Tracks: A Woman’s Solo Trek Across 1700 Miles of Australian Outback

by

Robyn Davidson

Rick is a young photographer around the same age as Davidson. The two meet in Alice Springs and Rick encourages Davidson to apply for sponsorship from National Geographic. When she succeeds, he becomes the official photographer for her trip and meets up with her several times throughout her journey. Eventually, the two become romantically involved. While Davidson initially views Rick as an annoying intrusion, she eventually comes to appreciate his steadfast friendship and support. Rick is depicted as laid-back and adventurous, often arriving fresh from an exciting assignment in another part of the world. His camera also functions as a key symbol in the text, as it captures Davidson’s journey while also, in her opinion, creating a false, glamorized version of it.

Rick Quotes in Tracks: A Woman’s Solo Trek Across 1700 Miles of Australian Outback

The Tracks: A Woman’s Solo Trek Across 1700 Miles of Australian Outback quotes below are all either spoken by Rick or refer to Rick. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Chaos vs. Order Theme Icon
).
Chapter 5  Quotes

I began right then and there to split into two over Rick. On the one hand I saw him as a blood-sucking little creep who had inveigled his way into my life by being nice and by tempting me with material things. On the other hand I was confronted with a very warm, gentle human being who genuinely wanted to help me and who was excited by the prospect of an adventure, who wanted to do a good job, and who cared.

Related Characters: Robyn Davidson (speaker), Rick
Related Symbols: The Camera
Page Number: 104
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7  Quotes

They were gorgeous photos, no complaints there, but who was that Vogue model tripping romantically along roads with a bunch of camels behind her, hair lifted delicately by sylvan breezes and turned into a golden halo by the back-lighting. Who the hell was she? Never let it be said that the camera does not lie. It lies like a pig in mud. It captures the projections of whoever happens to be using it, never the truth.

Related Characters: Robyn Davidson (speaker), Rick
Related Symbols: The Camera
Page Number: 136
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 11  Quotes

I danced until I could dance no more—I danced out everything. Diggity, the trip, Rick, the article, the whole lot. I shouted and howled and wept and I leapt and contorted my body until it refused to respond anymore. I crawled back to the camels, covered in grime and sweat, shaking with fatigue, dust in my ears and nose and mouth, and slept for about an hour. When I woke, I felt healed, and weightless, and prepared for anything.

Related Characters: Robyn Davidson (speaker), Rick, Diggity
Page Number: 237
Explanation and Analysis:

I was now public property. I was now a kind of symbol. I was now an object of ridicule for small-minded sexists, and I was a crazy, irresponsible adventurer (though not as crazy as I would have been had I failed). But worse than all that, I was now a mythical being who had done something courageous and outside the possibilities that ordinary people could hope for. And that was the antithesis of what I wanted to share. That anyone could do anything. If I could bumble my way across a desert, then anyone could do anything. And that was true especially for women, who have used cowardice for so long to protect themselves that it has become a habit.

Related Characters: Robyn Davidson (speaker), Rick
Related Symbols: The Camera
Page Number: 243
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12  Quotes

And here I was at the end of my trip, with everything just as fuzzy and unreal as the beginning. It was easier for me to see myself in Rick’s lens, riding down to the beach in that clichéd sunset, just as it was easier for me to stand with my friends and wave goodbye to the loopy woman with the camels, the itching smell of the dust around us, and in our eyes the fear that we had left so much unsaid. There was an unpronounceable joy and an aching sadness to it. It had all happened too suddenly. I didn’t believe this was the end at all.

Related Characters: Robyn Davidson (speaker), Rick
Related Symbols: The Camera
Page Number: 257
Explanation and Analysis:
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Rick Quotes in Tracks: A Woman’s Solo Trek Across 1700 Miles of Australian Outback

The Tracks: A Woman’s Solo Trek Across 1700 Miles of Australian Outback quotes below are all either spoken by Rick or refer to Rick. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Chaos vs. Order Theme Icon
).
Chapter 5  Quotes

I began right then and there to split into two over Rick. On the one hand I saw him as a blood-sucking little creep who had inveigled his way into my life by being nice and by tempting me with material things. On the other hand I was confronted with a very warm, gentle human being who genuinely wanted to help me and who was excited by the prospect of an adventure, who wanted to do a good job, and who cared.

Related Characters: Robyn Davidson (speaker), Rick
Related Symbols: The Camera
Page Number: 104
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 7  Quotes

They were gorgeous photos, no complaints there, but who was that Vogue model tripping romantically along roads with a bunch of camels behind her, hair lifted delicately by sylvan breezes and turned into a golden halo by the back-lighting. Who the hell was she? Never let it be said that the camera does not lie. It lies like a pig in mud. It captures the projections of whoever happens to be using it, never the truth.

Related Characters: Robyn Davidson (speaker), Rick
Related Symbols: The Camera
Page Number: 136
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 11  Quotes

I danced until I could dance no more—I danced out everything. Diggity, the trip, Rick, the article, the whole lot. I shouted and howled and wept and I leapt and contorted my body until it refused to respond anymore. I crawled back to the camels, covered in grime and sweat, shaking with fatigue, dust in my ears and nose and mouth, and slept for about an hour. When I woke, I felt healed, and weightless, and prepared for anything.

Related Characters: Robyn Davidson (speaker), Rick, Diggity
Page Number: 237
Explanation and Analysis:

I was now public property. I was now a kind of symbol. I was now an object of ridicule for small-minded sexists, and I was a crazy, irresponsible adventurer (though not as crazy as I would have been had I failed). But worse than all that, I was now a mythical being who had done something courageous and outside the possibilities that ordinary people could hope for. And that was the antithesis of what I wanted to share. That anyone could do anything. If I could bumble my way across a desert, then anyone could do anything. And that was true especially for women, who have used cowardice for so long to protect themselves that it has become a habit.

Related Characters: Robyn Davidson (speaker), Rick
Related Symbols: The Camera
Page Number: 243
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12  Quotes

And here I was at the end of my trip, with everything just as fuzzy and unreal as the beginning. It was easier for me to see myself in Rick’s lens, riding down to the beach in that clichéd sunset, just as it was easier for me to stand with my friends and wave goodbye to the loopy woman with the camels, the itching smell of the dust around us, and in our eyes the fear that we had left so much unsaid. There was an unpronounceable joy and an aching sadness to it. It had all happened too suddenly. I didn’t believe this was the end at all.

Related Characters: Robyn Davidson (speaker), Rick
Related Symbols: The Camera
Page Number: 257
Explanation and Analysis: