Journal - Tim Winton

Journal - Tim Winton

Tim Winton's text 'Shallows', is basically about a small town, Angelus which is situated on the south coast of Western Australia and the locals in the area going into there relationship with whales and whale killings done in the factories. This book is set in 1831 when whale killing was not against the law.

This book has been set out into different sections about different people and places.

It also has many different characters with no main characters but they all have there relationship with the whales and this is outlined briefly in the first chapter of the book.

As you read on in the story main characters seem to emerge almost all at once throughout chapter 3. These characters are Daniel Coupar - An old man with a bitter attitude towards life ever since his granddaughter moved away from the farm and to the city with her boyfriend almost immediately

after the passing of his wife.

Queenie Cookson - The granddaughter of Daniel Coupar. A very cheerful girl. Daniel believes that since she left town the whales has stopped visiting the coast of Angelus.

Cleveland Cookson - Is the final character to be introduced in this chapter. He is the husband of Queenie and generally is quite cheerful, Daniel is always giving him a hard time because he feels Cleveland is directly responsible for him being left lonely on the farm but Cleveland takes Daniel's bitter nature in good spirit and remains cheerful.

Daniel Coupar is miserable on the farm alone and wants Queenie to move back in and live with him but at the same time does'nt want to tell her this and look like he is a dependent useless old man who can't help himself.

This story then goes into the lifestyle of Queenie and Cleveland after they leave the farm.

It is puzzling as I read in that when Tim Winton has introduced for instance, Queenie's job as a tour guide, he has done it so it goes from one scene and bang straight into her taking a tour and never really introduces that this is her job and what she does on it.

As you read on in the story it becomes more apparent

that the story isn't just about the locals friendship with whales but also the whale killing that is happening in the whale station and the objection causing a lack of tourists to the area due to the utter disgust that this goin on. The main thing that angered tourists and locals alike is the brochure's that read 'HAVE A WHALE OF A TIME IN ANGELUS, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. This statement is using the precense of whales in a good way and a way of attracting tourists when actually the tours in the area take you to the whaling station and show whales being killed and this isn't the happy whale image that you get from the brochure's. This also causes the whales to avoid the area and Angelus has gone from being so famous in the past for whale watching to being little more than a town riddeled with whale carcasses. This imformation tells me that the title 'Shallows' may not just be referring to the