This essay will explore the major issues brought up in the book Deadly Unna?, the most important of which being racism. Although this is true, Phillip Gwynne also brings up many other important issues that affect teenagers and society in general; alcoholism, family and social belonging.Racism is such an important issue for Australia as a whole and this is one reason why it is the most important issue in the book. Especially in outback towns, racism towards aboriginals is still very prominent and Phillip Gwynne raises our awareness of this point by taking us on a journey to a stereotypical outback Australian town through the eyes of a non-racist teenage boy.
Gary Black- or ‘Blacky’- does not understand why there is such a hate towards the aboriginals and does not think it is right either. Through the thoughts of Blacky, we understand the difficulty in being friends with aboriginal boy Dumby Red. We see why it is not seen as normal and learn about Blacky’s struggles between his morals and what is seen as socially normal. Racism is the most major issue brought up in the text as it restricts friendships and can divide towns and people.
Despite Phillip Gwynne’s focus on alerting readers to the prominence of racism in outback Australia. He also brings up other important social and family issues. Gwynne reinforces the knowledge of readers on how alcohol can severely affect families, how all teenagers worry about fitting in, and that even though family can be annoying hectic and separate, they will still come together to stand up for you. Deadly Unna? Shows us this through the telling of Blacky’s relationship with his father and how alcohol effected this, how he worries fitting in and how different he is and how his siblings stand up and protect Blacky from their abusive father.
Although these issues are incredibly important and need to be known about, racism is the most important worry of our society as it discriminates against people based on their skin colour and race which should not be acceptable in our day and age.Racism is an important issue to bring up as it creates tension between people and reduces the ability for development. In the text Deadly Unna? Blacky and Dumby’s friendship is frowned upon because of their different skin colours and where they live. This is troubling as in modern society; colour, race and where you are from should not important on the basis of accepting and friendship.
Equality against discrimination is why racism is the most important issue Phillip Gwynne brings up in Deadly Unna?Phillip Gwynne raises the awareness of many social issues but the most important of these is racism. Although issues like alcoholism, social belonging and family are issues which are important to address, racism is a larger issue as it affects everything from education, to friendships to services available in towns. For these reasons, in the text Deadly Unna? the most important issue Phillip Gwynne addresses is racism.
