Deadly Unna

The story and its themes

Deadly, Unna? is one year in the life of fourteen year-old Gary ‘Blacky’ Black. Like most boys his age,
he plays football, worries about what to say to girls, shirks responsibility and has problems at home.
However, through his brief friendship with Dumby Red, one of the local Aborigines, Blacky learns
important lessons about human dignity, racism, justice, death, courage, family and friendship.
As the novel opens, Blacky is worried about the imminent grand final and the responsibility he carries
as the team’s new first ruck. His opponent will be the unstoppable ‘Thumper’. To protect himself,
Blacky has devised the ‘Thumper tackle’ which is the ultimate defence of the coward: it looks like he is
trying to tackle his opponent but is really an elaborate dodge.
Blacky spends much of that winter dodging responsibility in a similar manner. By the end of the following
summer, however, he understands the importance of making a stand and is able to do so. His
brothers and sisters join him in his stand and the novel ends with Blacky at peace with himself, happy
in his relationship with his siblings, and confident that he will be able to deal with the problems that will
come with the morning.

The setting and structure

The novel is set in recent times on a peninsula in South Australia. Blacky and his family live in the ‘the
Port’ where the whites, or Goonyas, live. Dumby lives out at ‘the Point’ with the Nungas, the Aborigines.
The Port is a typical sleepy coastal town. In winter, the only action in town is the local football competition;
in summer, action revolves around the beach and the stimulus provided by the annual influx of
‘campers’. The novel is therefore divided into two sections: Winter and Summer. In winter, in the
football team, the short friendship between Blacky and Dumby develops and Blacky begins to see and
resent the racism in his community. In summer, he is smitten by the camper, Cathy, and in his desire... [continues]

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