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
Sarah Louise wakes up to find herself alone in the kitchen with Jean and Clarry. Someone knocks at the door, and when her dad opens the door, Jimmy Raven, an Aboriginal man who is the Mortlocks’ stockman, walks in. The three adults, who seem to have forgotten about Sarah Louise’s presence in the chair, exchange small talk. Sarah Louise notices that her parents serve Jimmy tea in good china, unlike most of the other townspeople, who would never serve an Aboriginal man in good china.
As an Aboriginal man, Jimmy would not be accorded equal respect and courtesy by white residents, and this is indicated by the fact that most white residents of the town wouldn’t serve him on good china. That Clarry and Jean do suggests that they are not as prejudiced as the other white townspeople.
Themes
Finally, Jimmy addresses Clarry, saying he wants to ask him something. He refers to Dad by the name “Lofty,” the nickname Clarry went by in the war. Jimmy and Dad served together in the war, and Dad fought the town of Boort to have Jimmy’s name engraved on the war monument. Clarry was eventually supported by Gerald Mortlock, a powerful man in the town who also served in the war along with Clarry and Jimmy. Gerald also gave Jimmy work at Invergarry after the war.
That the town was reluctant to include Jimmy’s name on the war monument is further indication of the ways in which Aboriginals are discriminated against in Boort. Even though Jimmy had served in the war like white men such as Clarry and Gerald, the town is resistant to honoring his service, and it takes the intervention of others for him to get his due.
Themes
Jimmy then begins to share his troubles. He poses a hypothetical dilemma to Clarry: if Clarry had been given something sacred to look after, and he knew that someone was going to do something that would destroy this sacred thing, what would Clarry do? Clarry says he would move the thing, but then Jimmy says this thing can’t be moved.
Jimmy’s statement that the “thing” that must be protected is sacred suggests that it has a very important spiritual value. This in turn indicates that Jimmy, as an Aboriginal man, is trying to save some spiritual or sacred element of Aboriginal culture that is under threat. Jimmy’s desire to protect this sacred Aboriginal object alludes to the way in which Aboriginal culture is consistently treated with disrespect and ignorance by white Australians. Clearly, Jimmy fears that violence will be done to this sacred object—it is in danger of being destroyed. The fact that the “thing” Jimmy refers to can’t be moved also reveals that it is very closely tied to land—it is located on the land in such a way that its very identity is tied to the landscape.
Themes
There’s another knock on the door. This time it is Gerald Mortlock, who seems somewhat surprised to see Jimmy in the room. Jimmy immediately rises to his feet and says he has to go. Gerald sits down, making himself comfortable in the room, and asks why Jimmy is visiting. Clarry says he just dropped by to say hello.
Jimmy’s decision to leave immediately after Gerald arrives suggests that Jimmy does not feel as comfortable around Gerald as he does around Clarry—even though he served with both men during World War I. Some kind of unease seems to exist between Jimmy and Gerald, and it may be due to racial tension or prejudice.
Themes
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Jean interrupts the conversation, asking if Gerald Mortlock needs something. He asks for a box of matches, and she goes to the front of the store and gets it for him. He then leaves, after complimenting Clarry on his lovely wife. After Gerald Mortlock’s departure, Clarry is slightly shaken. He tells Jean that he and Jimmy and Gerald were all mates during the war, but that things between them have changed drastically.
Clarry’s comments to Jean after Gerald’s departure affirm the fact that not all is well between the three men—even though they were once close. Clarry senses that something is amiss between Jimmy and Gerald, but he can’t quite put his finger on what the problem is, and this unsettles him.
Themes
Clarry and Jean suddenly notice that Sarah Louise is still in her chair and ask her if she’s feeling well. She is about to say that she’s fine, when darkness suddenly plunges over her. She presses her hands against her eyes, and when she opens them, she finds that it is broad daylight and she is sitting in the lakebed, covered in mud. A crow is perched on a dead tree not far away, looking at her.
Sadie’s sudden transition to present time—just as she is about to answer Clarry and Jean’s question in the body of her great-aunt Sarah Louise—indicates how little control she seems to have in directing the changes that affect her since her discovery of the stone circle. She is in the grip of forces beyond her control, though she doesn’t yet understand how these forces connect to the land and her family’s heritage.
Themes
