Week Three

I feel that Thomas Keneally did a good job of writing this book without bias and instead lets the reader form their own opinion of the people and situations. There were a couple instances throughout the novel in which you are able to see how Keneally feels. For example, governor Phillips is often, in my opinion, portrayed in a positive light. He seems very level headed and aware of not only the needs of the soldiers and convicts alike but also what needs to happen to establish a successful community. It says at one point that his recovery from the stabbing was a matter of rejoicing because the settlement depended on him. Although Phillips is often thoughtful of the natives as well and desires to understand them better he, as well as others, often questions the reasons behind the hostility of the natives. It seems silly that the Europeans do not realize that the hostility stems from their constant consumption/use of the land's resources(ex. Mutton Bird) and also their mere presence. Although, looking at the reasons often behind colonization, I can see how they may not have thought their presence was a bad thing. Keneally also shows bias towards Australia as a country when he describes the land and its physical features (talks about the mountains, valleys, rivers, etc very positively) which is understood as he is from Australia. These images are contrasted by statements made by certain individuals throughout the book especially accounts of convicts. Due to their situation, I am not surprised that they rarely had something positive to say about the land.

I thought that most of the crimes committed by the convicts were minor and did not deserve punishment. In our society today, stealing a car is a major crime but stealing lace seems juvenile. It is interesting the types of things we view as important/valuable today compared to during that time.

The way the government viewed a successful voyage, in terms of the number dead, was kind of depressing. I feel like most of the captains cared for the health and well-being of the convicts only because the more convicts that were alive upon arrival, the better the captain, crew, and ship.

I found the culture of the natives very interesting in regards to the ritualistic spearing and so forth. In some instances, like the wife beating and when Colby kills the baby, I have a hard time keeping an open mind but when I think about it from the natives point of view I can understand a little better the reasoning behind it (the killing of the infant at least). Colby explains that there would be no way to feed the child to keep it alive so I suppose a quick death would be better than a long drawn out one. I'm not saying that I agree with killing children but I can understand Colby's reasoning. I did appreciate that fact that there were those individuals who were willing to try and understand the natives and respect their culture.

Overall, I thought the book was well written and I felt like I got a lot of insite on all sides of the situation that helped me to better understand the feelings, emotions, and actions of all individuals.