Frank’s close friend in the IDB, Sullivan is completely paralyzed and lives in an iron lung. While Sullivan is the son of an affluent and powerful Australian family and Frank is a poor refugee, the two boys are immediately drawn to each other. Sullivan is remarkably cheerful despite his situation and retains his passion for reading and composing poetry. It’s Sullivan who awakens Frank’s love for poetry and makes him realize he wants to be a poet. Sullivan’s death from fever is a big blow to Frank; as an adult, he publishes a memoir about his friend and some poetry fragments he had transcribed, showing Sullivan’s lasting influence on Frank’s character and art.
Sullivan Backhouse Quotes in The Golden Age
The The Golden Age quotes below are all either spoken by Sullivan Backhouse or refer to Sullivan Backhouse. 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:
).
6. The Poet
Quotes
He felt her reverence for music and literature was theatrical, deliberate, and set them even more apart from everyone else.
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Why do I refuse it? he thought, wheeling off. His parents, he knew, regarded his lost legs as one more tragedy they had to bear. I refuse to be their only light. I want to be my own reason for living.
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Sullivan Backhouse Quotes in The Golden Age
The The Golden Age quotes below are all either spoken by Sullivan Backhouse or refer to Sullivan Backhouse. 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:
).
6. The Poet
Quotes
He felt her reverence for music and literature was theatrical, deliberate, and set them even more apart from everyone else.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Why do I refuse it? he thought, wheeling off. His parents, he knew, regarded his lost legs as one more tragedy they had to bear. I refuse to be their only light. I want to be my own reason for living.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
