Previous
Chapter 17
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Deadly, Unna?, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Race, Injustice, and Action
Courage and Masculinity
Duty and Sacrifice
Teamwork and Family
Summary
Analysis
Blacky doesn’t believe that summer starts until at least three people on main street mention to him how hot the weather is. He walks past Big Mac in front of the pub, Rocker fixing a car, and Arks at his store. They all mention the hot weather, even though Arks usually only talks about the grand final win. Blacky celebrates the official beginning of summer. Arks discusses the coming football season with him. Blacky still hasn’t told him about quitting the team, and he still has the Best Team-man trophy, too.
Blacky is struggling to commit to the promises he made to protest racism, showing how difficult it can be for an individual to stand up to the racism of their community and sacrifice their own well-being for the sake of what is right. Blacky still wants the approval of community leaders (especially male authority figures) such as his coach.
Themes
Blacky finds Dazza and Pickles sunbathing on the anchor sculpture. Pickles announces that he is selling his own maggots, competing with Darcy. A car full of “campers,” the local slang for tourists, rolls by. Blacky, Dazza, and Pickles meet more campers when they go down to the jetty and the beach. One of the campers is a girl close to them in age. Her name is Cathy and she takes a look at the boys’ maggots. Then her parents tell her they need to get going to meet the McDermotts. When she leaves, Blacky is in a daze.
“Campers” contrast with the local residents of the Port because they are wealthy and from the city. The locals give the community another way to unite against outsiders, like they do with their discrimination against indigenous people. Blacky’s suddent infatuation with Cathy can also be understood as a result of his own identity as an outsider and his desire for the privileges wealth provides.
Themes
