Genre
Australian fiction
Setting and Context
Victoria and New South Wales, in Australia during the 1880's.
Narrator and Point of View
An unnamed, third-person omniscient narrator.
Tone and Mood
The tone is hopeful; the mood is optimistic.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Ned is the protagonist; the modern world is the antagonist.
Major Conflict
The climax of the story is reached when Ned travels to the countryside and begins his journey in visiting all of the rural towns and the people that live there.
Climax
The climax of the story is reached when Tom is considered as a dog for one of the village traditions, which confuses Ned.
Foreshadowing
The use of bad language is foreshadowed by the lack of rules that govern the villagers.
Understatement
The rife rates of crime are understated throughout the novel.
Allusions
The story alludes to the life of those that dwell outside of civil life.
Imagery
The imagery of rolling country fields is present in the novel.
Paradox
N/A
Parallelism
There is a parallel between the freedom that the travellers have and the amount of murder that they commit.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
The bodily mutilation of animals is personified through the bullock drivers.
