Joe Archer Character Analysis in My Brilliant Career

Joe Archer is a well-read jackaroo (a laborer working to gain management experience) from Five-Bob Downs who likes to discuss literature with Sybylla. His fear of Harold Beecham, his employer, stirs Sybylla’s interest in the passionate side that Harold keeps hidden from her. His interest in literature also marks him as the only working-class character in the story who is not content in ignorance, a quality that hints that Sybylla’s generalizations about Australia’s peasantry should be taken with a grain of salt. The fact that he seems to share some of Sybylla’s ambitions for a life in which he can discuss matters of culture implies that people of all walks of life can have dreams and share them with each other.

Joe Archer Character Timeline in My Brilliant Career

The timeline below shows where the character Joe Archer appears in My Brilliant Career. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Sybylla leaves Julius to find Mrs. Bossier, but instead she finds Joe Archer, a jackaroo she knows from Five-Bob Downs. They sit together and discuss literature for a... (full context)

...Among them is Miss Blanche Derrick, who is considered the most beautiful woman in Melbourne. Archer tells Sybylla that Miss Derrick has set her intention to marry Harold, and that while... (full context)

Ambition, Respectability, and Pride Theme Icon

...and then go down to dinner. At the table are 20 other guests, including Joe Archer and Miss Derrick. Sybylla gets her first look at Miss Derrick and perceives that she... (full context)

...dancing room to play piano and dance together. After a few songs, Harold orders Joe Archer to play a waltz and asks for the pleasure of dancing with Sybylla. She protests... (full context)

The next morning Joe Archer brings Sybylla and Aunt Helen back to Caddagat. Harold tells Sybylla that he will visit... (full context)