Week 3, Blog 1

Describe in a short paragraph the single most important insight or understanding that has come to you from your study of literature this week: Oz Lit. If you can, say also, why your personal history has led you to this insight or understanding.

 

With the study of Australian Literature, the biggest insight that I have learnt is how diverse people’s view of the land can be and how materialistic people can be both in the present and the past. For myself, I have a great respect for the Australian environment as I have grown up with very agricultural parents that have taught me to never waste or exploit food or water while as seen in That Deadman Dance with the character Chaine as he is portrayed as a utilitarian and he purely views the land as economic gain or loss. What has shocked me the most so far with Australian Literature is how much greed there was particularly in the 19^th to 20^th century Australia, yes I do understand that greed has always been apart of human culture but what I didn’t realise was that even though people were economically stable in Australia, they still yearned for more money and to be a mirrored reflection of England as seen in the novel Fly Away Peter when compared to Ashley and his family. I feel like Ashley and I are have similar views as we are able to respect and appreciate the Australian environment for what it is.