Colonialist as a White Victim

Abstract： As a marginalized white other who was alienated from the mainstream white society， the protagonist William Thornhill in The Secret River has suffered a great deal of anxiety about his identity， and began his journey in which he tried hard to reconstruct his lacking sense of home or belonging and a new identity， this essay will analyze the protagonist's anxiety， identity and his efforts to reestablish his identity with a conclusion that he is a white man as well as a victim as well. Contradictory emotions rise in the male protagonist， causing his identity crisis and stimulating him to establish a new identity which is not a complete success at the end. On the one hand， William Thornhill is an other， marginalized character in the white mainstream society， what's worse is that he has been transported to Sydney， thus becoming a victim； on the other hand， he has strived for a piece of his own land in the aboriginals' living place and unconsciously has become a colonialist from the aboriginals stance. Finally， William Thornhill's sense of belonging and striving for his own homeland turn out to be the aboriginals' loss of home and colonial extension.

Key Words： The Secret River； colonialism； white victim； aboriginals

【分類號】K25

I. Double Consciousness

Being excluded from the gentry society， William is a victim who suffers middle and upper class people's scorn and contempt. He is actually one of the marginalized other， causing him to lie and had got to go thieving to make up for family needs. The only difference is that he is a whiteother. He is asubalternto those middle and upper class men. As a waterman by trade， he gradually understands that men are classified into different categories and stratum. It is under such difficult circumstance to make a living that he steals and lies sometimes， for sake of survival， “He was nothing more than a flea on the side of some enormous quiet creature.”

II. Anxiety

In order to adapt to his brand-new life， William attempts to get used to the environment in Australia since he is a hardworking man who knows the importance of industry and diligence. As the backbone of the family， William has got to start everything from scratch with an aim to build a house of his own in the new place where he could forget his past history and start anew and establish his sense of belonging which could not be found in Britain in his early years. The alien place， “was a place， like death， from which men did not return.” He was rather worried about his future because he did not fit in this new environment， “It was a sharp stab like a splinter under a nail： the pain of loss. He would die here under these alien stars， his bones rot in this cold earth.”

III. Reestablishing Identity

With Sal's help， William tried several times to befriend with them in the beginning， which always ended up in failure and ultimately led to the cruel killing and completely broken relationship with the aboriginals. He together with his fellow white victims there are accomplices who unfolded the mass killing， because they could no longer stand the anxiety and imaginary enemies in their mind they had suffered. So far， there would be no chance of communications. Their putting an end to the impasse of their relationships is the catalyst of the feud between whites and blacks. William and Sal have tried to make peace of the native inhabitants， only that communication failed because of language， “Take this down to them， Will. A bit of pork， some flour and that. And a bit of your baccy I thought you could spare... Keep them happy， but don't let them take advantage. And they'll be gone by and by， with their roaming ways.”（192）

Conclusion

From the contents of The Secret River， it can be seen that the novel develops according to the land expansion. Through analyzing William's double consciousness， anxiety and reestablishing his identity， which is the development of his progress of surviving of live on that land， Grenville does only one thing， that to invite readers to feel and see what it is in the story world， and leaves all the rest to the readers. Therefore， judging characters or actions is no worth. “Sorry” is the only word Grenville can say for what has been done as history cannot be brought back for people to changetheir past actions into more noble ones， and people cannot predict what consequences their current actions will bring in to the future so that they can stop doing harm.

作者簡介：肖芳，1993年出生，女，漢族，江西景德鎮人，英語語言文學方向碩士在讀研究生。