Secret River - Lit🔥 Circle⭕ by Julian TOLTON https://padlet.com/tolto174211/o5dmw30zk80s Kayla, Julian, Marc and Quentin out here analyzing The Secret River #WholeLottaReading #KateSwagville #WilliamCoolhill en-us 2018-09-12 12:54:07 UTC 2025-11-18 23:28:39 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Simplehouse.png Philosopher tolto174211 https://padlet.com/tolto174211/o5dmw30zk80s/wish/280400786 pg 197 - WT is clearly afraid of the natives and what they could do to his family and his land. To finally get  something worth a lot only to have it stolen from you is not nice. Role reversal of WT thieving from being thieved.
pg 209 - I think the first time WT has looked at things from the natives perspective. Possibly something that he may do more in the future.
pg 219-220 - WT goes down to the river to see his son Dick playing with the natives. The native then creates a fire from sticks and mocks William. William feels offended and refuses to be made a fool by "a naked savage"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WT beats Dick with a belt because he was playing with the aborigines. 
Later on when he sees dick attempting to start a fire with the primitive method.  He doesnt end up beating Dick but instead he helps dick they fail and WT tells Dick to go back to the aborigines (but not to tell sal).  
- This could show that WT is becoming more accepting of the aborigines and he doesn't mind them as much anymore.  

Since Dick has  never lived in London he is used to the aborigines and he becomes like a middle ground between WT and the aborigines. 



 ]]> 2018-09-12 15:15:49 UTC https://padlet.com/tolto174211/o5dmw30zk80s/wish/280400786 Researcher tolto174211 https://padlet.com/tolto174211/o5dmw30zk80s/wish/280402485 William Thornhill is one of many that were convicted of a crime and sent to Australia to colonise. There was also a common division of class which we see in the book, this was common during the Georgian era.

We also see that Williams interactions with the aboriginals is similar to the history of Australia as people were often violent and racist towards them. They are upset about the corn because its the 'blacks' source of food, this is another example of the tension between the aboriginals and the colonisers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pages 222 - 243
Class difference in Australia was very prominent during the 18th century. Throughout these pages, however more focussed toward the first couple pages, this topic was explored. The English - Thornhill - family had always seen themselves in a higher position than the aboriginals, this is also true for most of the foreign convicts. The indigenous Australians are often referred to as "savages' and "wild". This stresses this recurring.
Domestic violence to children, although I cannot find a lot on domestic violence during this time and whether or not it was a common occurrence. I would assume that from the interaction between Thornhill and his child and how conflicted and reluctant to belt his child. My guess is that it depends on the family and the given situation.
What food was available during the 1780's (colonisation)? - the initial food that was available was simple bread, corn and a sort of porridge. However after they had settled more they would farm more fruit and vegetable and eat more animals that are native in Australia.]]> 2018-09-12 15:18:27 UTC https://padlet.com/tolto174211/o5dmw30zk80s/wish/280402485 Summariser bryan555771 https://padlet.com/tolto174211/o5dmw30zk80s/wish/280646590 Pages 195-222
Now that William Thornhill has his two servants living on Thornhill's point, he starts to feel more comfortable with leaving to Sydney more often. As the family build themselves a fireplace all seems to be going well with the children flourishing (Johnny going on 2, Dick turned 7, Bub being 5.) The business was successful, everything was going very well. As William travelled more and more, he decided that he would buy Sal a gift after trip. One day as he was coming back from one of his trips, as he was admiring his land and his family up on the point, Willie came running down to meet his father. Willie was out of breath and Thornhill immediately knew that the aboriginals had come. When he goes to his house and finds out that his thought was indeed true, he decided that he had to go and talk to them. When he arrived at the aboriginals' campsite from following the trail of smoke from their campfire, he is shocked at the scene that is in front of him. The scene is set with women preparing food around the campfire 'almost naked', as William has never seen a woman fully naked he is shocked and slightly horrified. He tries to communicate to them that they have to leave his land, however due to the language barrier of neither being able to speak the other's language simple gibberish is conversed back and forth. He tries to present himself as a more dominant figure in the scene when a group of aboriginal men appear behind him, they all carry spears and Thornhill admits that he is scared of them enough to want his gun just to scare them off. He tries to sign to them and draw an image in the ground of him trying to express that Thornhill's point is his and only his, but the Indigenous Australians seem to have trouble understanding him. Once they realise he is not looking for a fight, one pulls some roots out of the ground and offers some to Thornhill - to which he declines - and a sort of peace is formed between them. So much so that when the women in the tribe would walk past William's house they got into the habit of singing. Sal and the women had begun to grow a bond where Sal was comfortable enough to talk to them and share parts of her life with them as they shared parts of their lives with her. They traded Sal's bonnet and sugar for a wooden bowl, and as readers start to think Sal's is starting to warm up to New South Wales, she tells Thornhill that they will get a very good profit if they sell the bowl in Sydney. Dan and Ned are very judgemental toward the aboriginals, which seems to have not changed since the beginning. Sal starts to get concerned that the Indigenous campers have not left, so sends Thornhill to go speak to and get advice from Blackwood. Blackwood spoke of his encounter with the aboriginals when he first moved, and simply said that he had given one of them his hat and all was settled, but Blackwood's boundaries were made very clear. When Thornhill returns to his home he is disturbed to see Dick playing amongst the aboriginals naked alongside and in the river. He goes down to try to convince Dick to return back home, but finds that Dick is far more interested in learning how to make a fire from Long Bob the traditional way. When Long Bob amazes all the children and William, Thornhill decides to introduce himself properly for the first time, and when Long Bob imitates him, he is taken a back and realised that they are the same people that merely look different.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dick gets beaten for hanging out with the natves. Thornhill feels guilty after. Sal is telling the kids about London and how they survived but this upsets thornhill as it shows sals desire to go back to London. Thornhill can't kill a kangaroo so he trades some flour to the natives for some kangaroo leg.
Thornhill begins to appreciate the natives way of living. Thornhill gets closer to the aboriginals. Thornhill visits smasher Sullivan, who he dislikes very much, and they have an encounter with an aboriginal. Sullivan then shouts at Thornhill comparing him to Blackwood because they both are friendly to 'the blacks'. Thornhill warns him and threatens to not get his oysters which is what Sullivan relies on.
]]> 2018-09-13 03:26:20 UTC https://padlet.com/tolto174211/o5dmw30zk80s/wish/280646590 Wordsmith haupt75134 https://padlet.com/tolto174211/o5dmw30zk80s/wish/280646853 Sentence: It's like bleeding flies, ain't it, he said. Kill one, ten more come to its funeral 

Phrase: A nice cool night put me right.

Word: Smarmy
(ingratiating and wheedling in a way that is regarded as insincere or excessive.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sentence: The anxiety and the fear had been curdling within him and turned into a fury.

Phrase: Felt his arm heavy, reluctant, but would not stop.

Word: Savages ]]> 2018-09-13 03:27:50 UTC https://padlet.com/tolto174211/o5dmw30zk80s/wish/280646853 Spider Web Discussion rappa98861 https://padlet.com/tolto174211/o5dmw30zk80s/wish/281097047 Questions
Why to the natives make fun of the Thornhills?

Why is the corn so precious to the aboriginals?

Why do you think sal treats Dan so badly even though they were such good friends back in london?

What do you think - on page 222 - does WT say, "Pretty soon there won't be any of you black buggers."

Does Thornhill's attitude throughout the text?



]]> 2018-09-14 00:20:01 UTC https://padlet.com/tolto174211/o5dmw30zk80s/wish/281097047 ++++++++++Symbols++++++++++ haupt75134 https://padlet.com/tolto174211/o5dmw30zk80s/wish/282131719 Kangaroo -  how WT is forced to work with the aborigines to get what he wants.

Gun- Protection for the aboriginals. 

Blackwood- Friendly with locals and settlers. 

Smasher Sullivan - Violent way of living with the aborigines
Spear- fear/violence/stories he has heard.

Fire- Indigenous.

Bonnet- how the aboriginals are mocking the Thornhills. 

The River-  his life,  how he provides for his family and his escape from poverty/freedom.

Corn- colonisation.
 
Thornhills Point- his dreams. 

His boots- How his social and economic status improves.]]> 2018-09-17 06:33:27 UTC https://padlet.com/tolto174211/o5dmw30zk80s/wish/282131719