Tracks: A Woman’s Solo Trek Across 1700 Miles of Australian Outback Themes

Throughout Robyn Davidson’s story of her trek across the Australian desert, she grapples with the idea of chaos and its role in her journey. At first, Davidson views chaos as a frightening threat—an indication that she is losing control over herself and her story. However, as her journey continues, Davidson begins to see that her fixation on structure and organization is a function of societal conditioning. Through her time in the desert, she learns…

Robyn Davidson’s decision to undertake a solo journey across the desert seems at first to provide a dramatic example of individualism. However, as she plans and undertakes her trip, she quickly discovers that her trek is not as isolated from others as she initially expected. This tension between individualism and interconnection forms one of Davidson’s core struggles throughout the book, as she wonders about the value (or lack thereof) of acting alone and reflects…

The complex relationship between white Australians and Aboriginal Australians (often called black) is a constant concern for Robyn Davidson throughout her trip. She begins her story feeling abstractly concerned about Aboriginal rights, but without a clear idea of how she fits into this tension. As her journey progresses, however, she becomes intimately familiar with Aboriginal communities and begins to see the depth of their oppression under white Australians. Furthermore, Davidson finds that the Aboriginal people…