Joyce / The Old Woman Character Analysis in Swallow the Air

An elderly woman who finds May living on the street in Sydney and gives her a home. Joyce lives in a crowded urban neighborhood, nicknamed the Block, and populated mostly by people of Aboriginal descent. While the neighborhood is impoverished and substance abuse is rampant, there’s also a strong sense of community, of which Joyce is the center; the old women of the Block frequently gather in her house to drink wine and tell stories. While she faces many of the same hardships, Joyce is a much more capable caregiver than May’s own parents and Aunty, and her example shows May that one can live amid poverty and oppression while maintaining a strong character and a devotion to one’s family.

Joyce / The Old Woman Quotes in Swallow the Air

The Swallow the Air quotes below are all either spoken by Joyce / The Old Woman or refer to Joyce / The Old Woman. 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:

). Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the University of Queensland Press edition of Swallow the Air published in 2006.

She told me about the history of Redfern, about the housing corporation stealing everyone’s money and homes, about how it used to be a real strong community. “And now,” she says shaking her head, “it’s the young fellas taking our money as well and the drugs stealing our community.”

Related Characters: (speaker), (speaker)

Related Symbols:

Page Number and Citation: 101

Explanation and Analysis:

“May, you got people that you gotta find, things you gotta learn. You will learn them ere, but I don’t want you to. Luck at Justine, smack the only thing teachin her now!”

Related Characters: (speaker), ,

Related Symbols:

Page Number and Citation: 104

Explanation and Analysis:

This land is belonging, all of it for all of us. This river is that ocean, these clouds are that lake, these tears are not only my own. They belong to the whales, to Joyce […] they belong to the spirits. To people I will never even know. I give them to my mother.

Related Characters: (speaker), ,

Related Symbols:

Page Number and Citation: 183

Explanation and Analysis:

Joyce / The Old Woman Character Timeline in Swallow the Air

The timeline below shows where the character Joyce / The Old Woman appears in Swallow the Air. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

One day, an old woman walking through the park sees May and coaxes her out of the gazebo. She tells... (full context)

...the train station, May washes her face and looks at herself in the mirror. The old woman ’s kindly reassurance that “you got family in the city too girl” makes her think... (full context)

May and the old woman, who introduces herself as Joyce, take the train to a crowded suburb lined with narrow buildings. Lots of people call... (full context)

...her stint on the Block, which makes her toughened and more mature. She lives with Joyce, Joyce’s daughter Justine, and Justine’s son Johnny. At night, Joyce and other neighborhood women stay... (full context)

During the day, Joyce tells May about growing up on the Block and working in a nearby factory. She... (full context)

Joyce takes care of May, making sure she doesn’t stay out late and has enough food,... (full context)

May feels that Joyce doesn’t want her in the house anymore and is ashamed. She stands in silence until... (full context)

...grabs Charlie’s thumb piano and runs to the Block. She sees a police car outside Joyce’s house and waits for it to leave before sneaking inside and begging Joyce to believe... (full context)

When May first arrived at Joyce’s house, Johnny tried to flirt with her, informing her one day that she was his... (full context)

When Johnny and May return to Joyce’s house after these long talks, they feel immune to the grim poverty of the Block... (full context)

In Joyce’s house, May finds Johnny smoking a bong. He laughs when he finds she has been... (full context)