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Summary
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Simple Gift, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Riches and Poverty
Redemption
Love and Family
Rules and Freedom
Summary
Analysis
Champagne. Billy empties his backpack of yesterday’s lunch and his school supplies, then he goes to the kitchen and reloads it with beer, champagne, apples, and some leftovers from the fridge. He leaves a bottle of lemonade on the table with a note to his dad. It tells his father to drink some lemonade instead of alcohol as he celebrates his son finally leaving. Billy knows his dad will have a fit, but he will be long gone by then.
As the novel begins, Billy’s relationship with his abusive dad has driven him to the point of running away. He has no safety or security at home, so he has decided to forge life on his own terms, despite potential difficulties and dangers. Readers get a glimpse of Billy’s troubled home life when he replaces his father’s alcohol with lemonade, which suggests Billy’s dad struggles with alcoholism.
Themes
Kiss the dog. Billy sits on the veranda watching the cold rain and petting his dog, Bunkbrain. He feels bad about leaving the animal in their sad town, but he knows he can’t hitchhike with a pet. He’s not proud to be a 16-year-old runaway, but he’s relieved to be leaving.
Billy’s dog provides the only sense of love or belonging Billy seems to have at home, but an animal’s friendship can’t help the teenager navigate his difficult life. Billy claims that he isn’t proud to be a runaway, but his actions suggest that he does feel proud of taking control of his life rather than staying and allowing his dad—and the economically depressed town they live in—to direct his future.
Themes
Longlands Road. As he walks down the street, Billy throws rocks on the roof of each “deadbeat no-hoper shithole” house. His neighbors have unmown lawns, broken-down cars littering their yards, and broken windows. The mailbox that Billy smashed last week still lies crumpled on the ground. Billy imagines the rocks he throws protesting at being left behind in this sad, hopeless place as he himself says goodbye forever.
As Billy walks down the street, readers see that his house isn’t the only house where people are struggling. His neighbors also seem impoverished and isolated. Although it’s clear that many of them saw signs of trouble in Billy’s life—including his own destructive tendencies—no one in the community tried to intervene or help.
Themes
Wentworth High School. At 4:30 in the afternoon, after the students and staff have already left for the day, Billy arrives to bid his high school farewell. He walks through the howling wind and pouring rain to look in classroom windows where homework assignments are listed on the board. He uses a stolen tube of red lipstick to write a lewd farewell note to his classmates, teachers, and the principal on the windowpane.
The note on the school window—like the note to his dad and the rocks on the neighbors’ houses—allows Billy to tell everyone in his community who could or should have helped him how their failure to do so has let him down. Since his family and community didn’t support Billy, he has decided to forge his own path and live life on his own terms.
Themes
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Westfield Creek. The one place in town Billy likes is Westfield Creek, which he visits next. The creek is cold and clear, and the water attracts sunbathing lizards and many birds. Billy spent more time at the creek—his favorite classroom—than at school. He would bring books, both purchased and shoplifted, and spend hours here, reading and learning about the world. And dreaming.
When Billy visits the creek, readers learn more about his character. Previously, he’s been a hurt, angry kid. But now he shows another side of himself, one that feels deeply attuned to the beauty and peace of the natural world. And Billy’s reading habit marks him as a bright an intelligent person. These suggest that he has a shot at a good future if he can escape his abusive home life.
Themes
Please. Billy wants to go west on the Great Western Highway. But after two hours of standing in the dark and the rain, no one has stopped to give him a ride. He knows he can’t go home—his dad will be sober without the alcohol, and Billy would look silly slinking back after his dramatic exit—and the other options for overnight shelter (the verandah, the school) are bad. Praying “please,” he decides to spend another hour trying.
Billy’s determination to run away speaks to the scale of abuse he must have suffered at the hands of his father. It also shows his strength of character. Billy believes that he can make a better life on his own terms—and he’s willing to tolerate temporary discomfort to do so.
Themes
Freight Train. The rain has stopped, but so has the traffic. Across the highway, a freight train sits motionless at the crossing, waiting for something. Bound for the western coalfields, it has 50 empty coal bins and one flat carriage with a speedboat tied to it. Slowly, it dawns on Billy that the train is headed west. He races across the highway and climbs into the speedboat as the whistle blows and the train begins to move.
Billy switches tactics when his initial plan fails to get him out of town, once again demonstrating his resourcefulness and determination to forge life on his own terms. The boat makes an incongruous addition to the empty coal train, and by taking advantage of it, Billy demonstrates his ability to adapt to unexpected circumstances. It also seems to metaphorically suggest how deeply out of place Billy has been in his life up to this point while also giving him a way to escape to a better future.
Themes
Cold. It doesn’t take long for Billy to learn how windy, cold, and miserable a train ride can be if you’re exposed. He opens his bag and puts on all his extra clothing and snuggles as far into the front of the boat as he can for protection from the elements. He and the train driver—who, unlike Billy, is warm in the cabin—are the only two souls awake through the dark night. Billy listens to the lonely train whistle and prays for the morning.
The difficulty of life as a runaway quickly becomes apparent to Billy when he nearly freezes to death in the boat. In this novel, houses represent the possibility of safety and family. But Billy’s abusive father ruined that sense of safety, forcing him to run away. Thus, Billy’s exposure on the boat both literally and metaphorically suggests how difficult it can be to move through life unprotected and alone.
Themes
Keep Warm. The freight train has stopped at a crossing, and Billy wakes up to the voice of the train operator, Ernie. Ernie hauls Billy out of the boat, where he’s likely to freeze to death overnight, and sends him back to the guard’s car, which has a heater, some sandwiches, and a coffee maker. The boat belongs to Ernie. There’s a lake near his home, and he wants to spend his weekends drinking and fishing. The next city is Bendarat. Ernie will blow the whistle three times as a warning, then stop just outside of town for Billy to jump off the train.
Ernie seems to be the first person in Billy’s life to show him kindness and compassion. Importantly, he does so by offering Billy shelter and food, which symbolizes the binding power of love, kindness, and friendship in this novel. Like Billy, Ernie has an affinity for nature (he bought the boat to spend more time outdoors) and a commitment to living his life on his own terms.
Themes
Men. Billy thinks that there are two types of men in the world. Some are kind and generous, like Ernie; they don’t boss people around and accept people’s differences. These men value the pleasures of life. They have a strong moral compass and aren’t afraid to act on their beliefs. And then there are men like Billy’s dad.
When Billy contrasts Ernie with his own dad, it’s clear what kind of man Billy wants to grow up to be—someone who’s kind and generous and directed by a sound moral compass. Although running away allows him a measure of freedom (later he will express this as avoiding the rule makers and the rule followers), Billy’s thoughts at this moment clearly indicate that exempting himself from the “rules” of society doesn’t mean moral lawlessness.
Themes
Sport. Billy remembers kicking a soccer ball in the backyard when he was 10. He had just started playing and was eager to practice, since he already scored one goal. But he kicked the ball too hard, and it broke the bedroom window. His dad heard the windowpane crack and thundered out of the house, grabbed the ball, and kicked it over the fence into the bush before slapping Billy across the face. Billy fell down with a bloody nose. Before going back inside, Billy’s dad forbade him from playing sports forever. Billy remembers sitting in the yard for hours, scared to go inside, watching through the window while his dad sat and read the paper as if nothing had happened.
Billy’s memory of the soccer ball helps to clarify his comparison between Ernie and Billy’s dad. Importantly, Billy’s dad occupies the house—the place that’s supposed to represent stability, safety, and family—like a malignant force. Billy’s fear keeps him outside the house, illustrating the impossibility of finding safety or family where he comes from.
Themes
Another crossing. In the guard car, Billy eats some sandwiches and drinks a cup of hot coffee with sugar. He leaves the bottle of champagne on the table with a note thanking Ernie for his kindness. He’s glad to give the bottle to someone who deserves it.
Billy accepts Ernie’s kindness and leaves the champagne to reciprocate. In this novel, the main characters (including Billy) are united by their kind and caring natures. Even though Billy, as a runaway, doesn’t have much to share, chooses generosity.
Themes
