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Jimmy Raven
An ancestor of the Mortlock clan, who served in World War I along with Jimmy Raven and Clarry Hazzard, Sadie’s great-grandfather. When she goes back in time to 1933, Sadie learns that Gerald Mortlock and his family own much of the land in Boort, including the site on which the Aboriginal sacred circle of stones sits. Gerald Mortlock is irresponsible, violent, and immoral. He seeks to build a dam that would flood the Aboriginal sacred circle of stones, even though this is a sacrilege from the perspective of the town’s Aboriginal residents, including Jimmy Raven. Indeed, when Jimmy Raven tries to stop Gerald Mortlock from building the dam, Mortlock murders him, and then seeks Clarry Hazzard’s help in covering up the murder. Gerald Mortlock’s crime and cover-up reveal the extent of his immorality. He comes to a tragic end, however—he takes his own life shortly after his murder of Jimmy Raven, quite likely because of the guilt that he felt over the murder.
Gerald Mortlock Quotes in Crow Country
The Crow Country quotes below are all either spoken by Gerald Mortlock or refer to Gerald Mortlock. 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:
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Chapter 12 Quotes
“Well, it is his land, Jimmy,” said Clarry. “Why shouldn’t he build a dam if he wants to?”
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“No!” Jimmy broke away; Sadie could see the fierce light in his eyes. “No. He mustn’t do that.” […] “It’s like - it’d be like me settin’ that church on fire.” Jimmy flung out his arm in the direction of the little weatherboard church. “What would you say if I set the church on fire, hey?”
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Chapter 17 Quotes
Mr Mortlock’s hand shot out and twisted into Dad’s shirt. “I’ve killed the bugger, Clarry. I’ve gone and killed him.”
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Chapter 18 Quotes
“Why are you doing this, Dad? Why?” And then Sadie’s voice had risen to a scream, and Dad grabbed her arm and shook her.
“Be quiet, Sadie, for God’s sake!”
“It’s not right, Dad, you know it!”
“I have to help Gerald; I promised I’d look out for him.”
“And what about Jimmy? Didn’t you promise him, too?” Her voice rose, shrill, hysterical. “Jimmy was murdered! Gerald Mortlock should hang for this!”
Dad slapped her face.
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Chapter 24 Quotes
“We can’t leave him here!” Sadie was weeping. “If we leave him here, he will die!” She tried to lift Lachie’s head. He moaned, his face drained of colour.
The story tells itself again...
The three of them were in the grip of Crow’s story, just as Gerald and Clarry and Jimmy had been. But Crow couldn’t see, Crow couldn’t help them. Sadie was the only one who knew; it was all up to her.
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Chapter 28 Quotes
“Bethany reckons he killed himself. Our great-grandpa,” said Lachie. “Because of the war. Posttraumatic stress or whatever. It was years after he came back. The family made out it was an accident. But Bethany thinks it was because of what he’d seen. What he’d been through.”
What he’d done, thought Sadie.
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Together they planted [Jimmy Raven’s] marker in the ground at the place the crow had shown them.
“I should have brought some flowers or something,” said Sadie.
“Next time,” Walter said.
“Give us a hand?” Lachie called.
The three of them moved around the tiny graveyard, straightening the fallen crosses, digging them more firmly into the ground.
“That’s better,” said Lachie at last, and wiped his forehead on his sleeve. “Maybe we should build a fence round it or something.”
“We’d help you,” said Sadie.
“Make a real headstone for Jimmy, too,” said Walter.
“Yeah,” said Lachie.
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Get the entire Crow Country LitChart as a printable PDF.
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Gerald Mortlock Character Timeline in Crow Country
The timeline below shows where the character Gerald Mortlock appears in Crow Country. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 8
...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...
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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...
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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...
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Chapter 12
...behind the shop. She is throwing out washing-up water when she hears voices. It is Gerald Mortlock and Jimmy Raven, arguing. Jimmy Raven is telling Gerald that what he wants to...
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Gerald Mortlock leaves and Sarah Louise listens as her father, Clarry, questions Jimmy Raven about his...
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Chapter 17
...Hazzards’ shop with Jean, her mother, counting money. As Jean tells Sadie to lock up, Gerald Mortlock barges in, covered in blood. He says he needs Clarry to help him.
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...Louise rushes to find her father, Clarry, whom she brings back to the shop front. Gerald Mortlock is slumped on the floor. Clarry tells Jean to go look after the kids,...
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Clarry leaves Gerald Mortlock in the shop, locks up, and takes Sarah Louise with him. They arrive at...
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Chapter 18
...him about Jimmy’s family. She shouted at him that Jimmy had been murdered, and that Gerald Mortlock should be hanged for it. In response, her father slapped her. He told her...
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Sarah Louise goes to the shop, where she finds Gerald Mortlock still slumped over, though he manages to ask her where Clarry is. She tells...
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Still, Sarah Louise helps clean up Gerald Mortlock, as Clarry instructed her. Mortlock tells her that the murder was an accident—that Jimmy...
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Finally, after midnight, Clarry returns. He is ashen, and his clothes are dirty. Clarry tells Gerald Mortlock that he buried Jimmy’s body in the Mortlock family graveyard. Sarah Louise wants to...
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Chapter 19
...to the town cemetery. There, she begins looking at gravestones. She freezes when she sees Gerald Mortlock’s gravestone, listing his date of death as 1933—the same year as the murder of...
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Chapter 20
...from the area. Craig Mortlock tells them they’re trespassing. Sadie tells him that his grandfather, Gerald, killed a man by the name of Jimmy Raven here.
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Chapter 22
...the Mortlocks have them, which is why that family has been visited by bad luck: Gerald Mortlock died, they’ve lost a lot of their money, and their dam dried up. Sadie...
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Chapter 24
...realizes that she, Walter, and Lachie “were in the grip of crow’s story, just as Gerald and Clarry and Jimmy had been.” Suddenly, Sadie can hear the crows, and the sky...
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Chapter 25
...calls to Sarah Louise. It is 1933, and she is standing in the shop with Gerald Mortlock and her father, shortly after Jimmy’s murder. Gerald is telling Clarry that he knew...
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Clarry goes to bed, and Sarah Louise throws Gerald Mortlock’s bloodied clothes into the fire. As she empties the pockets of her father’s trousers,...
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Chapter 28
...them what they are doing, and Sadie, hesitant at first, tells him the story of Gerald Mortlock’s murder of Jimmy Raven, and how her own great-grandfather Clarry helped cover up the...
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Lachie is not happy to hear his great-grandfather Gerald was a murderer. But Sadie points out that even good men do bad things, including...
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