William

An eight year old boy, William is central to the struggles going on around him. It is William’s central role, combined with his complete isolation in that he is either unseen or seen as a means to an end rather than for who he really is, which forms such a complex character. The novel opens with William, alone, witnessing a plume of smoke rising above the fields. He discovers that this is a fire that has caused his father’s death. There is an assault on his innocence in the way his character unfolds from this point. Immediately he is criticised for not saying anything by his mother, Veronica. His ‘Uncle’ John McIvor appears and immediately begins a series of trials disguised in generosity to test William’s suitability as an heir.

Symbolic of William’s plight, he complains about an ear ache. His complaint is dismissed and he is too fearful to raise it again. The ear is infected and becomes serious but this is unnoticed by his carers as they are simply too self-involved. Alone and withdrawn from school, William is lost in a world of adults who move him around like a pawn on a chess board.

William is well-meaning and polite. He is caring and aims to understand and be the best he can for those who demand his time; he follows the instructions of his mother and John in a hope to please them both. He is conflicted when John’s daughter Elizabeth returns and suggests that not all is as it seems. At first, the depth of his situation is revealed when he argues with her, sounding much like his prejudicial uncle John. However, William’s true nature is mostly evidenced in his openness and caring, his looking for a childhood to explore, wearing hats and using his imagination, and in his having fun.

William Quotes

William said nothing, for there was no one to tell … Epilogue

William looked away, unseeing. He felt the future sway coldly in front of him, and a terrible weight of responsibility settle. Chapter 14

For in that moment, he made up his mind. He did want the station. And whatever it took, he would show his uncle he was worthy. Chapter 14

His only worry was that his ear was still aching. And he’d become aware of a bad smell. It was fleeting amidst the smoke of campfires and barbecues, but it came and went persistently throughout the day. (William) Chapter 25

And suddenly he wanted to be anywhere but where he was, to be escaping to somewhere green and wet and far away. A place where there were people, and schools, and back yards with grass to play on, and other children … not these deserted hills all around, and the loneliness of the house at his back. Chapter 35

Veronica (William’s mother)

William’s mother, Veronica, is unable to cope with life before, and even more so, after the death of her husband. She is frequently unwell and takes to bed when she can for respite. This is coincidently where she is found at the opening of the novel and where she will retreat throughout it, despite the fact that William desperately needs her care.

A glimpse into Veronica’s back story is given by a nasty and biased Mrs Griffith, who describes her as ‘white trash’ and a ‘dirty little thing’ living ‘down there in that caravan park’. Mrs Griffith also states that Veronica’s father was an alcoholic and known to police. Veronica is accused of stealing as a child and Mrs Griffith says that even back then people could tell that she was a little ‘touched’.

With some self-awareness of her lack of ability to provide or care for William, Veronica is determined to see him become the heir to Kuran House, the property owned by his Uncle John. She is strict in directing William how to impress John in the hope of acquiring an inheritance for them both.

Veronica (William’s mother) Quotes

She didn’t work and never had – it was accepted that her health was not up to it. (About William’s mother) Chapter 1

She wouldn’t even notice he was gone. At least she seemed less irritable, ever since the doctor’s visit. (William’s mother) Chapter 8

William suddenly understood why his mother was upset. And it wasn’t because of the chaos at the rally, or because her son had been sick.
‘He might still die yet’. She was biting at one of her fingers as her eyes flicked back and forth. ‘And what happens to us then?’ Chapter 28

All evening she has floated around her little flat in a bright bath of joy, putting up Christmas decorations. She’d been transformed by the news of the will, hugging William so tightly that she lifted him from the floor. Chapter 45

John McIvor

Although generally referred to as Uncle John, John McIvor is actually William’s great uncle on his father’s side. John McIvor is a determined and self-driven individual who is single purposed throughout his life. Since he was young he dreamed of owning Kuran Station and the Kuran homestead. Originally he dreamed it would be by marrying the station owner’s daughter, a plan hatched by his father. Subsequently, it is through his own hard work and devious planning that he obtains the property at the cost of everything else. Wrestling with his past and with that of his father’s, John tries to balance his desire for the land and his understanding of past atrocities and present claims under the impending Mabo decision. He asserts that he has nothing against the Indigenous community but rather is protective of his own rights.

Now alone except for his activist group and the local doctor, John McIvor is ill and facing a bleak future. He feels that his station needs to become his legacy, granting him a place in history. To this end, he seizes the opportunity to groom William as his heir. McIvor starts a plan to educate his young nephew, explaining the history of the house and its vast surrounds, even allowing William to take the rest of the year off from school. But John is not prepared to hand over the property without William proving himself first, and although William’s mother is desperate for security and a better life, William has to perform for his uncle; he has to show that he is sympathetic to the values and morals of his conservative heritage.

John’s life is in ruins, much like the property he worked so hard to acquire. His stubbornness has cost him a relationship with his daughter, Ruth. He has thrown himself into a conservative, right wing group to resist the Mabo decision and highlight its impact on generational landowners in Darling Downs. The group exceeds John’s vision for a protest and strays into a dark area with Ku Klux Klan style demonstrations. John is dismayed and withdraws from the group, leaving him even further isolated in the height of his illness.

John McIvor Quotes

His uncle – the greatest mystery of all. The old man’s presence hung over everything, but he remained hidden, heeded and obeyed but never seen. (John McIvor when William first moves to Kuran House) Chapter 4

So it was a source of immense dissatisfaction to him that he couldn’t rise to the level which that blood demanded. In the darker moments of the night he would lie in bed next to his sleeping wife, gazing bitterly into a future that might see him die there on his little farm, amongst his inferiors. The same as them, in fact. Chapter 24

He was so weak. How he hated the indignity he had suffered these last months, having to be fed and nursed like an infant. Chapter 42

… John had stopped pondering the question years ago. But ever since the day of Oliver’s death, John had known that there was a price he must pay to achieve his ends. Friends, family, wife and daughter – he had surrendered them all. Chapter 42

Daniel McIvor

Daniel McIvor is a former policeman, who worked his way through the ranks of the station personnel, with ambition that he will pass fortune on to his son John. With his own reputation under question, his focus becomes for his son to not only succeed him as station manager, but he plans to elevate him through setting him on par with the owners of the property, the White family, and finally claiming the station as his own. This is to be accomplished through a marriage between John and the White family’s youngest member, Elizabeth, the future inheritor of Kuran Station. The plan falls apart on the death of the father of the White family when Elizabeth divides the Kuran property at sale. With his single focus in life devastated through the failure of his plan, Daniel begins a rapid decline into alcoholism and financial ruin.

Daniel McIvor’s plan leaves a mark on young John, who internalises his father’s ambitious future plan. Despite the events that conspire against him, and the cost to his own morals, John continues with the plan. John, still very young, has to face for the first time that his expectations are not in tune with reality. Mirroring a later scene with his nephew William, John explores the object of his desire, Kuran Station, at the heart of which he finds a haughty young Elizabeth, well aware of the social barrier between the two.

Daniel McIvor Quotes

When John McIvor reached his teens, there was something disturbing he came to understand – many people did not like his father. The sentiment was unspoken but ever present, not amongst the station staff, who would never have dared, but amongst people outside Daniel’s sphere of influence. Chapter 6

And something broke in the station manager. The girl had fired him. It was her right to do so. It was inconceivable that she would have the nerve to do so. But she had. All the strength in him drained away, useless. And even through his shock, John understood that he was witnessing something acutely personal. Elizabeth hated his father. (Elizabeth fires Daniel) Chapter 6

‘We dispersed this tribe, we dispersed that tribe. It could mean hundreds of dead, it could mean thousands. But the Native Police operated all up and down Queensland, and they went on “dispersing” for over thirty years. It got so awful that it disturbed white people, even back then.’ Chapter 41

Mrs Griffith

A housekeeper at the Kuran Station, Mrs Griffith has been in service there her whole life. She arrived at the same age William was when he arrived and had worked as a maid for various managers as they came and went. Then, as the head housekeeper, she stayed on after all others had left. For some time she had lived in the house alone and even resented John McIvor for moving in and disturbing her. She has little time for William and his mother and begrudgingly shares a space with them. There is always tension around her as she looks for any chance to disrupt William’s opportunity to inherit the house. Mean and vindictive, she rarely has a kind word to say and takes the first opportunity she can to call John’s daughter Ruth in the hope that she will intervene in the situation and block William taking over the property. Behind this harsh facade is yet another desperate woman, like William’s mother, who is dependent on circumstances to keep a roof over her head.

Mrs Griffith Quotes

To William it was plain that the housekeeper considered them unwelcome guests. Maybe she even hated them. (About Mrs Griffith) Chapter 4

Ruth McIvor

The daughter of John McIvor and Harriet (nee Fisher) she was conceived at the waterhole on Kuran property in what seems to be a deliberate plan by John to trap Harriet and marry in to her wealth and community standing. A devoted daughter to John, she fills a void in his life, despite his striving for a male heir, and seems a worthy substitute.

When she is 12 she is sexually assaulted by Dudley Green, a long time friend of her parents who has returned from the war. She is sent away to boarding school and is understandably upset given she has done nothing wrong. As a result she becomes estranged from her father and mother, rarely returning from boarding school. She marries a man whom her father cannot tolerate and is banished from the family. She develops an acute sense of social justice and is in favour of returning the Kuran station to the Indigenous custodians. Kind and caring, she treats William with much respect and compassion from the moment they meet; she is there for him in the end and will be all the family he will have.

Ruth McIvor Quotes

The eager girl John remembered was gone, replaced by a reserved young women, a stranger. She ignored the farm and spent most of her time in her room, buried in books. Chapter 30

William went still. There it was. Spoken out loud. Now the attack would come.
Instead, she smiled. ‘You don’t have to worry, you know. I don’t want it. Not the house. Not the property. Not any of it.’ Chapter 32

Elizabeth White

A beautiful and strong-willed woman, Elizabeth White is the daughter of Malcolm White. She was raised as a lady and protected by her father. However, Daniel McIvor still manages to persuade her grandfather Edward that it would be a good idea that she be married his son, John. Edward dies before this comes to pass, and Elizabeth disappears. She returns later and fires Daniel, refusing further contact with John. Later, she continues to disagree with John and confirms with Ruth the ambiguity of the lease agreement on Kuran Station, possibly opening it up to Mabo claims.

Elizabeth White Quotes

How had she done that, frightened him so, when he was not afraid of anything? And how was it possible that they would be together one day when he couldn’t even speak in her presence? (John enters Elizabeth’s room) Chapter 3

Malcolm White

Malcolm White is Edward White’s son and is considered below par in the manly world of station life. He is prone to drinking and partying, often looking in on the station as an outsider. He is considered to be ‘useless’ and the only thing he is valued for is in providing an ‘extension to the dynasty’ through his daughter, Elizabeth. After Edward dies, he tries to step into his shoes politically and socially but falls short and retreats to the bottle once again.

Malcolm White Quotes

For Malcolm it was the last and greatest in a long line of humiliations. He left the station in Daniel’s hands and escaped to Brisbane with his wife. There he drank ruinously for a month and died … Chapter 6

Dudley Green

Dudley Green is a good friend to John McIvor from his early years as a logger. He forms one third of the friendship trio between himself, John and Harriet. When war is declared, Dudley is called upon and is sent overseas. While away, John betrays him by moving in on Harriet despite their gentlemen’s agreement to wait. The war is not kind to Dudley who is captured and held by the Japanese. On his return he is lost and drinks heavily. He delivers documents to John to look after his farm and names John in his will. John and Harriet let him stay at their house. This proves to be a mistake as Dudley rapes their daughter, Ruth. He is not abandoned by John, who still regards his property and will as a chance to get ahead and one day buy Kuran station.

Dudley Green Quotes

It would change things between the two of them forever. He’d seen it amongst older men who had lived through the Great War – the unbridgeable gulf between those who went and those who stayed. Chapter 15

We’ll all come back here, Harriet insisted as they sat there, the night cool and dark about them. She clutched their hands, looking back and forth. When it’s all over, we’ll meet up right here, and everything will be the same. Chapter 15

It had seemed a cold and clinical thought then, and he had tried to suppress it, but there was no denying it now, as he stared out over the paddocks of Dudley’s farm. If they did send Dudley away to an institution, what would happy to his property? Chapter 27