Week 2: Will and Sal

     The relationship between Will and Sal in Parts 1 and 2 of the novel is one of the main focuses. In Part 1, they were a close pair, sticking together through poverty and still maintaining love and respect for one another, regardless of the challenges that London's classism posed for them. Their life in Sydney changes this dynamic, however. The main driver of this change is Will's desire to stay in Sydney, which I found to be relatable. Will understands that poor people and convicts are naturally looked down upon in London's extremely classist society. If he and Sal were to return they would still be viewed the same as they were before, even if they were wealthy. This, of course, does not justify his actions or lack of communication for me, but I can respect his reasoning.

     This all culminates in Will feeling distant from Sal, realizing "that Sal was afraid of him now. She'd seen what he was capable of and she was afraid. He didn't know how to make it right." Their relationship is strained by the decision between going to London or staying in Sydney. It seems to be mostly about a lack of communication or agency between Will and Sal, as Will takes the role of decision-maker with little input from Sal. He selfishly went out to claim the land, despite knowing it would upset Sal. I sympathize with them both for different reasons, but I think both are wrong for failing to have a discussion and recognize the other's needs.

Comments

  1. Audrey SchroederJanuary 21, 2023 at 3:40 PM

    Hey Jalen, thanks for sharing your thoughts about this. I agree that a big tension in the book so far is the lack of communication between Will & Sal, accompanied by the fact that they are just not on the same page regarding going back to London. It's been interesting to see how this is slowly chipping away at the healthiness of their relationship and I'm curious to see what happens next.

    ReplyDelete
  2. John SawyerJanuary 21, 2023 at 7:41 PM

    Hey Jalen, I appreciate hearing your perspective on their relationship. Even though Will's actions have been quite selfish, it does seem that he has his reasons. The way the captain of his old ship interacted with him is a good indicator that the extreme classist society of London would persist, not allowing him to move up the ranks. Even if Will went back a successful person, I agree with you that he would not be respected as much as he may deserve due to his criminal past.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Catalina DegnanJanuary 21, 2023 at 11:39 PM

    Hey Jalen, I appreciate your thoughtful insight on this. I think both of the characters have good justification for their differing desires. Sal still sees England as a place for opportunity, which is something that Will can't see and I think that this is a major contributor to their difference in dreams.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Paulos HabtewoldJanuary 22, 2023 at 4:07 AM

    Hi Jalen, I think both characters are valid in the way that they are feeling, and I do not think there is a way for them to communicate their way out of this. Thier biggest dreams cannot co-exist. If one person succeeds, the other person will have to sacrifice their biggest goal. If I had to guess who is going to end up making the sacrifice, it has to be Sal. Will is just too stubborn of a person to end up leaving for England while he has his dream in front of him, while Sal has clearly shown that she is willing to make sacrifices for Will. I think their relationship will continue to be strained as the years go by until it reaches a potential breaking point when Will finally comes clean to Sal about staying in New South Wales.

    ReplyDelete
  5. CassiJanuary 22, 2023 at 2:02 PM

    Hi Jalen! Yes, I had a lot of the same ideas about Will and Sal. I think it is an interesting topic that Grenville chose to explore kind of in the "background" of the larger themes of colonialism and race relations. I think, as you alluded to, their lack of communication serves to emphasize the importance of healthy communication. I wonder how this will culminate as the book continues, in a sense who will "win" or how will this fall apart?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Gema Sanchez GamezJanuary 23, 2023 at 11:41 PM

    Hi Jalen! I also understand Will's motivations and have sympathy for his situation, but do not agree with the distance he puts between him and Sal. It's very interesting to see how migration can completely overturn a relationship. I think it's so important to acknowledge that some pairings only work in a certain environment instead of expecting the dynamic to persist all changes. I think it's now a better of seeing whether Will values the stability of his family or the accumulation of wealth more. While those shouldn't be seen as mutually exclusive, I think it's important to acknowledge that in the process of creating a new life, Will will not be able to be present in the same way he used to be.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 10: Pachinko, Identity, and Family

     Pachinko  is a book so jam-packed with meaning and depth that it would be hard to say everything there is to say about the book in one blog post. The story is a deep examination of identity and belonging- something we've seen in a lot of the more contemporary texts in this class. Pachinko 's wide variety of characters all struggle to feel in place in a society catered towards heterosexual Japanese men. It almost feels cynical in this way, with Solomon and Noa returning to pachinko after working so hard to get an education and move up the social ladder. I think it could be argued that this sort of acceptance, the kind gained from working hard enough to become a model minority, is not the way to find belonging. Family is key here. Society is a hard thing to find belonging in, especially when you exist outside of the accepted and typical behaviors and identities within it. But family is a constant. When society doesn't accept us, our family often does. Noa's happie...
Read more

Week 8: Biblical References

     Pachinko has a lot of biblical references in terms of characters names (which may or not be obvious depending on how familiar you are with the bible). Characters share names with biblical figures whom they share a lot with.     Isak, for example, is very similar to Isaac from the Bible. Abraham, one of the most important patriarchal figures in both Christianity and Judaism, is the father of Isaac. Abraham and his wife have Isaac when they are both very old, as a gift from God, which they are incredibly grateful for. However, God asks Abraham to sacrifice Isaac to him, similar to how people from that time may have sacrificed an animal. Abraham is reluctant, but decides to goes through with it. Right before sacrificing his son, an angel stops Abraham. In this sense, Isak and Isaac have a lot in common. Both are 'sacrifices'- Isaac literally and Isak in terms of his selflessness in general and specifically to Sunja.      Noa is clearly a referen...
Read more

Week 3: Smasher Sullivan

     In "The Secret River" by Kate Grenville, the character of Smasher Sullivan stands out as a powerful representation of the violence and brutality inflicted upon the Indigenous people by white settlers during the colonial period. He definitely shocked me as I read the novel.      From his introduction, where he brags about hanging an Indigenous person, to the end of the novel, Smasher's character is fairly static, showing little to no mercy for the people he encounters. However, one of the most disturbing aspects of Smasher's character is his dehumanization of the Indigenous people. He views them as obstacles and issues to be dealt with, rather than as human beings. This dehumanization serves to justify the violence and exploitation that white settlers inflicted upon the Indigenous people. By removing the personhood from the Indigenous people, it makes the killing, stealing, and other atrocities less morally reprehensible.      It seemed t...
Read more