Coach “Arks” Robertson Character Analysis

Arks is the coach of the youth football team and the owner of the town’s general store. Blacky calls him “Arks” because of his thick accent, which makes the word “ask” sound like “arks.” Arks used to be a famous football player himself, until an injury ended his career. After the injury, Arks’s wife abandoned the family and Arks had to buy the general store to make a living. Arks’s past disappointments with football increase the pressure Blacky feels to succeed in the grand final. Blacky looks down upon Arks for being foolishly optimistic about football, and Arks’s character represents the excitement and pressure surrounding football in a poor town like the Port. Arks is responsible for bringing the players from the Point to the Port to play football, thus partially bridging the racial divides with in the community. However, Arks is often mad at the Point players for their different playing style and he does nothing when Blacky suggests that the team should honor Dumby at his funeral. Arks shows how the adults in Blacky’s community, even if they may seem sympathetic to oppressed minorities, can still be complicit in deepening racial divisions.