Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Crow Country, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Prejudice and Discrimination
Heritage and Land
Justice and Restitution
Violence and Integrity
Summary
Analysis
When Sadie enters the house, her mother, Ellie, scolds her for not explaining where she was going. Ellie says that at 13, Sadie should be behaving more responsibly. Sadie snaps back that if she is that old, her mother should have consulted her about the important life decision of moving to Boort. Trying to make amends, Ellie hugs and kisses her daughter, and suggests they go and catch the end of the footy (Australian rules football) game—Boort school kids are playing against Wedderburn. Sadie grudgingly agrees to go.
The tensions between Sadie and her mother are revealed in this scene. Clearly, Sadie feels great resentment towards her mother for moving her to Boort. Sadie doesn’t always feel that her mother pays adequate attention to her needs and feelings. In assuming that her daughter would be happy to move to Boort, Ellie did not take into account the fact that Sadie doesn’t view Boort as a place of heritage in the way that Ellie does. Ellie grew up in the town, while Sadie hasn’t. The mother and daughter’s contrasting attitudes to the town suggest that heritage is built through experience in, and emotional connection to, a place.
Themes
On the way to the game, Sadie mentions to Ellie that she saw their family name of Hazzard on the war memorial. Ellie tells Sadie that her great-grandfather, Clarry Hazzard, fought in World War I. He survived the war and returned to Boort to run the town shop.
Sadie is beginning to learn more about her ancestors who lived in Boort. Although she is not happy to be in the town, the move to Boort is allowing her to discover her family history.
Themes
At the game, Ellie and Sadie eat sausages as they watch. Sadie’s attention is caught by one of the players. Ellie strikes up a conversation with the boy’s parents, who are cheering him on. Ellie recognizes the woman, Amanda. Amanda introduces her husband, whom Ellie didn’t recognize at first but also knows—he is Craig Mortlock. Sadie lets the three adults chat as she watches player number 29, Amanda and Craig’s son, whose name is Lachie Mortlock.
Sadie’s focus on Lachie indicates that she is instantly attracted to him. In spite of her dislike of the town, she nonetheless starts to form connections to people in Boort. Her mother’s re-acquaintance with Amanda and Craig Mortlock further reminds the reader that Ellie has roots in the town—old relationships and acquaintances are being reawakened.
Themes
After the game, Sadie and her mother walk back home. On the way, Sadie mentions that she saw the Mortlock name on the war memorial, too, and her mother tells her that the Mortlocks own half the town, including a large property on its edges called Invergarry. Sadie realizes that the dried lakebed she visited earlier must lie on the family’s property of Invergarry.
Like the Hazzards, the Mortlocks have a long history in the town, although they are clearly much wealthier given their ownership of so much land. The fact that the dry lakebed exists on their property raises the question of whether they are aware of the stone monument that Sadie stumbled upon there.
Themes
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