Throughout history, composers have grappled with what it means to be human. How has your prescribed text given you deeper insights into what it means to be human?

Cultural identity and belonging are certainly large parts of what it means to be human. If the book can assertively be said to be about one theme above all others—or about one theme which all others connect back to—it is the idea of cultural assimilation. More precisely, it situates the consequences of this theme into a Hamletesque query: to assimilate or not assimilate, that is the question. Some characters eagerly seek to blend into the new dynamics of Australian culture while others vehemently reject it. The crux of this decision is, as always, how much is one willing or expected to give up of their native cultural identity in order to conform to the conventions of the adopted identity.