My Brilliant Career: Chapter 14 Summary & Analysis

Sybylla writes to her sister Gertie, revealing she has tried to write seven letters prior but keeps getting distracted. She tells Gertie about the kindness of Mrs. Bossier, Aunt Helen, and Uncle Julius, and wishes Gertie could hear the beauty of the piano. She asks if Possum Gully has seen rain, since Caddagat is facing a drought––though it is nothing like the droughts the Melvyns suffered near Goulburn. She describes her grandmother’s house as “the dearest old place in the world” and tells Gertie about her feelings for Harold Beecham. Harold is her favorite of the men around her, and she emphasizes that the area has more men than she’s ever seen in one place. She tells Gertie to think of her, adding that she is “just as ugly as ever.” She closes her letter again asking Gertie to remember her.

Sybylla writes another letter, this time to Everard Grey. She thanks him for the books and magazines he sent her and supposes he has forgotten all about the family at Caddagat after so long away. She anxiously awaits her visit to Sydney, where she plans to keep Everard and Aunt Helen dancing all night and all day. She wants to see everything in the city and to learn all of Sydney’s truths. Here, Sybylla stops writing, realizing the sentimentality of her letter would cause Everard to call her a fool. She tears up the letter and burns it in the fire, replacing it with a formal thank-you letter for the books and magazines. Everard never replies to this letter, though he writes to Mrs. Bossier about how busy he is and how much he travels.

Sybylla has a few chores at Caddagat, one of which is to extend hospitality to visiting vagrants. Anyone who comes to Caddagat is offered food free of charge. The house sees about 50 men every week, all “hopeless, homeless, aimless, shameless” as they seek work. These men are a diverse group, and in some of them Sybylla detects a resentment of the Bossiers’ wealth. She takes this to mean that these men have failed in their lives and hate to see others succeed.

Sybylla worries about the cause of the widespread poverty she witnesses. She wonders why Australia, with its vast resources, cannot produce statesmen who care to help their countrymen. Her relatives, on the other hand, are not concerned about the beggars’ origins, and simply consider the men “a lazy lot of sneaking creatures.” Sybylla asks Uncle Julius if they could employ some of the beggars, or if some law could be made to help them, but Julius only laughs at her and asks if she would have him give his property to a tramp.

Sybylla’s conversation with Uncle Julius is interrupted by a beggar. Julius responds to the man rudely and tells him that Sybylla is the boss. Sybylla serves him food and tobacco, but he refuses a glass of milk. As the man leaves, he wishes Sybylla God’s blessings. Sybylla watches him go, wondering if this man––her brother in humanity––truly believes in God. This sort of thinking rarely troubles Sybylla at Caddagat, since she has so many pleasures that she is happy simply to be reckless and young.