Essay about Away by Michael Gow

“To discover is to gain sight or knowledge of something.” How have ideas about discovery been shown in Away and The Book Thief

The ideals, attitudes, values, and beliefs of an individual are consistently altered by the discoveries uncovered in everyday life. Discoveries are confronting and provocative and engender renewed perceptions of individuals and others. The 1986 play ‘Away’, by Michael Gow highlights the retrospective revelations among three Australian families who are dislocated and brought together by a storm where they make new discoveries about themselves and others. Gow explored the significant themes of reconciliation, restoration, realisation, acceptance, and self-knowledge throughout the ‘Away'. William Ernest Henley’s 1888 poem, ‘Invictus’ explores the process self-discovery through the ability to portray courage in the face of death and to remain unconquered by indignities. Michael Gow’s play ‘Away’ in conjunction with William Henley's poem, ‘Invictus’ evidently portrays the fact that an individual and their perspectives can be modified by revelations present in their lives.

David Williamson’s, The Removalists, is an Australian play that recognises the “bottled-up aggression” present in the 1970’s. Williamson highlights violence, sexism, abuse of power, corruption and the role of a bystander in a violent situation that sees a confrontation between the sexes. The Removalists highlights different Australian personas, which are accurate representations of Australian society in the 1970’s. Several clashes of personalities take place throughout the play as each character represents a different quality of life.

In ‘Time’ nature’s sublimity is reflected in the visual imagery displayed as the form of a film allows for not only the characters to tell a story but also the camera shots, music and scenery onset. Through various camera angles and shots, particularly pan, eye level, low angle, and tilt, the film portrays the dominating power of nature and its impact over man’s emotions. However, sometimes nature can be domineering and dangerous as suggested in the non-diegetic and suspenseful tones of the music being played. It can also be portrayed in the final scenes of the film where the mum and boy protagonist are trapped in the drowning car due to losing control over it while the mum was texting. This theme then signifies discoveries which are sudden and unexpected and symbolises how individuals will be confronted with challenges that they must overcome in order to comprehend the discovery. Nature’s power is also displayed in the Australian text, ‘Away’. However, the environment not only has influence over the characters of the play but the plot itself which can be shown in Act 3 Scene 4 the ‘Storm Scene’. The tempest causes a group of characters (Gwen, Meg and Jim) to join another family on a desolate beach where the personas can open up, reflect on and change their lives, which was all caused by the storm. Furthermore the peaceful beach is symbolic of tranquility and reflection, a place that leads to transformation within each of the individuals. The title, ‘Away’ represents a homonym, a word with more than one definition. ‘Away’ can either be defined as the physical action taken to escape a place or for an individual to venture off into their own imaginations, leaving behind reality. This concept further highlights the different meanings behind nature, symbolising the many perceptions which one can approach when making a

Richard Newman is a poet that is very effective at what he does. He is able to not only tell you a story within his poems, he lets you actually be there with his powerful and moving imagery. Newman is also able to take the tone and voice of a poem and switch it up on the spot. As example in his poem “While You Were Away …”, he goes from talking about a guy knocking on a door beckoning for her to come out to talking about how he is sick with the month of March. His subjects and topics that he writes about or at least the two I’ve read for this assignment, both carry a darker and sadder feeling of it. Both “While You Were Away” and “The Unborn” have some diversion and flecks of humor sprinkled about, but the themes of loneliness, longing, death, and the awfulness of life. The humor does offer, if only for a moment, a breath or pause before diving back in. Newman can encapsulate and draw in readers with his work and each time you read one of his works, it leaves you in a midpoint between being done with said poem, but willing and wanting to dive on again and see what you will see this time.

In the play “Subteranian homesick blues again”, Dennis Reardon gives the reader different emotions throughout the script. The audience experiences laughter, aghast, and wonder. The six actors in this play think that they are on a tour, however, they soon come to find out that they were very wrong.

In the beginning of the text Away, Gwen is seen to be very materialistic and to be a person who picks fights just to prove themselves right. This can be seen in many cases such as the beginning of the play when she insults Tom's family when they talk about their caravan which has "everything you could want in it". Her materialism can be seen again later in the text when she gets mad at Jim because he couldn't find the christmas presents. These traits of Gwen's can be seen changing as various events affect her and alter her vision of the world. The storm, which was a very significant event began the change of Gwen letting go of her materialistic nature. Gow involved the use of symbolism during the storm in the form of Gwen's belonging's being swept away. As the belongings drifted away, Gwen's materialistic nature was diminished. With the use of a substantial storm this shows how immensely significant events can trigger self discovery within people. For instance Gwen realises that possessions are easily lost and so she begins to change as a person as she discovers how much of her past is affecting the person she is today. As well as

Williams uses these comparisons to highlight the characters different desires, forcing audiences to sympathise with the family due to the abandonment of their father. Furthermore, the “dim and poetic” lighting highlighting Mr. Wingfield’s photograph along with the “gauze curtains,” lends an unreal aura to the set, further suggesting that the Wingfield family function in a dream world. Mr. Wingfield’s “enlarged photograph” positioned in the centre of the living room, serves as a reminder of the tragedy that Amanda suffered and is a symbol foreshadowing Tom’s inevitable escape, provoking audiences to question the “interminable” confinement of the Wingfield’s. Similarly, Amanda’s illusionary world is highlighted through her costume, specifically her use of Mr. Wingfield’s “much too large” bathrobe symbolising her desire to be genteel and her inability to relinquish the past, forcing audiences to question Amanda’s sanity while also condemning Mr. Wingfield for his abandonment. Furthermore, through stage directions, Williams’s image of flowers foreshadow a gentleman caller symbolic of hope and prosperity; the embodiment of a prosperous

The situation in which the three families experience and deal with the storm is illustrated through the idea of self-discovery, especially through the characterisation of Gwen and her journey throughout the play as she reconsiders her past life experiences. The families’ isolation on the beach provokes meditation, questioning and self-examination of their previous understandings, prompting powerful transformations as new understandings are achieved. The beach becomes symbolic after all three families, especially Gwen, are physically isolated on the beach after the storm, which is also symbolic of their personal isolation and disengagement from society. The storm and the beach symbolise purification of the soul, a sign of emotional, physical

Opening the excerpt with a sudden shift from a dispassionate tone to vivid imagery, Laurence’s use of contrast between Vanessa’s detached reality to her animated memories reveals her mental isolation. The further attempt to “take [her] mind off” (2) of her father’s death instead of seeking closure affirms Vanessa's mental immaturity. Unable to face reality, Vanessa instead chooses to escape under a mask of

The historical context is significant as it reveals information about the characters and the attitudes and values of the time. This relates to the readers through the humanity and reality that one experiences. Everyone experiences grief in a different way where Coral endures it: Vic telling her to put on a brave face as that’s what he was used to doing. The “Play within a play” is a technique within itself as it distances the audience from the highly emotional content of the play and allows them room to think about the issues and themes.

I chose this novel because it looked interesting. I thought it looked interesting because the horse with the girl on the cover and the name of the novel, ’Missing’ it was very compelling. I have always been interested in novel’s that evolve animals, and when I saw the horse I thought it might be a good novel. I have also read some of the authors’ other novel’s and I thought they were very interesting too.

In the poem, “A Step Away from Them” by Frank O’Hara, there are five stanzas of varying length. In each stanza, there is a different amount of indention that occurs, leading up to the fourth stanza, where the indention afterwards stays relatively the same. The poem does not have a very clear rhyme scheme or meter, which showcases the natural flow of the poem, representing its narrative style and its use of stream of consciousness. Going along with the idea of stream of consciousness being present in this poem, the use of transition words also adds to this idea of a narrative style stream of consciousness writing as the transitions help push the reader towards the next line. In this poem, the punctuation and line breaks represent that of a normal conversation that one would have with friends- no real structure or reasoning, for the most part, behind the use of punctuation or line breaks besides to add to the natural flow of the poem itself. In the first stanza, the poem does not contain line breaks or unusual punctuation, but instead is very grammatically correct. However, as the reader gets closer to the fourth stanza, the punctuation and line breaks become more similar to that as a conversation between friends. There are two unusual moments of capitalization in the third and fourth stanzas, “Juliet’s/Corner” (O’Hara 28-29) and “Bullfight” (O’Hara 42), but besides that, capitalization rules are applied throughout the poem.

A comedy about fairies, nobles, lovers, and peasants alike, it has beaten the test of time and entertained the world for over 400 years. William Shakespeare weaves together fantasy and reality to create the widely acclaimed play, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” In this comedy, Shakespeare creates a world where thematic elements of bewilderment, comedy, and young love runs wild by utilizing various techniques throughout the play such as the foreshadowment of the title, the irony of Bottom’s name, and the symbolism of the fairy world.

Through newfound discoveries and contemporary ways of thinking, beliefs and identity have been altered and transformed. In “Away”, Gow’s characterisation of tom and Coral exploit deep personal realisations. For Tom going away on holiday allows for him to make sense of what is happening and reflect on life, his realisation is not on the issue of dying the realisation is on living, and this realisation is made through watching people in his lives and how they waste time and he starts to change his belief that, in fact, it might not be a curse but a privilege as he has meaning in his life and a purpose to live. Corals self-realization is composed through the introduction of new characters she can communicate with and hear other people’s stresses. these aid her in the realisation it is ok for a