Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Runner, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Money, Class, and Community
Growing Up
Grief
Ambition
Crime
Summary
Analysis
After succeeding with the first payment, Charlie collects the rest of Squizzy’s debts with confidence. He never stops to consider the people on the list as people––“all that mattered was the money.” His nerves come back, though, when it comes time to go to Fitzroy. Charlie arrives at the suburb, and he notes that although Fitzroy is cleaner and more vibrant than Richmond, its cheery facade hides an underbelly of its own.
Charlie’s increasing confidence comes at the expense of other people, and he never stops to consider his effect on their lives. The way he lets his power go to his head highlights that crime is ultimately selfish, and people cannot succeed as criminals without hurting others. In Richmond, the dark side of crime hides beneath the excitement that lured Charlie into Squizzy’s underworld. In Fitzroy, that same darkness hides under a seemingly respectable suburb. This hidden aspect of crime displays how criminals can present as respectable to earn status and influence.
Themes
Charlie stalls before going inside the next place, which is a cake shop. When he finally enters, he finds Alice working at the counter. He awkwardly buys a cream bun and thinks of the women in his life: Mrs. Feehan, Mrs. Redmond, and Dolly. He concludes that they are all attracted to men who make them laugh, since laughing is “one of the few things that came for free” in the slums. Charlie is about to attempt a joke when he sees Jimmy Barlow through the shop window. Charlie ducks behind the counter and begs Alice to stay quiet.
Though Charlie is influenced by the sexism of his time, his life is full of women whose support allows him to be as independent as he is. Alice is a young woman who interests Charlie in a different way than the other women in his life. His rationale for making her laugh reiterates how poverty affects every part of life, including romance, since elaborate gifts and dates are expensive while laughing “comes for free.”
Themes
Barlow comes into the shop and buys two pies. He tries to flirt with Alice, but she dismisses him and insults his football playing, which makes Charlie smile. Barlow leaves, and Charlie thanks Alice for hiding him. Alice remarks that she doesn’t like Barlow because he thinks he can push people around just because he’s a boxer. She hates boxing. Charlie recalls his father teaching him that a man’s character depends not on how many times he is knocked over, but on how many times he gets back up. Charlie feels like he has failed on this count during his interaction with Alice.
In her first real meeting with Charlie, Alice proves herself to be fiery, strong-willed, and candid. She dislikes bullies like Barlow, and her frustration at his football playing suggests that she shares Charlie’s passion for athletics. When Charlie is too stunned to talk to Alice, she takes control of the situation, and Charlie fumbles his attempts to endear himself to her. His insecurity with Alice highlights Charlie’s lingering immaturity as he struggles with a youthful uncertainty about flirting and romance.
Themes
Charlie abruptly remembers why he came to the cake shop and asks to speak to Kenneth Cornwall, whose name is on the list. Alice calls for Mr. Cornwall, revealing that she is his daughter. Charlie considers running away, but Mr. Cornwall appears and Charlie asks to speak to him in private. The two go to the back of the shop, and Charlie asks for Squizzy’s money. Mr. Cornwall insists he doesn’t have the money, so Squizzy will have to wait. Charlie presses the issue, and Mr. Cornwall comes at him brandishing a rolling pin as a weapon. Alice comes in and intervenes. She hugs her father and tells Charlie to leave them alone. She accuses him of being “just like the rest of [th]em.”
Charlie sees Alice as a real person and an individual, so realizing that his debt collecting comes at her expense forces Charlie to recognize the humanity of the people under Squizzy’s control. Alice calling Charlie “just like the rest of [th]em” indicates that just as Charlie saw the Cornwalls as simply another name on the list, his employment with Squizzy renders Charlie just another Melbourne gangster. The moment when the adult Mr. Cornwall tries to attack the teenage Charlie also emphasizes the danger of life as a young gangster.
Themes
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Charlie runs back to Richmond, troubled. He is terrified of how Squizzy will react to his failure to collect all the money, but more than that, seeing Alice’s interaction with her father makes Charlie realize that the names on the list are “desperate people” like his own family. On the way home, Charlie runs into a friendly sex worker named Daisy Maloney. He tells her about his job with Squizzy, and she warns him about the dangers of Richmond’s criminal underworld. Charlie knows that men often try to take advantage of Daisy after hours, so he walks her home. When they get to her house, Daisy advises Charlie to use his earnings for “something good.” This inspires him to use his own money to pay Mr. Cornwall’s debt. He delivers the money to Squizzy, who for the first time looks afraid.
Charlie’s loyalties begin to split between Squizzy Taylor and his own morality. At this point, his loyalty to Squizzy is driven largely by fear, but fear is a powerful incentive, and Charlie struggle to reconcile it with his newfound empathy for people like the Cornwalls. Daisy helps Charlie come to terms with this, which reinforces the importance of a supportive community. She advises him to leave his job with Squizzy, but if he cannot, he should at least use the money he earns at the expense of desperate people to do “something good” for them.This reinvigorates Charlie. Squizzy, meanwhile, is growing harried due to the gang war he is leading.
Themes
