My Brilliant Career

by

Miles Franklin

My Brilliant Career: Chapter 6 Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
Despite the family’s efforts, all the Melvyns’ cows die.  With help from relatives, they are able to pay off their loans, but the agent they pay takes the money and runs. The bailiff repossesses and sells all the family’s possessions. The bailiff, however, is sympathetic, and he looks the other way when the Melvyn’s relatives send them enough money to buy back their possessions and the neighbors stage a mock sale of the items. Sybylla reflects that the rich can never be certain if their friends truly love them or if the friendship is one of self-interest, but poor people are friends “from pure friendship and love.”
Though Sybylla feels isolated and lonely at Possum Gully, the support from the Melvyns’ neighbors reveals the importance of community and solidarity among the peasant class. Sybylla’s musings about “pure friendship and love” versus self-interest also indicate how the nature of love intrigues her, and how she is careful to distinguish between “pure” love and its disingenuous counterpart.
Themes
Class and Poverty Theme Icon
Love Theme Icon
Through the help of neighbors and relatives, the Melvyns regain their furniture, but they still have no source of income. Mrs. Melvyn tells Sybylla that Mr. Melvyn has no idea how to make a living. Because of this, she says, Sybylla and the older children must go off to work, and the younger children will have to be sent to live with relatives. Sybylla resists, but Mrs. Melvyn says, “You never talk sense,” and insists, “my way is always the best in the end.”
The tension in the Melvyn household continues to grow, and, as always, the root of the issue is Mr. Melvyn’s failure to lead his household. Mrs. Melvyn’s dismissal of Sybylla demonstrates the differences between them: Mrs. Melvyn is imminently practical, and she sees her ambitious daughter as without common sense. Mrs. Melvyn’s insistence that “[her] way is always the best” implies that Mrs. Melvyn may be as prideful as her husband, but she channels that pride into helping her family and fulfilling her role as a mother.
Themes
Womanhood Theme Icon
Sybylla snaps at her mother. Mrs. Melvyn calls her vulgar, but Sybylla says she once foolishly tried to be polite, but her current company is not worth it. She asserts that she will earn her living. Her mother points out that Sybylla lacks the skills for the typical jobs for  girls her age. Sybylla believes she has plenty of skills, but she is embarrassed to offer these possible professions to her mother because they are so impractical. At last, she says she could be a musician. Mrs. Melvyn dismisses that idea. They continue to argue, and Mrs. Melvyn exclaims that she is surprised God doesn’t strike Sybylla for her insolence. Sybylla cries that she doesn’t believe that God exists, or that if He does, He is cruel. Mrs. Melvyn calls her daughter mad and leaves. From outside, Mr. Melvyn shouts at Sybylla and Mrs. Melvyn to be quiet.
The fact that Mrs. Melvyn chides Sybylla for being vulgar shows that Mrs. Melvyn still values a refined, polite model of womanhood. Sybylla seemingly rejects that model, but even as she asserts her desire to forge an independent career, she is embarrassed by the impracticality of her ambitions. Sybylla is characterized by this internal conflict between her prideful ambition and her insecurities, and her struggle to resolve the two exemplifies her journey of maturity. Mr. Melvyn’s brief appearance at the end of the scene is a reminder of his selfishness––he has caused most of the family’s strife, but he is unwilling to participate in the resulting discussions.
Themes
Womanhood Theme Icon
Quotes
Sybylla thinks Mrs. Melvyn is a good woman, and she thinks herself “not quite all criminality,” but the two never get along. Sybylla’s younger sister Gertie is the daughter Mrs. Melvyn wants Sybylla to be, but Sybylla believes that she is capable of greater depths of feeling in a single day than Gertie will ever experience. Still, Sybylla wonders if she is mad, because she is so unlike Gertie and the other girls. Gertie wakes up and consoles Sybylla, and her “little love,” though “fleeting and fickle,” comforts Sybylla.
Sybylla again demonstrates her habit of self-deprecation by describing herself as “not quite all criminality” in comparison to her mother’s virtue. She recognizes her own faults, but she refuses to conform to her mother’s expectations. Sybylla reveals some disdain for traditional femininity in her remark that the more conventional Gertie cannot feel as deeply as she can. Despite that disparagement, Sybylla envies Gertie and other traditional girls, presenting another internal conflict. Though Sybylla discounts Gertie’s love as “little,” shallow, and “fleeting and fickle,” Gertie’s show of affection briefly fulfills Sybylla’s desire to be loved.
Themes
Womanhood Theme Icon
Love Theme Icon
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