Graffiti Symbol Analysis

Blacky’s opinion on the graffiti on the inside of the shelter on top of his town’s jetty, which reads, “Boongs piss off,” evolves throughout the novel. Blacky’s changing opinion on this particular piece of graffiti, which contains a derogatory term for the local indigenous population, symbolizes his changing opinion on the general racism present in his community. While all other graffiti on the jetty lasts only a week before someone covers it up, this piece of graffiti has been there longer than Blacky can remember, showing the pervasive nature of racism in Blacky’s small town. Blacky feels guilty about the graffiti once he sees Clarence, his friend’s sister and a member of the local indigenous community, standing under the words, because although he didn’t write it, he has never tried to scratch the sentence out. This shows how personal relationships with members of a different race can increase one’s awareness of racial issues, a theme which will become more apparent as Blacky’s friendship with Dumby is tested by their community’s racial divisions. Later in the novel, Blacky realizes that Slogs, the town butcher and his father’s friend, wrote the graffiti. This shows Blacky that acts of racism can be committed even by people he knows well, an important realization for the development of Blacky’s attitudes towards racism. After his friend Dumby dies in a potentially racially motivated act, Blacky decides someone should clean up the graffiti. By talking to his neighbor Darcy, Blacky realizes that he must be the person to clean it up; there’s no point waiting for someone else to take action. Blacky’s decision to cover up the graffiti shows a greater development in his character where he learns to take more responsibility for addressing his community’s issues. Blacky’s changing understanding of the graffiti ultimately represents both how powerful racism can be and how important it is for individuals to take responsibility for combating it.