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Chapter 18
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Dry, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Human Cost of Climate Change
Justice
Urban vs. Rural
Friendship
Summary
Analysis
Falk drives away from the farm and stops by the side of the road to think. Unfortunately, white utes are common in Kiewarra, so Gerry’s story doesn’t help Falk much. He does wonder, however, if perhaps Gerry has things backward—if instead of the driver keeping Luke’s secret, Luke was keeping the driver’s secret. Falk calls up Sergeant Raco, telling him that he may have found something. Raco invites him to the station. On the way there, Falk gets a text from Gretchen about meeting up for lunch with Lachie at Centenary Park, and he decides to go there first.
The white utes, which help farmers transport goods and do field work, are a symbol of rural Australian identity. The commonness of the white ute shows how this shared identity binds most of Kiewarra together. Falk’s decision to go see Gretchen instead of going directly to Raco suggests that, as important as the investigation is to him, he also has other priorities and seems to genuinely enjoy spending time with Gretchen.
Themes
Centenary Park is one of the nicest places in Kiewarra, with cacti that can resist the drought. Falk meets Gretchen at a picnic bench, where she offers him a sandwich. Gretchen explains that the park is so nice compared to the rest of the town because it caught the attention of some rural charity. Falk asks why the run-down local school doesn’t also try to get funding. Gretchen replies that there is a group called the Crossley Educational Trust that they’ve applied to, but apparently other schools had an even greater need. Lachie comes over and Falk re-introduces himself. When he goes back to playing, Gretchen says Lachie has been interested in grown men for a while. His own dad wasn’t a local, just a worker who passed through town for a while.
The shiny new state of Centenary Park shows how haphazardly charity and assistance comes to Kiewarra. The renovated park is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it’s a public place that children and adults can all enjoy, bringing the community together. On the other hand, the park doesn’t solve Kiewarra’s fundamental problem: that many families, particularly farmers, can barely afford to make a living. Lachie’s father, at least as Gretchen describes him, seems just like the charities that pass through the town when it suits them—but then ultimately refuse to take on more responsibility when it doesn’t benefit them.
Themes
Gretchen talks about how aside from Lachie, her life is lonely in Kiewarra—she didn’t even hear about the Hadler murders until the next morning, since no one thought to contact her. Falk says he only found out by reading the news and was shocked to see Luke’s face in the paper.
While there are many reasons why Gretchen could be lonely in Kiewarra, this passage seems to imply that she has little time to socialize because she has to take care of Lachie. It could also imply that people look on her with suspicion because she’s a single mother, reflecting the regressive views some people in town hold.
Themes
At the park, Gretchen and Falk see Mandy Vaser, a woman they used to go to school with, whom Falk once kissed at a disco. Mandy greets Falk coldly and asks to speak to Gretchen alone. Gretchen says Mandy should just say whatever she’s going to say. After a pause, Mandy says she isn’t comfortable with Falk being around their children. Both Falk and Gretchen refuse to leave.
“Think of the children” is a common refrain during moral panics, and it’s the logic that Mandy uses here to explain her discomfort with Falk. Because Mandy knows it’s rude to express her dislike of Falk directly, she uses the children as an excuse. She embodies the gossipy, exclusionary attitudes that can flourish in a small town.
Themes
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Mandy threatens to get her husband involved or even call social services to complain about Gretchen endangering Lachie. She accuses Gretchen of disliking Karen and then goes off to call her husband. When Mandy leaves, Gretchen tells Falk she didn’t have anything against Karen, they just weren’t as close as other moms at school. Just then, Falk gets a text from Sergeant Raco: “Jamie Sullivan lied. Come now.”
Mandy’s threats show once again how, particularly in a more remote location like Kiewarra, violence and threats can be even more influential than official institutions like the police. While Mandy is certainly an unreliable character, her accusation that Gretchen disliked Karen is unusual and raises the question of whether Gretchen is fully being honest about her relationship with the Hadlers.
Themes
