The Theme Of Self-Discovery In Michael Gow 'Away'

Set in the Australian summer of 1967, Michael Gow’s Away is an elaborate play which explores the ideas of self- discovery and change. Through the war affected nation, three families, each from different social classes, depart on an iconic Australian holiday to the beach. In the play, Gow utilises the characters to demonstrate that going away physically is intrinsically linked to their mental developments. With the help of references to Shakespeare’s A Midsummer night’s Dream, Away uses Gwen and Coral to show the significant psychological changes made by the characters during holidays to the coast. Tom throughout the play acts as a catalyst for the change in other characters and is associated with Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Opportunities for an individual to develop understanding of themselves stem from the experiences attained on their journey through life. The elements which contribute to life are explored throughout Gwen Harwood’s poems, At Mornington and Mother Who Gave Me Life, where the recollection of various events are presented as influences on the individual’s perception of the continuity of life. Both poems examine the connections between people and death in relation to personal connections with the persona’s father or mother. By encompassing aspects of human nature and life’s journey, Harwood addresses memories and relationships which contribute to one’s awareness of life.

Our identity is inimitable, yet ironically it is affected by society and enigmatic forces that define our external relationships. This inextricable link between identity and social environment not only shape our identity, but gives us a sense of purpose, however when we fail to establish our sense of congruity with society through metaphysical acceptance, as a result of social isolation we can feel an abyss within our lives often forcing us to look into our inner self, as exemplified in Gwen Harwood’s poetry, especially her poems “At Mornington” and “Mother Who Gave Me Life”. These also reflect and force us to explore the impact time has on people and how this can inevitably lead to a reassessment of one’s life.

Tom, the agent for change gains sight and knowledge into the acceptance of his impending death. The opening of the play starts with the ending of A Midsummer Night’s Dream where Tom as Puck says “Gentles, do not reprehend. If you pardon, we will mend.” This foreshadows Tom’s healing role in the play. Although Tom seems to be the character in the least need of a discovery, he still gains sight into the reality of his condition and knowledge that he needs to accept this. This is evident through reading King Lear. The scene is set outside, as instructed by

And as I am an honest Puck, If we have unearned luck Now to scape the serpent's tongue, We will make amends ere long; Else the Puck a liar call: So, good night unto you all. Give me your hands, if we be friends, And Robin shall restore amends.” (Shakespeare 5.1.425) The most interesting part of this excerpt is that Puck (Oberon’s henchman) says that he and the fairies are only a figment of the imagination and that he and his fairy world do not exist at all. The audience is asked to look beyond the performance at the intention of the actors. This passage allows the audience to break their character. The show is over and the reality of their own life is now. This monologue by Puck slowly unravels the reality and fantasy world from one another. The play lies in transformation and the forest is the setting of change. Puck invites the audience to think of the play as nothing more than a dream, a midsummer night’s dream. Here, it is clear that Shakespeare is commenting on the reality of plays. Like midsummer dreams, plays aren't real. All of the characters are hung in the audience’s suspension of disbelief. They are the product of imagination and fantasy and also involve the momentary suspension of reality.

Gwen Harwood’s poetry endures to engage readers through its poetic treatment of loss and consolation. Gwen Harwood’s seemingly ironic simultaneous examination of the personal and the universal is regarded as holding sufficient textual integrity that it has come to resonate with a broad audience and a number of critical perspectives. This is clearly evident within her poems ‘At Mornington’ and ‘A Valediction’, these specific texts have a main focus on motif that once innocence is lost it cannot be reclaimed, and it is only through appreciating the value of what we have lost that we can experience comfort and achieve growth.

In Michael Gows text, “Away” we are introduced to the idea of deep self-discovery through overcoming life-defining obstacles. For the protagonist Tom, he struggles to accept his approaching death; this is seen through his attempts to keep his inevitable fate from his parents “they want me to think I’m going to be as right as rain. They mustn’t find out”. Through this, Gow conveys the protagonist’s parents as ‘they’ repetitively, which furthermore depicts the growing separation in their relationships due to his illness. By conquering this difficulty, Tom is able to attain self-discovery in realizing his role as the mender, which is indicated at the beginning of the play. It is his approaching death, “cancer of the blood”, which provides him with greater vision in recognizing the preciousness of life. We are able to have a look at Tom’s therapeutic nature through his complicated relationship with Coral. The meta-play they put on, “Strangers by the Shore,” is an analogy of the healing of the soul. Coral’s transition from, “come with me… into the darkness” into the healing light of, “I’m walking, I’m walking, I’m walking, I’m walking” is demonstrative of Tom’s ability to bring other characters to a greater discovery. In this act, he himself comes to understand the importance of his remaining time.

Moreover in “Away”, Gow explores how personal connections of individuals’ and their self-discovery can influence and challenge each other’s perspective of themselves and the world. This is shown through the relationship of Tom and Coral as Tom’s acknowledgement of his impending death enables healing for Coral who is emotionally disconnected from reality due to her son’s premature death. The play ‘Stranger on The Shore’ acts as an analogy of the healing of the soul where Coral is afraid to walk; metaphorically she is unable to accept her son’s death and advance further, however, Tom helps her to return to the real world. This is apparent in the stage direction: “he lifts her and holds her as she takes a step forward, then another, then another”. The stage direction makes it apparent to the audience how Tom is leading Coral towards her self-discovery by familiarising her to the nature of mortality, which

Discuss how the authors, Craig Silvey and Tim Winton, reveal the central character’s process and understanding of trauma and grief.

“That Ray was not unhappy, he knew nothing of what was to come and so he did not suffer…he was happy in his lifetime, he loved his work, his domestic life, loved to garden…he did not suffer the loss of meaning that his survivor feels. Ray’s death was no tragedy but a completion” (Oates 241). This revelation was very powerful to me, as much as she is suffering depressed and having suicidal thoughts; she is able to start having moments of clarity. I saw this as a positive step in her healing. As she states “the widow must remember, her husband death did not happen to her but to her husband. I must stop dwelling upon the past, which can’t be altered” (Oates 228). She reminds herself that “you have your writing, your friends and your students” (Oates 264) and this gives me a sense of hope for her. I am eager to proceed with reading the last section of this book and knowing the outcome of this memoir; that I have enjoyed

In Name of the Wind, Patrick Rothfuss gives life to The Four Corners of Civilization through his storytelling. Storytelling gives the author an opportunity to show their experiences and reflect their beliefs within the world they are creating. During the time this book was being written, there was the Iraq and Afghanistan War taking place which had been sending many soldiers back home with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Rothfuss parallels this disorder within his book through the main character, Kvothe, when he experiences trauma and he shows how Kvothe copes with the persisting trauma through grief theory, “four doors of the mind” (135) . His four doors of the mind is similar to the Kubler-Ross Model, which is widely accepted by practitioners, but challenges it by believing the mind copes with pain through the central idea of numbing. However, this mindset of categorizing emotions experienced within grief can be destructive behavior towards any griever rather than helping them cope; stages of post-loss grief do not exist.

Iain Crichton Smith, a Scottish poet, acclaimed for his focus on the ever-present theme of geographical exile. Through his work, he can be seen to describe the process of leaving home – particularly in a rural place similar to the island in which he grew up in. However, his use of exile in many different forms can be found in a variety of Crichton Smith’s poetry, resulting in what can be analysed as a deeper and more meaningful sense of the idea of exile. He effectively explores the cultural and religious background behind those who ultimately distance themselves from the reality of the modern-day world he was living in. He explores the idea of death as a final type of exile which can be interpreted as the subject of the poem turning away from death in hopes that they can flee from the inescapable finality of death.

Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is often read as a dramatization of the incompatibility of “reason and love” (III.i. 127), yet many critics pay little attention to how Shakespeare manages to draw his audience into meditating on these notions independently (Burke 116). The play is as much about the conflict between passion and reason concerning love, as it is a warning against attempting to understand love rationally. Similarly, trying to understand the play by reason alone results in an impoverished reading of the play as a whole – it is much better suited to the kind of emotive, arbitrary understanding that is characteristic of dreams. Puck apologises directly to us, the audience,

How we respond to the ending of Hamlet – both as revenge drama and as psychological study – depends in part on how we respond to [the most important underlying theme] of the play – that is, to Hamlet as a prolonged meditation on death. The play is virtually framed by two encounters with the dead:

At least six or seven years pass after the writing of Midsummer Night’s Dream before we find Shakespeare engaged on Hamlet, the second of the great plays with an important Supernatural element, and, in the opinion of many, the greatest tragedy ever penned. What a profound change has come over his attitude towards the Unseen! No longer does he handle it in . . . [a] cheerful,