The Far-Reaching Effects of War Theme Analysis

War has a near-constant presence in the context of most of the narratives in the story, though combat is never directly depicted—it is always an event happening somewhere else in the world. Even so, the effects of war are constantly felt, whether through anxiety over imminent conflict, rationing, or the painful loss of loved ones to war. By setting the various narratives in relation to several different wars and observing the impact they have on people even from afar, the novel suggest that war can have great impact even on people far away from the conflict.

In both the lead-up to World War II and to the U.S.’s invasion of Iraq, the threat of war looms over several narratives in the book, even though Australia itself (where the stories are set) is never under threat, suggesting that even the shadow of war can have great impact on individuals. In both Francis and Kip’s narratives, fear of World War II causes a general sense of anxiety among Melbourne’s citizens. Having just seen the lives lost in World War I, Jean remarks that she’d rather “hide [her sons] in the ceiling space” than see them drafted and sent to combat. Kip senses the anxiety himself, though he notes that every “working boy” is “half afraid war’ll happen, half afraid it won’t,” suggesting that their anxiety is a mixture of fear of combat and anticipation at the chance to leave the drudgery of their lives and see another part of the world. In Stanzi’s narrative, taking place in the months after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the U.S., Stanzi observes that many of her counseling patients are extremely anxious about planes, flying, and the prospect of another large war. One of them, Violet, even admits, “When I see a tower in the distance, I half expect a plane to fly into it,” even though Violet also thinks it weird that she should feel anxious about any of it since they are in Australia on the opposite side of the world. Although Australians in Melbourne are not be in close proximity to either World War II or the Iraq War, the fact that both looming conflicts cast such a shadow over several narratives suggests that the threat of war is impactful and anxiety-inducing even for people on the other side of the world.

Similarly, Annabel’s narrative heavily features the various tolls that World War II inflicts on each family in their community, even though they are far from the conflict, suggesting that war has costs even for those who are far away from the fighting itself. Even after World War II is resolved, due to strict rationing and many crop-producing countries having been decimated by the Japanese forces, Annabel struggles to even procure enough food for her father and herself to live on. Goods such as butter, pepper, and sugar can only be bought in small quantities at long intervals, and meat is entirely unavailable. Reflecting on how difficult it is to even find food to survive, Annabel reflects, “the war is over and we won. Or so they say.” This suggests that even in Australia, untouched by bombs or bullets, conflicts on the other side of the world still come at great daily cost to Australian families. All over their district of Melbourne, parents and families have lost sons and husbands like Jack Husting. When young Annabel attends a town dance with Francis, she observes that even though the war is over, there are “holes in the crowd” and “each of us is thinking about someone we’ll never see again. That’s what war means.” The great loss of life inflicted on Australian families again demonstrates that even for people on the other side of the world from a conflict, war can inflict a heavy toll. The war’s constant, indirect presence in the majority of narratives in Nine Days ultimately reflects its indirect impact on Australia: although Australia itself is never caught in the crossfire, war’s threat and impact are constantly felt.