Detailed Literature Review: Symbolism, Mateship in Australian Novels

This literature review examines two key themes—symbolism and mateship—in Australian novels. The first section analyzes Thea Astley's "It's Raining in Mango," exploring the symbolism of rain, the colonial setting, and its implications for racism and social issues. The second section focuses on David Malouf's "The Great World," examining the concept of "mateship" as a bond between soldiers during wartime, highlighting the characters' resilience and the development of their relationship. The review provides an overview of these literary works, analyzing the contexts and thematic elements presented in the novels, and offers a detailed analysis of the selected literary works.

Running head: LITERATURE REVIEW
LITERATURE REVIEW
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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LITERATURE REVIEW
Q.1. Symbolism in “It’s Raining in Mango”.
'It's Raining in Mango' by Thea Astley “tells the story of five generations of one
family from the 1860s to the 1980s and touches on a wide variety of issues, including racism,
sexism and homosexuality, all within a distinctly colonial Australia framework.” Set in the
“imaginary” town of mango in tropical tropical “North Queensland”. The word “Rain” in the
title “It`s raining Mango” signifies the beginning of the tropical monsoon season which
brings relief and respite after “months of intense heat in the build-up following the dry
months”. The intense raining season can also bring about cyclone and floods which realists in
destructions. The changing season also symbolizes changing human emotions in the
following novels. The death and destruction brought by the floods and signifies the brutal
violence towards the Australian native, the aborigines in the name of racism and it does not
change throughout the novel. They removed of their own land. It is due to this reason one of
central character of the novel “Irish-born journalist, Cornelius Laffey” lost his job due to his
brutal, honest reporting about the violence. As intense rain brings in with itself lots of
hardship and struggles, the following novel witness lots of characters who are struggling to
“keep their heads above water”. Cornelius children’s George, Nadine, their partners, and his
wife, who runs a pub to earn a living. “Nadine has a child out of wedlock when she is 14 and
ends up working in a brothel to support herself”.

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LITERATURE REVIEW
Q.2. Idea of “mateship” in David Malouf’s “The Great World”.
David Malouf’s “The great World” is a widely known novel. It is quite popular in
Australia. The story is about two men taken as fugitives by the Japanese turn to be Prisoners
of War. As Singapore fell, the Japanese took many prisoners for war. Digger Kean and Vic
Curran, are the two men, having deep nationalistic and masculine virtue. The war appears
like a testing ground for the young men who come, dealing with death and facing the most
difficult phase of their lives. Digger Kean appears to be a very quiet and reserved man,
whereas Vic Curran is a very impulsive, instinctive, aggressive man. The relationship
between Vic and Digger is very uneasy and a lot complex, as they belong from different
backgrounds. Still they find themselves equally devastated and distorted, surviving the
aftermath of war. This unites them and brings the transcendence. It develops a feeling of one
ness between them that makes them stronger and stay motivated in life rather than giving into
depression and repenting. This develops within them, called “mateship” in Australia for the
bonding between two men and maintain a fellowship, promising to stand by at any cost. Later
in the novel, we find Vic healing Digger’s disease, as his legs ravaged in a Thai river. The

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LITERATURE REVIEW
REFERENCES
Rhoden, C., 2014. ‘Only we humans can know’: David Malouf and war. Journal of the
Association for the Study of Australian Literature, 14(2).
Sheridan, S., 2015. Thea Astley's' It's raining in mango'. Australian Book Review, (373),
p.54.