Crow Country

by

Kate Constable

Lachie Mortlock Character Analysis

Son of Craig Mortlock, and great-grandson of Gerald Mortlock. He is heir to the large territory of land that belongs to the Mortlocks. He is on the school’s footy (soccer) team and is very much into sports. He is Sadie Hazzard’s love interest, although she quickly loses her desire for him when she realizes that he can be quite heartless and cruel. Lachie first demonstrates this heartlessness when he kicks Walter and Sadie out of the pool room in the bar, likely due to Walter’s race. Furthermore, he doesn’t keep Sadie’s secret about the Aboriginal sacred circle of stones that sits on his family’s land, and instead tells his father about it. He also demonstrates disrespect and callousness towards the sacred site of stones when he tries to knock down one of the stones after he finds Walter and Sadie hiding there. Walter throws a clod of earth at him, which leads Lachie to fall from his bike and get injured. However, Sadie and Walter come to Lachie’s aid and save his life. In doing so, they end the cycle of violence that had been initiated by Gerald Mortlock and Clarry Hazzard. Gerald and Clarry did not come to Jimmy Raven’s aid when Gerald injured him, but instead hid the crime and kept Jimmy Raven’s death a secret. Lachie seems to change after Sadie and Walter save his life at the stone circle. He begins a process of reconciliation with both Walter and Sadie, and promises to help them find information about Jimmy Raven.

Lachie Mortlock Quotes in Crow Country

The Crow Country quotes below are all either spoken by Lachie Mortlock or refer to Lachie Mortlock. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Prejudice and Discrimination Theme Icon
).
Chapter 9 Quotes

Her legs shook; her whole body was racked with shudders. […] She never should have brought Lachie here; she should have protected the secret. Crow’s place.

“Lachie,” she said, with sudden desperation. “Listen, you can’t tell anyone about this place.”

[…] “Okay, mate. It’s your special place, is it? I won’t tell anyone.”

Not my special place, thought Sadie. It belongs to the crows. But she didn’t say it aloud.

Related Characters: Sadie Hazzard (speaker), Lachie Mortlock (speaker), The Crows
Related Symbols: The Stone Circle
Page Number: 67-68
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

Craig leaned into David’s face and lowered his voice. “Found something very interesting on my land. Aboriginal artefacts. Wondered if you could tell me what they’d be worth.”

Related Characters: Craig Mortlock (speaker), Sadie Hazzard, David, Lachie Mortlock
Related Symbols: The Stone Circle
Page Number: 120
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 20 Quotes

“You should be pleased! Look at all these people, experiencing a bit of Aboriginal culture!” He waved his arm at the men sprawled against the rocks, their boots resting on the carvings, their cans tossed into the centre of the circle.

Related Characters: Craig Mortlock (speaker), Sadie Hazzard, Walter, Lachie Mortlock
Related Symbols: The Stone Circle
Page Number: 157
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 21 Quotes

“The story goes on, as it always goes on. The Law is broken and there is punishment. The dead cannot live again, but what was taken from the clever man must be returned. When the Law is broken the world is broken. The circle must be joined again.”

Related Characters: The Crows (speaker), Sadie Hazzard, Walter, Craig Mortlock, Lachie Mortlock, Jimmy Raven
Related Symbols: The Stone Circle
Page Number: 165
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 24 Quotes

“We can’t leave him here!” Sadie was weeping. “If we leave him here, he will die!” She tried to lift Lachie’s head. He moaned, his face drained of colour.

The story tells itself again...

The three of them were in the grip of Crow’s story, just as Gerald and Clarry and Jimmy had been. But Crow couldn’t see, Crow couldn’t help them. Sadie was the only one who knew; it was all up to her.

Related Characters: Sadie Hazzard (speaker), Walter, Lachie Mortlock, Jimmy Raven, Gerald Mortlock, Clarry Hazzard
Related Symbols: The Stone Circle, Boort
Page Number: 199
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 28 Quotes

“Bethany reckons he killed himself. Our great-grandpa,” said Lachie. “Because of the war. Posttraumatic stress or whatever. It was years after he came back. The family made out it was an accident. But Bethany thinks it was because of what he’d seen. What he’d been through.”

What he’d done, thought Sadie.

Related Characters: Lachie Mortlock (speaker), Sadie Hazzard, Jimmy Raven, Gerald Mortlock, Bethany Mortlock
Related Symbols: The Stone Circle, Boort
Page Number: 231
Explanation and Analysis:

Together they planted [Jimmy Raven’s] marker in the ground at the place the crow had shown them.

“I should have brought some flowers or something,” said Sadie.

“Next time,” Walter said.

“Give us a hand?” Lachie called.

The three of them moved around the tiny graveyard, straightening the fallen crosses, digging them more firmly into the ground.

“That’s better,” said Lachie at last, and wiped his forehead on his sleeve. “Maybe we should build a fence round it or something.”

“We’d help you,” said Sadie.

“Make a real headstone for Jimmy, too,” said Walter.

“Yeah,” said Lachie.

Related Characters: Sadie Hazzard (speaker), Walter (speaker), Lachie Mortlock (speaker), Jimmy Raven, Gerald Mortlock, Clarry Hazzard
Related Symbols: The Stone Circle, Boort
Page Number: 232-233
Explanation and Analysis:
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Lachie Mortlock Quotes in Crow Country

The Crow Country quotes below are all either spoken by Lachie Mortlock or refer to Lachie Mortlock. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Prejudice and Discrimination Theme Icon
).
Chapter 9 Quotes

Her legs shook; her whole body was racked with shudders. […] She never should have brought Lachie here; she should have protected the secret. Crow’s place.

“Lachie,” she said, with sudden desperation. “Listen, you can’t tell anyone about this place.”

[…] “Okay, mate. It’s your special place, is it? I won’t tell anyone.”

Not my special place, thought Sadie. It belongs to the crows. But she didn’t say it aloud.

Related Characters: Sadie Hazzard (speaker), Lachie Mortlock (speaker), The Crows
Related Symbols: The Stone Circle
Page Number: 67-68
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

Craig leaned into David’s face and lowered his voice. “Found something very interesting on my land. Aboriginal artefacts. Wondered if you could tell me what they’d be worth.”

Related Characters: Craig Mortlock (speaker), Sadie Hazzard, David, Lachie Mortlock
Related Symbols: The Stone Circle
Page Number: 120
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 20 Quotes

“You should be pleased! Look at all these people, experiencing a bit of Aboriginal culture!” He waved his arm at the men sprawled against the rocks, their boots resting on the carvings, their cans tossed into the centre of the circle.

Related Characters: Craig Mortlock (speaker), Sadie Hazzard, Walter, Lachie Mortlock
Related Symbols: The Stone Circle
Page Number: 157
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 21 Quotes

“The story goes on, as it always goes on. The Law is broken and there is punishment. The dead cannot live again, but what was taken from the clever man must be returned. When the Law is broken the world is broken. The circle must be joined again.”

Related Characters: The Crows (speaker), Sadie Hazzard, Walter, Craig Mortlock, Lachie Mortlock, Jimmy Raven
Related Symbols: The Stone Circle
Page Number: 165
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 24 Quotes

“We can’t leave him here!” Sadie was weeping. “If we leave him here, he will die!” She tried to lift Lachie’s head. He moaned, his face drained of colour.

The story tells itself again...

The three of them were in the grip of Crow’s story, just as Gerald and Clarry and Jimmy had been. But Crow couldn’t see, Crow couldn’t help them. Sadie was the only one who knew; it was all up to her.

Related Characters: Sadie Hazzard (speaker), Walter, Lachie Mortlock, Jimmy Raven, Gerald Mortlock, Clarry Hazzard
Related Symbols: The Stone Circle, Boort
Page Number: 199
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 28 Quotes

“Bethany reckons he killed himself. Our great-grandpa,” said Lachie. “Because of the war. Posttraumatic stress or whatever. It was years after he came back. The family made out it was an accident. But Bethany thinks it was because of what he’d seen. What he’d been through.”

What he’d done, thought Sadie.

Related Characters: Lachie Mortlock (speaker), Sadie Hazzard, Jimmy Raven, Gerald Mortlock, Bethany Mortlock
Related Symbols: The Stone Circle, Boort
Page Number: 231
Explanation and Analysis:

Together they planted [Jimmy Raven’s] marker in the ground at the place the crow had shown them.

“I should have brought some flowers or something,” said Sadie.

“Next time,” Walter said.

“Give us a hand?” Lachie called.

The three of them moved around the tiny graveyard, straightening the fallen crosses, digging them more firmly into the ground.

“That’s better,” said Lachie at last, and wiped his forehead on his sleeve. “Maybe we should build a fence round it or something.”

“We’d help you,” said Sadie.

“Make a real headstone for Jimmy, too,” said Walter.

“Yeah,” said Lachie.

Related Characters: Sadie Hazzard (speaker), Walter (speaker), Lachie Mortlock (speaker), Jimmy Raven, Gerald Mortlock, Clarry Hazzard
Related Symbols: The Stone Circle, Boort
Page Number: 232-233
Explanation and Analysis: