Tim Winton's "Dirt Music"

Analytical Essay # 58966

English > Analysis
Literature
Literature > World

Examines the relationships in the novel, "Dirt Music," by Tim Winton.

1,329 words () | 1 source | 2005 | Australia

Published on: May 27, 2005

Paper Summary:

An oddly intriguing tale of loss and recovery, Tim Winton's "Dirt Music" focuses on an unlikely triangle among a myriad of colorful characters set against the hauntingly beautiful milieu of Western Australia. This paper shows how Winton smoothly weaves a rough assemblage of highly individual characters together, united and by the common factor of keen and painful grief. Many of the relationships formed between the major characters are primarily aimed at dealing with the loss of someone or something close to them. The paper shows that, despite the differing approaches to their problems, each of Winton's characters' lives revolves around their loss and their ways of coping.

From the Paper:

"The loss of his leg in an accident involving a "dickhead in his Range Rover" has left a permanent stain on Rusty's character; he is bitter with self-pity and mingles his ideas of revenge with frequent morphine injections. A constant "contented" state, as Lu politely puts it, is Rusty's alternative to Bess's jarring poetic outbursts and a far less dignified approach to loss (or impending loss as is Bess's case) than either Beaver or Jim and inspire little empathy from the reader. Winton's intention it appears is to contrast the different reactions to the solitude of death, placing the 'good' characters in a more pleasing light and creating a better understanding of their actions as well as creating a string of memorable characters with which he peppers Lu's journey Coronation Gulf."