The Secret River Lesson Plan

Grenville begins the novel with a prologue "en medias res," meaning that she starts in the middle of the action. The title of the prologue is "Strangers." Judging from the events of this section and its title, predict what you think some of the novel's major themes and events might be.

In the prologue, William comes face-to-face with an Aboriginal man. He is very frightened and curses the man, telling him to go away. He does not do this out of mere hatred, but out of fear for his own safety and discomfort at being in a new and foreign place. Clearly, the two men are strangers, as the title suggests. They are strangers in a deep way, as their cultures and values appear to...