Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Nine Days, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Unconventional Family Structure
First Impressions, Perspective, and Personal Growth
Gender, Stigma, and Shame
Mothers and Sons
The Far-Reaching Effects of War
Summary
Analysis
Annabel cooks at home, following recipes from Women’s Weekly on how to make mock meat dishes. Even though the war is over, strict rationing is still in place—many countries were left devastated, so certain food products are impossible to come by. She sets one end of their table with two plates and chairs. The other end she keeps covered with books or magazines—anything to cover the empty places where her other family members should be. Her father is already midway through his third bottle of alcohol in the afternoon, but he remains enthusiastic about her attempt at mock sausage and mock chutney and thanks her for the meal.
Annabel and her father experience hunger as result of a war that barely touched Australia, and never came close to Melbourne, demonstrating once again war’s far-reaching effects and capacity to inflict suffering even on the other side of the world. The empty places at the table suggests that Annabel and her father feel a sense of loss, either for those who died or those who were never born to begin with, which seems to fuel her father’s alcoholism.
Themes
When they are finished, Annabel’s father asks if she has any money to spare him for drink, but she lies and tells him they are completely out. It’s barely a lie, since they don’t even have enough money to see them through the week. During the war, Annabel worked in a munitions factory and made better money, but now that the men are back, all the factory work went back to them, and she and her father are destitute again.
Annabel’s brief ability to work a factory job and make money demonstrates how for many women at that time, the war brought loss but also new opportunity to perform roles generally held by men. Many women flourished in such positions but, like Annabel, were forced to leave them after the war ended. This suggests that women’s role in the workforce was seen as a temporary necessity rather than a valid life path during this era.
Themes
Annabel’s father laments not being able to take care of her and being a terrible father, and she tries to convince him it’s okay; she knows he drinks out of pain. They do this routine every single night. In time, he’ll start to pass out, and she’ll either help him to his bed, or if he’s too drunk and lands in the hallway, she’ll make sure he’s not injured and then set him up with pillow and blanket on the floor. Today, he starts to fade, so Annabel half-carries him to his armchair to sleep there. As he falls asleep, Annabel tells him that she’s going for a walk and then going to a dance with Francis. Her father says Francis is harmless, though he doesn’t trust Kip, and falls asleep.
Annabel and her father, bereft of mother or brothers, form an unconventional family, especially since her father’s alcoholism is so debilitating that she must care for him. Annabel effectively operates as the parent between the two of them, cooking, cleaning, earning money and providing for her ailing father. Annabel’s shift into this new role exemplifies how in unconditional families, created by choice or ill fortune, members often change roles and adapt themselves to function within their circumstances.
Themes
As Annabel gets ready to go out with Francis, she reflects that she doesn’t entirely understand their relationship. Francis is firm, serious, mature, seemingly perfect, works in the law office. No one other than Francis has ever called on Annabel in her life, and she’s not entirely sure what Francis sees in her. She’s met Kip briefly a few times since he came home from the war, knows he works with the photographer at the newspaper, but she doesn’t know him and doesn’t ever think about him. Francis arrives and asks if he could speak with her father, but Annabel tells him he’s already asleep and they leave together.
Placed immediately after Francis’s rather damning narrative, Annabel’s perception of Francis as the perfect gentleman yet again demonstrates that one cannot trust their limited perception of a person to accurately or wholly assess their entire character. Although the reader already knows that Kip and Annabel eventually marry, she has little regard for him at this point, suggesting that their meeting may play a central role in Annabel’s narrative.
Themes
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They walk together by the river, outside of Richmond. Annabel thinks this part of the river looks beautiful, but Francis can never sit still long enough to admire it. He talks about his work at the law office and mentions that his mother Jean would’ve liked Annabel, except that she’s dead now. Annabel recalls silently that Jean was despised by most when she died, “on account of Connie.” Francis asks after Annabel’s father—apparently not truly aware of his condition—and wonders if he wouldn’t be better off on his own. Annabel isn’t sure what Francis means, but feels she can’t just leave him, especially since he raised her on his own after her mother died in childbirth.
Although Jean or Connie’s fate has yet to be revealed, Annabel’s remembrance that Jean was a hated woman hints at the horrible tragedy that will befall them both. Meanwhile, the revelation that Annabel’s mother died in childbirth, leading to their present unconventional situation, demonstrates that such an unusual family situation may not be a mark of poor decisions earlier in life, but simply the result of unpreventable tragedy and misfortune.
Themes
Francis tells Annabel that he has a gift for her, and shows her an amethyst pendant. It’s the most beautiful thing she’s ever seen. Francis tells her about how an old lady gave it to him after he spent hours charitably helping her with yard work, as he was often in the habit of doing as a boy He tells the pendant comes all the way from Europe, and the old lady received it from some member of a royal family. Annabel believes him and, overjoyed to be with such an honorable man, puts the pendant around her neck.
Although Francis presents himself as upstanding and honorable, and certainly seems well-regarded by most in Richmond, his blatant lie to Annabel about where he got the pendant reveals that he is still selfish and conniving to some degree, and too cowardly to admit that he stole it. Although Francis does seem to have grown and changed, his falsehood suggests that at his core, he is still the same.
Themes
Annabel and Francis take a tram to a massive, elaborate dance hall filled with people their age. Francis goes to visit with some friends, and from a distance Annabel sees him swig from a silver flask, like her own father. Millie and Jos, girls she knew years ago, visit with Annabel, and their lavish dresses remind her of her own poverty. However, they’re both stunned at Annabel’s beautiful pendant, but when she tells them that Francis gave it to her, they seem concerned, especially since Annabel and Francis aren’t engaged. Jos’s brother Mac approaches them, wearing a soldier’s uniform. Annabel hasn’t seen him in years. When he asks her to dance, Annabel tells him he’d love to.
Along with his blatant lie about the pendant, Francis’s drinking from a flask suggests that he has at the very least the potential for the same tragic alcoholism that plagues Annabel’s father. Annabel’s recognition that both Jos and Millie seem better off financially suggests that Annabel is making sacrifices to stay and provide for her father. Lastly, although Mac was previously seen as a thief and a gangster, his proper appearance wearing a soldier’s uniform suggests that he, too, has grown and changed.
Themes
While they are dancing and catching up, Francis angrily approaches and tells Annabel they are going to leave. Mac confronts Francis, also chiding him for remaining a civilian during the war, and it seems there may be a fight. Just as the tension between them seems about to break into violence, Kip arrives, wearing his own uniform, on the pretense of catching up with Mac like he was an old friend. Kip puts a guiding hand on Mac’s back and holds his arm out graciously for Annabel, who threads hers through his and leads them away from the gathered crowd, with Francis following furiously behind.
Kip’s confidence to take hold of the situation and avert violence, as well as his forthrightness with Annabel, contrasts greatly with his interaction with her in the first narrative, suggesting that he, too, has grown and matured into a man. The fact that he appears in a soldier’s uniform further suggests that his time in the military played a significant role in that maturation, just as it seems to have done for Mac.
Themes
Kip and Mac chat about the war. When Jos catches up to them, she remarks that Kip joined up rather late, but Mac defends him, stating that Kip’s station in Borneo saw plenty of hard fighting, even late in the war. Kip “looks Jos square in the face” and tells her that he had to wait for Jean to die, especially because Jean was so reviled by their community after Connie’s death and the inquest that she wouldn’t even get out of bed. Francis and Jos seem ashamed, and Annabel is surprised to hear Kip speak so plainly about this shameful part of their family’s past.
Mac’s defense of Kip’s honor as a soldier again contrasts with the times he’d tried to beat him up as a kid, further suggesting that Mac himself has become an honorable man during the war. Once again, Kip’s reasons for staying out of the war initially foreshadows the revelation of Connie’s tragic death, as well as Jean’s seemingly shameful decision that led to it.
Themes
Mac asks what happened to Jack Husting, and Kip answers that he was killed in North Africa. The crowd goes silent as they all remember their own lost loved ones. Annabel observes that there are holes in the crowd everywhere, people that ought to be there but aren’t. “That’s what war means,” she reflects.
Once again, even in Australia, everyone seems to have lost someone, demonstrating the cost of war even for those who are far away from the dangers of combat.
Themes
Jos breaks the silence, pointing out Annabel’s pendant from Francis. Kip is surprised by its obvious value, but when he asks where Francis got it, Francis goes suddenly silent. Annabel believes he is just being shy, so she starts to explain about the charitable work he used to do for old women. Francis tries to stop her from speaking, but Mac has already heard it. Mac remarks that Francis certainly has an active imagination, and thinks it ironic that Francis now works in law; perhaps he’ll pay Francis’s boss a visit. Francis takes Annabel outside.
Kip’s surprise at the pendant and its value suggests that Francis had not even told his twin brother about it over all these years. Francis’s attempt to stop Annabel from repeating the lie suggests that Francis rightly fears being exposed as a fraud, since everyone will be able to see that his reputation as a perfect citizen is marred by a long-concealed theft.
Themes
Francis and Annabel are alone outside. Francis paces back and forth angrily, but Annabel still does not understand what happened. Francis accuses her of running her mouth and insists that even she should know “how to act like a lady instead of a fishwife.” Annabel is stunned and deeply offended. Kip arrives again and tries to convince Francis to go inside and try chatting up a different girl. Annabel tells him there’s no need to intervene, but Kip insists he wants to keep Francis from saying anything he’ll regret. Francis again demeans her for her poverty. Annabel is furious and decides she’ll walk home, but first starts to unclasp the pendant from her neck.
In spite of Francis’s earlier chivalry, calling Annabel a “fishwife” is a harsh jab both at her poverty and her gender. This reveals that Francis is still mean-spirited beneath his veneer of respectability, and still holds the bigoted views about women he espoused when he mocked Connie’s dream of being a professional photographer. Once again, although Francis seems to have changed himself in some ways—he is far less haughty, for instance—his poor inner character remains the same.
Themes
Kip tells Annabel she shouldn’t give back the pendant, since it was a gift, but Francis wants it back to give to some other girl. Kip decides that he’ll buy it from Francis—though Francis demands an inordinate sum—by making payments out of his monthly salary for two years, so that Annabel can keep the valuable jewelry. Kip takes Annabel by the hand and asks her to let him be generous to her, and then takes the pendant and refastens it around her neck, his hand brushing her skin. Francis calls Kip a “bloody idiot.”
Much like Charlotte, Kip’s decision to burden himself with two years of debt to re-gift the pendant to Annabel suggests that he values people more than money. In doing so, Kip redeems the amethyst pendant as a symbol of love and dedication to others, even though Francis previously used it as a tool to buy Annabel’s affection.
Themes
Francis goes back into the dance, and Kip and Annabel walk in the quiet dark before taking the train back to Richmond. When Annabel enters her house, she wakes her father. He stumbles outside to urinate before collapsing into bed. She knows his drinking is killing him; he won’t be alive much longer. As Annabel helps him undress and get settled, she asks him why he doesn’t trust Kip. As her father rolls over and passes out once more, he mumbles, “Take you away from me.”
Annabel’s father’s answer to her question suggests that he could already see Francis’s shallow value and Kip’s great depth of character, and knew long before his daughter that she could easily be swept off her feet by him. The value that Annabel’s father sees in Kip once again contradicts Jean and Mrs. Husting’s low view of him as a youth.
Themes
