Courage and Masculinity Theme Analysis

At the beginning of Deadly, Unna?, Blacky aspires to embody an ideal of “toughness,” a state of fearlessness and aggression expected of boys in his town. He specifically seeks the approval of his traditionally masculine father, whom Blacky refers to as “the old man”. In Blacky’s world, men must always appear both physically and mentally strong, and never show any fear or weakness. These expectations weigh heavily on Blacky when he worries about being injured in the grand final football game or fears being shipwrecked while out on his father’s boat during a storm. But as Blacky grows as a character, he comes to reject the hypermasculine ideal of toughness in favor of a more nuanced form of courage. Genuine courage, the novel suggests, entails standing up to one’s fears in order to do what is just.

Blacky’s struggle to appear tough highlights the unrealistic and superficial nature of masculinity in his town. When talking about football fans’ expectations of his team, for example, Blacky states that the worst thing a boy living in the Port can be called is a “gutless wonder.” He goes on to say that no one in town cares if a girl is gutless—just a boy. And once deemed gutless, a boy can do nothing to erase the label. This shows the immense pressure boys in Blacky’s community are under to appear strong and fearless. Blacky’s father uses the same phrase—“gutless wonder”—to shame Blacky for being terrified when the old man drunkenly steers his boat into a storm. Though Blacky’s fear is entirely reasonable, his father responds with anger and disappointment and bans Blacky from future fishing trips. The specific form of masculinity the old man expects of Blacky clearly doesn’t allow for any vulnerability. Blacky assumes his father would prefer him to be more like Jimmy Downes, Blacky’s schoolmate who is always starting fights. The fact that his father has implied that physical violence is an admirable trait shows the destructive nature of the old man’s masculine ideals.

The pervasiveness of these expectations is further emphasized when Blacky wins the town’s approval during the grand final football game by tricking spectators into thinking he courageously tackled an opposing player, when really it was an accident. As Thumper, a much bigger, stronger player, barrels down the field, Blacky decides to make a small sidestep out of the way so he can dodge him without appearing too scared to tackle him. Instead, Blacky accidently steps directly into Thumper’s path, thus colliding with him and preventing him from scoring in time. The town celebrates Blacky for his perceived act of bravery, because the perception of bravery is more important than genuine courage. Blacky at first feels embarrassed by the town’s admiration and refers to himself as a fraud. When his father shakes Blacky’s hand and invites him back on the boat, however, Blacky starts to reason with himself that if the rest of the town thinks he acted intentionally, perhaps he actually did. This self-deception on Blacky’s part underscores the immense pressure boys in this world are under to conform to societal dictates of what it means to be a man.

Dumby’s death pushes Blacky to abandon his town’s hollow performance of toughness and instead act with true courage. For example, Blacky decides to go to Dumby’s funeral to honor his dead friend, even though none of his teammates agree to come with him and he has never been to the Point. Blacky goes against his peers in order to do what he believes is right, displaying a strength of character more genuine and admirable than his performance at the football game. In response to Dumby’s death, Blacky also decides to paint over the racist graffiti on the town’s pier. To get the paint, he must sneak into his father’s shed, an action that fills Blacky with terror. Nevertheless, he gathers the nerve to steal the key to the shed and find the paint. This action shows that courage doesn’t mean one never feels fear, but rather that one overcomes that fear in order to do what is right. The clearest display of Blacky’s newfound genuine courage is his defiance of the main bully in his life, his old man. The old man catches Blacky stealing the paint from his shed and orders him to put it back. Blacky refuses, despite knowing the old man may physically abuse him for disobeying. By overcoming his fear of a real and present threat, this quiet moment shows far more bravery than Blacky’s accidental tackle on the football field. The novel thus suggests the importance of embracing genuine courage over a hollow, performative toughness.

At the beginning of the novel, Blacky aspires to meet his town’s and his father’s ideal of “toughness,” one in which men have to appear to be completely fearless. But as he matures and experiences the trauma of Dumby’s the death, Blacky learns that meaningful courage acknowledges the existence of fear and moves beyond it. By standing up to his old man and confronting his town’s racism, Blacky displays a depth of bravery and strength not found in superficial stereotypes of toughness. Only by abandoning impossible expectations of masculinity does he truly become a man.