repeated+motifs+of+My+Brother+Jack

=Repetition of particular motifs is one way that authors are able to hold their work together and develop a sense of the key concerns that they hold. What would you consider to be the repeated motifs of My Brother Jack and what is it that these suggest about aspects of life?=

The repetition of motifs such as war, violence, abuse and rivalries suggest that all parts of life are exposed to the unkind human spirit and results of death and violence. This must be a key concern for George Johnston so as to use it as a key motif throughout 'My Brother Jack' frequently. Examples of such abuse and violence are found during Davy's childhood with his home full of war victims, when his father abuses his mother, himself and Jack and further life experiences. The violence and abuse furthermore distinguish how different Jack is from Davy by showing how Jack's life revolves around violence and how Davy shies away from it by running away from every situation.

The repetition of motifs like the old ships that have begun to rot in the harbour, his fixation and his obsession with looking and writing articles of the beautiful ships in their earlier days are apparent all through the book. I think this suggests aspects of his own life, like his childhood. The ships are being remembered as what they once were not what they have now become, his life is being portrayed this way even though he believes he didn't have a hard childhood, if this was the case he wouldn't be so fixated with his early years, like he is with the ships. Beauty can come out of something that is ugly to the eye.

Johnston uses the repetition of motifs to connect a circlic nature within the story. This links later ideas with earlier motifs, such as the vines mentioned in the introduction of his story and the later physical abuse and tourment caused by his father. Other motif Johnston uses is the artificial limbs that litter the house. These show that neither of the Meredith boys had a role model that amounted to a 'real' man, and being around amputated returned service men influenced how their upbringing was and their relationship with their parents (shown on page 148 during a fight between Jack and Jack).

[Suggestion that there is something missing from the family, from his childhood experience. there is also the suggestion that the whole of society has bee permanently disfigured by the war. the view of society has changed, nothing will ever be the same again. the physical disfigurment is easikly recognised, but the emotional scars such as those of Mr Meredith are hidden in hte homes of the returned soldiers. His father is lost in darkeness of what he experienced overseas, and the children and the wives are affected by these events as well, although indirectly. War not only changed the physical landscape of Europe it also changed the very essence of Australia].

The motifs repeat in the comparison of different similies to their predecessors to describe similar meanings. This is shown through the violence and the abuse which found in the Meredith household during Davy and Jack's upbringing. When comparing the two brothers we discover that Johnston compares features of the natural world to describe their relationship, and/or thoughts of each other. These motifs are essential to the progession of the story.

An idea that keeps popping up is that David is repeatedly picked on during his childhood, teenage years and being an adult. The idea that the author's getting at is the effects that it leaves David with, he becomes more timid and girly like. Jack started the same as David but he was not picked on so he begins to go on a more confident path. You see later on in the story how diffirent Jack and David become, this is the idea that a small difference in childhood makes a lot more different in the future.

A strong theme of the novel is the grey, bleakness of the world that Davy lives in and the morbid state of mind he has on most aspects of his life. Davy talks often about the confusion of his life and most events that happen are always linked back to himself- despite the fact they don't revolve around him at all- he is selfish and a liar.

He repeats things in the book to give you a greater understanding of what he is trying to say and it gives you a stronger image in your head of what he is saying on the page. The way he writes compiles the images in your head so you can fully understand and see the picture that he is trying to portray to his readers. He writes in an __older style of writing [?]__ with the use of 'and' and 'or' to compile images to a maximum effect. Because he goes on about a lot about the same in the book sometimes it also helps you to understand where he is coming from and how you can see the image if you haven't taken the whole thing in.