Gary Blacky Red Chapter Summary
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 …show more content…
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 for her approval, he forgets his Nunga friends.
The summer also brings the tragic death of Dumby. Blacky’s determination to attend Dumby’s funeral marks a turning point. He knows his actions will put an end to his blossoming friendship with
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 …show more content…
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 for her approval, he forgets his Nunga friends.
The summer also brings the tragic death of Dumby. Blacky’s determination to attend Dumby’s funeral marks a turning point. He knows his actions will put an end to his blossoming friendship with