Gary “Blacky” Black
Blacky is the main character and narrator of the novel. He is fourteen years old and lives in a rural Australian town called the Port. He is one of eight children from a poor family…
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Dumby Red
Dumby Red is Blacky’s friend and teammate who comes from the indigenous community known as the Point. Dumby is handsome and well-dressed. He is the fastest runner on the football team and one of the…
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Tim “Best Team-man” Black
Tim, whom Blacky calls Team-man, is Blacky’s older brother. Despite receiving the “Best Team-man” trophy every year on their football team, Team-man does not usually sacrifice anything for his family. For example, when Blacky and…
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Darcy
Darcy is Blacky’s elderly neighbor. Darcy grows and sells maggots for the local and tourist fishermen and is often out fishing on the jetty. He tells Blacky stories about his time in the Royal Australian…
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Coach “Arks” Robertson
Arks is the coach of the youth football team and the owner of the town’s general store. Blacky calls him “Arks” because of his thick accent, which makes the word “ask” sound like “arks.” Arks…
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Gwen “Mum” Black
Gwen Black is Blacky’s mother. She labors constantly to care for Blacky and his seven siblings without the help of her absent, alcoholic husband. Whenever she appears in the novel, she is usually doing…
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Bob “The Old Man” Black
Bob Black is Blacky’s father. He spends every night at the pub instead of eating dinner with his family. He works as a fisherman but lacks the talent and knowledge required for successful fishing. He…
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Pickles
Pickles is Blacky’s best friend. Pickles has poor hygiene and a bad rash, and he tells outrageous tales about girls he’s allegedly dated. He’s grows and sells maggots for fishing bait but fails to compete…
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Slogs Kneebone
Slogs is the town butcher. He often hangs out at the pub with Blacky’s father. He laughs the loudest out of all the pub patrons when Big Mac tells a racist joke. Towards the…
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Victor “Big Mac” McRae
Big Mac is the local pub owner and the football club president. He shoots and kills Dumby while Dumby and his friends are allegedly trying to rob the pub. Before the shooting, Big Mac told…
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Clarence
Clarence is Dumby’s younger sister. She plays netball with Blacky’s sisters. Blacky experiences a hint of romantic feelings for Clarence when the two of them leave the football party to hang out on the jetty…
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Cathy
Cathy is a “camper,” the local name for the tourists who come to the Port in the summer. Both Team-man and Pickles think she is “stuck-up” because she comes from the city and goes to…
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Lovely
Lovely is Dumby’s older cousin. Lovely plans the pub robbery and Dumby agrees to help because he admires Lovely. Lovely was once a rising football star like Dumby but has now begun a life of…
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Tommy Red
Tommy Red is Dumby and Clarence’s father. He is cheerful and friendly. After the grand final football game, he drinks at the front bar of the pub instead of the back bar with the rest…
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Thumper
Thumper is the star player of the Wangaroos, the team the Port is playing in the grand final. Blacky fears him because Thumper is a much larger and more aggressive player than he is. Thumper…
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Andrew and Craig McDermott
Andrew and Craig McDermott are wealthy tourists around Blacky’s age who come to The Port every summer. Blacky thinks they are dumb jocks and sees them as romantic rivals for Cathy, a fellow tourist…
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Mad Dog
Mad Dog is a player from a team the Port plays against before the grand final. He is a violent player on the field and attacks Blacky after the game. This allows Dumby to prove…
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Carol/Colin Cockatoo
Colin is the former first ruck of the Port’s football team. He is known as Carol until members of the opposing team discover that the real Carol is actually Colin’s younger brother. Carol is too…
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Minor Characters
“Mum” Red
“Mum” Red is Clarence and Dumby’s mother. She chooses not to associate with the Port or any of its events. Despite this, she is kind and helpful to Blacky when he attends Dumby’s funeral.
Dazza
Dazza is Blacky’s friend. After Dumby’s death, Dazza suggests that Dumby got what he deserved for trying to rob the pub. Dazza represents just part of the prejudiced community Blacky must defy in order to attend Dumby’s funeral.
Mark Arks
Mark Arks is the son of Coach Arks and the captain of the football team. Though Dumby is the better player, Mark Arks receives the top award at the end of the season, an event which causes Blacky to realize the racism in his town.
Greggy Black
Greggy is Blacky’s younger brother. Blacky describes mature concepts such as love and racial injustice to him. Greggy, because he is young and innocent, still looks up to their neglectful, abusive father. Part of this naivety is shattered when he witnesses Bob hit Blacky.
Sharon Black
Sharon is Blacky’s eldest sister. Despite the chaos of her lower-class family, she is a very neat and proper person. On the rare occasions their mother is absent, Sharon takes over the roles of cooking and cleaning.
Mick
Mick is Pickles’s father. Mick regularly drinks at the pub with Bob Black. Like many of the men in the Port, Mick is rough in both appearance and manners. Mick is originally Bob’s fishing partner, but the two separate over disagreements.
Shirl
Shirl is Pickles’s mother and a frequent patron of the pub. She is skinny and frail. Like her husband, she drinks and smokes heavily.
Rocker
Rocker is the town mechanic and a regular at the pub along with Bob Black. His wife often calls him at the bar because he is not taking care of their kids at home. His abandonment of his children mirrors Bob’s neglect of Blacky and his siblings.
Jimmy Downes
Jimmy Downes is a boy from Blacky’s school who is constantly in trouble. He starts fights and brags about his sexual conquests. Jimmy represents the hypermasculine ideal that Bob Black and the rest of the town expect Blacky to live up to.
Clemboy
Clemboy is Dumby’s cousin from the Point. Dumby’s pass to Clemboy shows Dumby’s supportive and sportsmanlike attitude.
Mrs. Ashburner
Mrs. Ashburner is the town Sunday school teacher, swim instructor, and librarian. She is very religious and strict.
Kevin Black
Kevin is one of Blacky’s younger brothers. He often speaks with improper grammar.
Jenny Black
Jenny is one of Blacky’s younger sisters.
Claire Black
Claire is one of Blacky’s younger sisters.
Sid Red
Sid is Dumby and Clarence’s uncle and Lovely’s father.
Deano
Deano is one of Blacky’s friends from the Port.
The Local Member
The local member is the number one ticket holder of the football club and is responsible for giving speeches and handing out awards at the football party.
