deal with the implications of changing the face of Australian identity.

5. Both the play and the article represent Australia’s national identity as it is related to the coast/beach life. How has this representation changed over the past 40-50 years and has it retained any of the aspects demonstrated in these two texts?

When analyzing the two texts, you can see that the coastal identity of Australia has changed drastically throughout the past 40-50 years. ‘Away’ representations of the beaches in Australia are explained as beautiful, unpopulated places, making you very privileged to visit it. “It’s marvelous to sit in the middle of that beach, the three of us. Sometimes when it’s really hot it’s nice to slip your bathers off in the water and just swim about like a fish”. Over the years this has changed to being identified as overpopulated, dirty place, which changes throughout the day. “Bathe between the flag section looks like dunking time in Ganges”. J.A.C.C Dunn positions the readers to see that Bondi is a drunken retreat at night, and overpopulated during the day. However, he ends with “even after Bondi beach finally huts up, spent, the surf still demands attention: it is there, audible, visible even in darkness. It is there…” He explains that although it is unrecognizable 4 am and 5 pm, it is still the same at night.