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Chapter 39
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 warns Whitlam that it’s so dry that the lighter could set them all ablaze. Whitlam pours alcohol on the ground from his flask, then he flicks on his lighter—if they shoot him, he’ll drop the lighter and set everything on fire. Reluctantly, Sergeant Raco puts down his gun. Whitlam confesses to the murders but says that his wife, Sandra, knows nothing. Falk and Raco try to tell Whitlam to think of his family, but Whitlam says that he did what he did to keep his family safe from the debt collectors with the nail gun.
The alcohol that Whitlam pours on the ground perhaps reflects the metaphorically incendiary role that alcohol has already played in Kiewarra, causing characters to reveal their secrets and to start fights in McMurdo’s pub. While Whitlam says that he was only trying to protect his family, he also shows his selfishness by deeming his own family more important than Luke’s, perhaps once again reflecting an urban vs. rural bias on Whitlam’s part.
Themes
Whitlam gets increasingly desperate and is seemingly ready to set all of Kiewarra on fire. At last Falk and Sergeant Raco rush him, trying to use their jackets to smother the fire. They try to roll around to stop the fire, and the next thing he knows, some heavy-gloved hands are picking him up. He looks over and sees that Raco is unconscious and that people are trying to help him too.
The willingness of former Melbourne resident Whitlam to set Kiewarra on fire just to prove a point shows how some urban-dwelling people treat rural areas as expendable. Falk and Raco’s decision to rush Whitlam together shows the final stage of their relationship, as each puts his life in the hands of the other, trusting him to help stop the fire for the sake of Kiewarra.
Themes
