Fly Away Peter Themes

By tanya neuendorf, Student

Discussion of the text's most powerful themes

An essay hosted at LiteratureClassics.com

Which of the following themes stood out for you most powerfully in your reading of Fly Away Peter?

Connection with nature
Transformation
Migration
Cycle of time
Continuity
Balance
Freedom vs determination
Futility of war



First set on the Queensland coast just before the World War of 1914 and later on the battlefields of Europe, Fly Away Peter is a narration in the third person based around Jim Saddler and Ashley Crowther, two dreamers and bird enthusiasts in their early 20’s. They are satisfied to do little more than sit back, content in their belief that this happiness will remain unchanged forever. But low and behold, the migration to the war and the fearful trenches of France is an inescapable journey that must be undertaken by a rather reluctant Jim, who feels ‘the drag upon him from all those deaths’ , and that ‘the ground before him … had suddenly titled in the direction of Europe, in the direction of events’. Ashley later joins him, and the two young men are plunged headfirst into a nightmare world of degradation, fear, filth and haunting memories.

David Malouf is quite distinctive in his approach to a number of universal themes that have been constantly repeated and reworded in literature for centuries. This stems partially from his unique poetic style, as well as from his belief that “We can and must transcend the conditions we find ourselves in, however terrible they may be”. By creating three unique characters to portray the essence of this ideal, Malouf skilfully develops his main themes of predetermination, continuity, and the natural cycle of time.

Fly Away Peter is a novel that appears to imply that human existence is predetermined or controlled by some higher power. This is illustrated quite early in the text, where Jim, a self-confessed drifter who lacks directions simply stumbles into his dream job. Ashley and Jim, who come from contrasting social classes, are drawn together by their mutual love for birds and their unconscious need for order and permanency. This curious relationship implies that not only were Jim and Ashley fated to meet, but also develop an everlasting bond between each other and the land.

The idea that destiny is beyond the control of the individual is shown by the contrast between Jim and Clancy during the war. Another distinct relationship is developed here - Clancy bent the rules and "...was always in trouble,", while Jim played by the book and wanted "...to put every step down firmly and in the right place." However, despite their differences in character, both Jim and Clancy were killed; highlighting the suggestion that fate is predetermined.

But despite the possibility of unshakable forces acting upon the main characters, the notion of continuity exists quite prevalently in the text. Malouf suggests life is continuous, that one small change does not mean that life ceases to exist. Through the use of symbolism (predominantly bird images), Malouf demonstrates that while individual life is short and sacred, life itself if perpetual. For example, the constant reference to the migration patterns of the birds indicates that this behaviour is timeless – innate, inbred behaviour – that will continue forever regardless of time, regardless of circumstance. ‘The timespan for them was more or less infinite.’

Despite being in the midst of a bloody war, Jim’s keen sense of observation eventually begins to pick up faint signs of his old favourite, familiar birds – the skylarks, greylag geese, wagtails. Being able to once again record the birds is an affirmation to Jim, and consequently the reader, that life continues outside of the boundaries of the war zone. Similarly, Jim seeks comfort from watching an old man cling tenaciously onto his belief that the war was all but over, and he must start to plow his fields in readiness for the winter sowing. Life is continuous; life will go on.

However, while in some ways Jim clings to the hope that life is indeed continuing outside the sphere of life that he has come to know, he also in a way hopes that life will remain still and stagnant. The novels three main characters, Ashley, Jim and Imogen are all opposed to the natural cycle of time in some way, yet Jim is more so than the others. In such a way, Malouf appears to be implying that humans cannot accept change and want to hang on to things just as they are at a particular point in time. This is evident when observing Jim’s desperate need to document and name every bird that he sees; hence the birds can then become a permanent fixture for him.

"Everything changed. The past would not hold and could not be held." The idea of change and transition stresses the notion of Jim’s that "Nothing counted." There was no use in giving things permanency (as he does through names), because in the end, they would all disappear or be replaced with something else.

The sense of this ongoing natural cycle of which change and rebirth are vital components, emerges again in the concluding pages of the book. As Imogen stands on the beach grieving, she contemplates the lone surfer braving the elements far off in the distance. "...the balance, the still dancing on the surface, the brief etching of his body against the sky at the very moment, on the waves lip, when he would slide into its hollows and fall." Here we see a new innovation surfacing, factual evidence that life is ever-changing and perpetual. In this brief second, Imogen realises that time will eventually bring the soldiers into the arms of their ‘warm mother’. As one door closes, another opens, thus continues the cycle of life.

At the very heart of Fly Away Peter is an affirmation of the preciousness of life. What remains for Imogen after Jim's death is a sense of his uniqueness as a person, a uniqueness that she sees as "essential in every living creature". It is arguably this celebration of life, rather than the scenes of wartime horror, that lingers in the mind of the reader long after the book has been closed.