A Long Way Home

by

Saroo Brierley

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Dad / John Brierley Character Analysis

Dad (John Brierley) is Saroo’s adoptive father. He runs an industrial hose business in Hobart, Tasmania, where both Mantosh and Saroo work as adults. Dad was born in England and moved to Australia as a teenager. He enjoyed the climate so much that he never returns to England. He fully supports Mum’s desire to adopt internationally and not have biological children, though he doesn’t feel as strongly about it as she does. As a parent, Dad is loving and kind, but firm. Saroo very much enjoys having fatherly attention. Dad in particular is the one tasked with standing up to racism within their community, as he experiences several incidents while signing Saroo and Mantosh up for sports teams. Like Mum, Dad is very active, and the Brierleys as a unit are an outdoorsy family. He’s especially interested in sailing and water sports, and in the year after adopting Saroo, he often takes Saroo out on his catamaran.

Dad / John Brierley Quotes in A Long Way Home

The A Long Way Home quotes below are all either spoken by Dad / John Brierley or refer to Dad / John Brierley. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Family Theme Icon
).
1. Remembering Quotes

Mum and Dad were very affectionate, right from the start, always giving me lots of cuddles and making me feel safe, secure, loved, and, above all, wanted. That meant a lot to a child who'd been lost and had experienced what it was like for no one to care about him.

Related Characters: Saroo Brierley (speaker), Mum / Sue Brierley, Dad / John Brierley
Page Number: 9
Explanation and Analysis:
6. My Mum's Journey Quotes

Mum was delighted when the word came through but also calm: somewhere inside her, she'd always felt that the vision she'd had at the age of twelve had meant it was her destiny to have an adopted child by her side.

Related Characters: Saroo Brierley (speaker), Mum / Sue Brierley, Dad / John Brierley
Page Number: 134
Explanation and Analysis:

She is an advocate of replacing Australia's various state laws on intercountry adoption with a simplified federal law. She's critical of governments making it too difficult to adopt and feels that if it was a little easier, maybe more families would do it.

Related Characters: Saroo Brierley (speaker), Mum / Sue Brierley, Dad / John Brierley
Page Number: 134
Explanation and Analysis:
9. Finding Home Quotes

Mum had such a dedicated belief in adoption and the authentic family that adoption created. I was worried about how my news would affect her, and I wanted to reassure her that of course they would always be my parents.

Related Characters: Saroo Brierley (speaker), Mum / Sue Brierley, Dad / John Brierley
Page Number: 178
Explanation and Analysis:
10. Meeting My Mother Quotes

Even at this first meeting, she told me she was grateful to my parents who had raised me in Australia, and that they had the right to call me their son because they had raised me from a child and made me the man I was today. Her only concern for me, she said, was that I should have the very best life I could.

Related Characters: Saroo Brierley (speaker), Kamla (speaker), Mum / Sue Brierley, Dad / John Brierley
Page Number: 204
Explanation and Analysis:
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Dad / John Brierley Quotes in A Long Way Home

The A Long Way Home quotes below are all either spoken by Dad / John Brierley or refer to Dad / John Brierley. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Family Theme Icon
).
1. Remembering Quotes

Mum and Dad were very affectionate, right from the start, always giving me lots of cuddles and making me feel safe, secure, loved, and, above all, wanted. That meant a lot to a child who'd been lost and had experienced what it was like for no one to care about him.

Related Characters: Saroo Brierley (speaker), Mum / Sue Brierley, Dad / John Brierley
Page Number: 9
Explanation and Analysis:
6. My Mum's Journey Quotes

Mum was delighted when the word came through but also calm: somewhere inside her, she'd always felt that the vision she'd had at the age of twelve had meant it was her destiny to have an adopted child by her side.

Related Characters: Saroo Brierley (speaker), Mum / Sue Brierley, Dad / John Brierley
Page Number: 134
Explanation and Analysis:

She is an advocate of replacing Australia's various state laws on intercountry adoption with a simplified federal law. She's critical of governments making it too difficult to adopt and feels that if it was a little easier, maybe more families would do it.

Related Characters: Saroo Brierley (speaker), Mum / Sue Brierley, Dad / John Brierley
Page Number: 134
Explanation and Analysis:
9. Finding Home Quotes

Mum had such a dedicated belief in adoption and the authentic family that adoption created. I was worried about how my news would affect her, and I wanted to reassure her that of course they would always be my parents.

Related Characters: Saroo Brierley (speaker), Mum / Sue Brierley, Dad / John Brierley
Page Number: 178
Explanation and Analysis:
10. Meeting My Mother Quotes

Even at this first meeting, she told me she was grateful to my parents who had raised me in Australia, and that they had the right to call me their son because they had raised me from a child and made me the man I was today. Her only concern for me, she said, was that I should have the very best life I could.

Related Characters: Saroo Brierley (speaker), Kamla (speaker), Mum / Sue Brierley, Dad / John Brierley
Page Number: 204
Explanation and Analysis: