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Mum
May’s brother. Older than May by some years, Billy has a different father, and is born with a heart condition; as a baby he goes through multiple surgeries, and he’s sickly for much of his early life. Eventually, Billy triumphs over his disability by learning to walk and run, a development that Mum views as evidence of his fighting spirit. Billy and May are extremely close during childhood; they both love to explore the beach and go fishing in the ocean near their home. It’s Billy as much as Aunty who takes care of May after Mum’s suicide. Accordingly, when Billy runs away after an altercation with Craig, May too becomes dissatisfied and restless, and soon leaves home. During his wandering, Billy starts to use drugs, and it seems as if he’s going to repeat Aunty’s mistakes and succumb to the substance abuse that menaces many Aboriginal communities. However, he stops using and returns home at the end of the novel, triumphing over his circumstances just as May does by coming to terms with her Aboriginal identity.
Billy Gibson Quotes in Swallow the Air
The Swallow the Air quotes below are all either spoken by Billy Gibson or refer to Billy Gibson. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
6. Leaving Paradise
Quotes
Billy and me were like shadows; we could merge into the walls without being noticed. We’d move on the same tides; when we were laughing we couldn’t stop each other, when we were talking neither of us could get a word in, when we were fishing, being sad, or being silent, we were both empty cups.
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20. Home
Quotes
My mother knows that I am home, at the water I am always home. Aunty and my brother, we are from the same people, we are of the Wiradjuri nation, hard water. We are of the river country, and we have flowed down the rivers to estuaries to oceans.
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Get the entire Swallow the Air LitChart as a printable PDF.
Billy Gibson Quotes in Swallow the Air
The Swallow the Air quotes below are all either spoken by Billy Gibson or refer to Billy Gibson. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
6. Leaving Paradise
Quotes
Billy and me were like shadows; we could merge into the walls without being noticed. We’d move on the same tides; when we were laughing we couldn’t stop each other, when we were talking neither of us could get a word in, when we were fishing, being sad, or being silent, we were both empty cups.
Related Characters:
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
20. Home
Quotes
My mother knows that I am home, at the water I am always home. Aunty and my brother, we are from the same people, we are of the Wiradjuri nation, hard water. We are of the river country, and we have flowed down the rivers to estuaries to oceans.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
