Isolation vs. Community Theme Analysis

Throughout his life, Tim Winton has many experiences with different kinds of communities. From the church community of his childhood to his university peers and mentors to his fellow campaigners in the bid to protect Ningaloo Reef, Winton seems to feel affection and respect for the groups of people who surround him while also feeling uncomfortable in their midst. This discomfort and resistance to tribalism seems to come from his journey within the church as an adolescent, which became fraught when he began to challenge the older church members’ increasingly insular attitudes and beliefs. Winton’s frustration with this close-minded thinking leads him to value his independence, and he discovers he can be a person of faith without conforming to the group mentality that seemed counterproductive to him. His desire for independence appears to go hand-in-hand with his love for isolated, wide-open spaces: it’s in the lonely, vulnerable landscapes of the Western Australian wilderness, or far out in the ocean trying to catch a wave, that he feels most meditative and at peace. While Winton finds strength and solidarity in community, those qualities are only useful to him as long as he isn’t dependent on them. Thus, while The Boy Behind the Curtain portrays community as a positive, rewarding experience, it suggests that a person can only reap these benefits it they maintain a strong sense of self.