Life in the Australian Outback

A scene from "Morris West's The Naked Country"

• Transcript
• Issues and discussion questions
• Language functions
• Role-play situations
• Vocabulary and lexical phrases
• Sentence ordering exercises

Transcript:

Part 1: A few after-dinner drinks:

1. Adams: What's the use of arresting them and sticking them in the jug?
2. Dylan: Maybe it'll stop them from doing it the next time.
3. Adams: That's not my experience. When I was in Kenya, jail was a solution for everything. All that succeeded in doing was producing the Maa Maa (a rebel group).
4. (Boss Dylan pops the cork on a bottle of wine.)
5. Dylan: Africa's a different problem, the bulk of their population is black. Our Aborigines are only a very small proportion.
6. Adams: Not so tiny out here.
7. Dylan: You know, some of them are getting pretty aggressive. One of them stopped me the other day. Told me I was trespassing on my own land.
8. Adams: Trespassing, eh? That's a new one.
9. Mary: Hang on a minute, darling. Haven't they got a point? I mean, it was their's in the first place.
10. Dylan: Even so...
11. Mary: Come on. Doesn't that give them some rights.
12. Dylan: Well, of course it does. You're talking to me as if I'm some kind of racist. I've lived with these people all my life.
13. Mary: You mean, you don't think they're inferior?
14. Dylan: I think they're a long way behind us. Yeah, I mean, I don't know how you compare one culture with another, but a tribe out there like the Ginji has a life-style about as primitive as you can get. I mean, have they built a house, or turned a crop? No writing, no technology...I beg your pardon... They know how to build a fire.
15. Mary: That's not the point.
16. Dylan: They have lived in this country for 40,000 years and never done a thing with it.
17. Mary: Tell me what you'd expect them to do.
18. Dylan: Well, use the place for god's sake. I mean Australia is about the same size as America and before we arrived it supported how many Abo's? (Note: The word "Abo" is now considered an offensive word that should not be used.) Not even half a million. To me, that's...(searching for the right word) inefficient, primitive, useless...I mean I don't blame them, but I don't want to sentimentalize them either. They got a long way to go and...surely you agree Adams?
19. Adams: You assume they're heading in the same direction as us. Ever thought they don't want it?
20. (The scene changes. All three are about to retire to their rooms for the night.)
21. Dylan: When are you flying back to the Bluffs?
22. Adams: Not til Friday, if that's all right by you. Got to go back to the Ginjis tommorrow. There's a big corroboree on (an Aboriginal sacred gathering at night accompanied by group dancing).
23. Mary: I've never seen a corroboree.
24. Dylan: You haven't missed much. Lot of dust, lot of noise.
25. Mary: Is there a chance that I could go?
26. Adams: I don't see why not. Would the two of you like to ride over with us?
27. Dylan: No. Tommorrow's a heavy day for me. I'll have to beg out.
28. Mary: Well, I could go, couldn't I? I'd love to see a corroboree.
29. Dylan: Well, if you want to. It's all right by me.

Part 2: A husband-wife talk before bed

1. Dylan: Mary, I don't want you to go.
2. Mary: Why?
3. Dylan: I'd just sooner you didn't. That's all.
4. Mary: It's going to be a break for me. I'd love to see a corroboree.
5. Dylan: The tribal grounds are thirty miles away. You'll have to stay over night.
6. Mary: Well, that's all right. I don't mind camping out. I'm sure Adams will see nothing happens to me.
7. Dylan: The man is a lush.
8. Mary: He's a policeman. He's perfectly trustworthy. You know that.
9. (As they continue talking, the camera switches to Adams sneaking downstairs to steal some whiskey. Mary and Dylan's conversation can be heard in the background. Most of the words are unintelligible.)
10. Dylan: You miss a civilized life, don't you?
11. (The camera switches back to Dylan and Mary's conversation. They're in bed holding each other close.)
12. Dylan: Why did you attack me at dinner?
13. Mary: I didn't, silly. I just said what I thought. Do you really want some tame little creature who's going to agree with everything you say?
14. Dylan: Sounds all right to me.
15. (His answer makes her angry. She breaks from their embrace.)
16. Mary: Oh Lance. (sigh)
17. Dylan: Oh Mary. (sigh) I was only joking.
18. Mary: It's just a little bit too close to the truth for my liking.
19. Dylan: What is the matter with you, huh?
20. Mary: You don't really want a wife, Lance. All you want is some live-in housemate to fetch and carry for you, preferably without an idea in her head.
21. Dylan: That's rubbish. I'd be bored to death.
22. (She angrily pushes the door to the outside open and steps out onto the deck. Dylan follows.)
23. Dylan: What the hell's the matter with you? You're so touchy.
24. Mary: I am not.
25. Dylan: I try to talk to you. You bite my head off.
26. Mary: Something's happening to us, Lance.
27. Dylan: What?
28. Mary: I don't know...
29. Dylan: I always thought we had a pretty good marriage.
30. Mary: I used to, but you've become so obsessed with your cattle and your damn prize bull, you just got nothing left for us.
31. Dylan: Mary, you know the situation. The bank owns more of this than we do. For the next two years we can't afford to let up, or we'll go under.
32. Mary: Lance, do you remember the last night you made love to me? Well, refresh your memory, because I know precisely. It was the night of the races, remember?
33. Dylan: I do love you.
34. Mary: Lance, can't you come with me tommorrow, please?
35. Dylan: I have two miles of fencing to do.
36. Mary: (sigh) Then I'm going alone.
37. Dylan: You're not going.
38. Mary: I am Lance.
39. Dylan: All right, I'm not asking you anymore. I'm telling you.
40. Mary: Oh, go to sleep.

Part 3: Boss Dylan talks with a stationhand

1. Stationhand: When you first brought her out here, I had my doubts.
2. Dylan: She settled in pretty well.
3. Stationhand: She hasn't settled in at all.
4. Dylan: Hang on, she's lasted three years.
5. Stationhand: She hates the place. Let's face it mate. This is no country for a woman like her.
6. Dylan: Well, she better wake up to herself. If she can't put up with the cattle country, there are plenty of women who can.
7. Stationhand: (Laughingly) Yeah, but she's the one you want, mate. You don't want the others.
8. Dylan: That's the trouble.

Issues and discussion questions:

• Should Western law and economics be imposed on indigenous peoples?
• Should indigenous peoples be given back their tribal lands?
• What is a "racist"?
• How do you compare one culture with another?
• Does someone who can put a piece of land to a more productive use have a stronger moral claim to that land? (i.e. a homesteading right)
• Is there such a thing as "progress"?, i.e. one direction dictated by technology, economic development, and democracy that all cultures should be heading in.
• Do you think that someone who lives amongst the people of a different culture should actively participate in it in someway? Or is it all right for them to isolate themselves from it? Even if they claim this is the only way they can stay sane in a foreign land? What should they do to participate in the culture?
• How free should a wife be to make her own decisions and lead her own life? What if she lives in a dangerous place and the husband is concerned about her safety?

Language Functions:

• expressing interest in accompanying someone on a journey or excursion
• excusing oneself because of a lot of work
• telling someone that some event they wanted to or want to see isn't worth seeing
• expressing disagreement during a discussion or debate
• expressing strong disagreement
• completely dismissing something someone has to say
• expressing dissatisfaction with someone's behavior

Role-play situations:

• Role-play Situation 1: Your friend works for an up-and-coming company that you'd like to work for too. The company picnic is this weekend and you're under the impression that your friend is allowed to bring a friend with her to the picnic if she wants. You try to drop a few hints that you'd like to go to the picnic with her. She doesn't understand you, so you try to be a little bit more direct.



• Role-play Situation 2: Think of some places you really don't like. Now, imagine your friend is going to one of these places next Tuesday and has invited you to come along. You say yes at first, but as the day draws near you really don't want to go. You do have a little bit of work to do at the office, so you decide to use that as an excuse. You call your friend up and tell them that you're swamped with work tommorrow and won't be able to make it. Your friend really wants your company and begs you to reconsider, but you stick with your story.



• Role-play Situation 3: Your imagination is running free today and you're full of good ideas. You just can't keep from talking as you and your friends eat at the school cafeteria. At first they were quiet, but eventually your prattle began to annoy them. Now they try to contradict everything you say.



• Role-play Situation 4: Your friend has always been interested in astronomy and science fiction, but recently he's began to take it a little bit too seriously. He's applying to all these colleges to get a second B.A. degree, this time in aeronautical engineering and has confided in you that he hopes to one day be chosen as an astronaut. His wife confides in you that this hobby has grown to take up all his time, time he used to spend with her and their two children. The talk about quitting his job and going back to school also worries her. She asks you to have a talk with him to try to talk him out of it. When you talk to him he counters every argument you make with his great enthusiasm. Finally, you dismiss everything he has to say and, exasperated, ask him what's the matter with him. You're frank with him: you think he's crazy.