Fly Away Peter
Creating Other Worlds in Fly Away Peter
In the novel Fly Away Peter, David Malouf explores the individual’s ability to transcend the immediate, and create ‘other worlds’ of his or her own:
"Meanwhile the Mind, from pleasure less, Withdraws into happiness: ...it creates,... Far other worlds..."
Malouf uses the continuity of life to highlight the importance of the individual’s mind set against the meaning of human existence. Malouf’s three main characters, Jim Saddler, Ashley Crowther and Imogen Harcourt, are used to present Malouf’s themes in a unique and sensitive manner.
Malouf also implies that fate is predetermined and beyond the control of the individual. The only escape route offered is through man’s imagination. "It is the human mind, the imagination which makes us special..."
Malouf suggests life has a continuity, that there is a ceaselessness surrounding time and as a result, individual life is to be savoured. Malouf uses symbolism to represent life’s perpetuity. A prominent example of this is the migrational patterns of the birds in the novel. Birds continue regardless of time:
"The timespan for them was more or less infinite.". When Jim marvels at the sandpiper’s ability to find its way across the world and back:
"...because the [memory] was ... there... in the long memory of its kind."
The constant reference to bird migration becomes a clear symbol of the idea of continuity. The concept of the continuity of life is also expressed by the association of humans and earth.
The notion "...that the earth was man’s sphere...", occurs throughout the novel and represents re-growth and the idea that life goes on regardless of circumstance. Jim felt himself ‘dissolving’ into the earth when he was about to die. Closer to the moment of his death, Jim noted:
"The earth smelled so good. It was a smell that belonged to the beginning of things..." This symbolism is a prominent feature of the novel, and again, clearly outlines Malouf’s
In the novel Fly Away Peter, David Malouf explores the individual’s ability to transcend the immediate, and create ‘other worlds’ of his or her own:
"Meanwhile the Mind, from pleasure less, Withdraws into happiness: ...it creates,... Far other worlds..."
Malouf uses the continuity of life to highlight the importance of the individual’s mind set against the meaning of human existence. Malouf’s three main characters, Jim Saddler, Ashley Crowther and Imogen Harcourt, are used to present Malouf’s themes in a unique and sensitive manner.
Malouf also implies that fate is predetermined and beyond the control of the individual. The only escape route offered is through man’s imagination. "It is the human mind, the imagination which makes us special..."
Malouf suggests life has a continuity, that there is a ceaselessness surrounding time and as a result, individual life is to be savoured. Malouf uses symbolism to represent life’s perpetuity. A prominent example of this is the migrational patterns of the birds in the novel. Birds continue regardless of time:
"The timespan for them was more or less infinite.". When Jim marvels at the sandpiper’s ability to find its way across the world and back:
"...because the [memory] was ... there... in the long memory of its kind."
The constant reference to bird migration becomes a clear symbol of the idea of continuity. The concept of the continuity of life is also expressed by the association of humans and earth.
The notion "...that the earth was man’s sphere...", occurs throughout the novel and represents re-growth and the idea that life goes on regardless of circumstance. Jim felt himself ‘dissolving’ into the earth when he was about to die. Closer to the moment of his death, Jim noted:
"The earth smelled so good. It was a smell that belonged to the beginning of things..." This symbolism is a prominent feature of the novel, and again, clearly outlines Malouf’s