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Chapter 37
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 gets a call from Crossley Educational Trust, where the director admits that there was an administrative mistake: someone who didn’t realize the confidential nature of Falk’s recent request called the school 20 minutes ago and spoke to Mr. Whitlam. Falk and Sergeant Raco rush over to the school.
The mistake with the Cross Educational Trust shows why Raco was so against calling Clyde earlier in the story (and having to deal with the subsequent bureaucratic headache). While it’s possible that someone at the trust deliberately tipped Falk off, it seems to be just a normal communication error, showing once again how bureaucracy can work against justice.
Themes
In a flashback to the murders, Whitlam drives Luke’s ute with Luke’s body in the back. Whitlam doesn’t know enough about Luke’s house to sneak up on Karen, so he rings the doorbell. When Karen answers, Whitlam shoots her. He’s shocked to hear Billy’s voice soon after calling for his mom, since Whitlam expected Billy to be away playing. Billy sees him, and Whitlam knows he has to go kill Billy if he wants to be sure there are no surviving witnesses. He considers killing Charlotte as well before realizing there is no need, as she won’t remember him. He sets up Luke’s body to make it look like a suicide, then he leaves.
Whitlam knew Karen from her work at the school, and so his willingness to just ring the doorbell, look her in the eyes, and shoot her, suggests a lack of empathy. While Whitlam does seem to show genuine regret about “needing” to shoot Billy, ultimately, this regret isn’t enough to make Whitlam act accordingly (and spare Billy’s life_. Additionally, Whitlam’s decision to spare Charlotte could somewhat humanize him, but the selfishness of his reason not to kill her (she’s too young to be a witness against him) undercuts this.
Themes
