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Chapter 19
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Crow Country, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Prejudice and Discrimination
Heritage and Land
Justice and Restitution
Violence and Integrity
Summary
Analysis
When they’re almost at the lakebed, Sadie and Walter hear trail bikes. When they arrive at the stone circle, they find Craig Mortlock, Lachie, and others lounging about the stone circle, beer cans in their hands. Sadie is distraught and tells Craig Mortlock they shouldn’t be there, as this is a special place, not a picnic ground. Craig Mortlock is dismissive and insulting, asking whether she’s been taking lessons from her “boyfriend,” Walter. He is also disparaging towards the stone circle, telling her it’s not a special place, as it’s not worth any money, and that his mates are enjoying “Aboriginal culture.”
Craig, his son Lachie, and their friends desecrate the sacred site of the stone circle by turning it into a leisure ground. Furthermore, Craig’s insulting response to Sadie further reveals his complete lack of respect for the Aboriginal heritage which sits on his land. Craig can only understand the value of the site in terms of money, and because the site is not worth any, he treats it as worthless. This reflects his ignorance and insensitivity towards Aboriginal culture.
Themes
Walter tells Craig and the others that they have no respect. Sadie points out that this land belonged to Walter’s people way before it belonged to the Mortlocks. Craig and Lachie Mortlock disagree, saying they’ve owned the land for five generations, while Walter isn’t even from the area. Craig Mortlock tells them they’re trespassing. Sadie tells him that his grandfather, Gerald, killed a man by the name of Jimmy Raven here.
Craig and Lachie understand land only as private property—they think that because they “own” the land on which the stone circle sits, it belongs to them. Sadie and Walter, however, rightly point out that this land belonged to others long before it belonged to them. Sadie’s revelation of Gerald Mortlock’s murder of Jimmy is also significant here, as she seeks to confront the Mortlocks with their own crimes and, perhaps, begin to seek justice for them.
Themes
Things escalate, and Walter and Lachie get into a physical fight. Sadie silently appeals to the crows for help. Suddenly, hundreds of crows appear in the sky. They come closer and closer, descending on the dry lakebed. The men and boys are frightened. Walter and Sadie run away. At the edge of the lake, they finally stop and look back. In the distance, they hear gunshots and see the cloud of crows scattering, some falling from the sky. Sadie wants to stop them, but she knows there is nothing they can do.
The men’s shooting of the crows is a further act of violence that they carry out against Aboriginal culture. In Aboriginal culture, the crows are special creatures, representatives of the ancestral spirit Waa the Crow. Crows are venerated as a result. The violence that the men direct towards the birds reveals, again, their disrespect and violence towards Aboriginal culture.
Themes
