THE SIMPLE GIFT

By: Steven Herrick

FORM: The Simple Gift is written as a verse novel. A verse novel is a type of narrative
poetry in which a novel-length narrative is told through the medium of poetry rather than
prose. Herrick noted that the free-verse text allows me into the personality of each character
his or her thoughts, emotions, insecurities, and ambitions. The verse-novel form lets me
tell the story from a number of perspectives, and, hopefully, with an economy of words. In
short, it allows each character to tell the story in his or her own language, from his or her own
angle.
SETTING: The dull nature of Billys home and school environment is established at the
beginning of this novel. Billy describes Longlands Road as so rundown and beat, and
displays a lack of caring towards his school and his run down neglected neighbourhood with
its truck still on blocks unmown grass, broken windows and which he derisively
refers to as each deadbeat no hoper sh-thole lonely downtrodden house in Longlands Rd,
Nowheresville. All the symbols pointing to a decaying, decrepit, depressing environment He
then describes his school atmosphere through the personification of the wind howling and
the rain falling in sheets blowing potato crisp wrappers/across the oval. This emphasises
Billys isolation and disconnection from his school and portrays to the reader his choice to
not belong to this restrictive environment.
CHARACTER: The protagonist Billy Luckett sixteen years of age ventures into the world;
leaving home on his own decision. Billy reveals himself as a reject, a thief and a troubled
character who rejected a restrictive regimented irrelevant education system. The cause of his
alienation appears to be physical and psychological abuse from his father. Herrick induces us
to feel empathy rather than antagonism to the protagonist. This is accomplished through the
intimate use of language, changing perspectives, flashbacks and personal anecdotes.
Character: Billy
Belonging

Quote

Alienation and
gave me one hard backhander
isolation caused by across the face, so hard I fell
an abusive father
down and slammed the door on
my sporting childhood. (p. 15-16)
Physical
dislocation on
freight train

I snuggle under the bow of this

speeding speedboat and my teeth
clenched in some wild frost-bitten

Technique

Metaphor

disturbing/grotesque

HSC Online:
http://hsc.csu.edu.au/english/area_of_study/belonging/3725/simple_gift.htm
http://nebo-lit.com/topic-areas/belonging/The-Simple-Gift.html

grin. (p. 10)

imagery
Kindness of, and
inclusion by, the
train driver, Ernie

Get your bag and come to the

Guards van. theres a heater that
works, and some coffee. (p. 12)

Lack of control
over destiny

and wait for the three whistles to

dump me in another State.(p. 20)

By labelling
himself a bum,
Billy identifies
himself as a social
outcast

imperative (expressing a
command or request)

personification

negative/loaded verb

labelling

intertextuality
(related to William
Goldings The Lord of the
Flies)

Bendarat is the perfect town. A

friendly librarian, a warm
McDonalds, luxury train
accommodation. (p. 39)

absolute term

irony

I wouldnt want to meet her here

not when shes with her friends and
in uniform and me dressed in the
same clothes as always. (p. 39)

symbolism uniform is
symbolic of their status.
Billys clothes are
symbolic of his.

metaphor

metaphoric use of
shivered as it applies

As I near the town theres more

cars and school buses, yellow, full
of kids shouting insults at me, the
bum. (p. 21)

Solitary paradigm, Id go off alone, because you cant

devoid of faith in trust those who want to break the
fellow man.
rules and you certainly cant trust
those who make the rules. (p. 23)

Physical sense of
belonging to
Bendarat.

Exclusion
emphasised
through
clothing/image

Connects with
sharing the hobo hour. (p. 49)
Old Bill by
offering a gift of a
carton of cigarettes
Recognises his
Then he stumbled off, an old man
own disconnected before his time, sleeping in a
future in Old Bill carriage, and I shivered as the sun
came up. (p. 51)

HSC Online:
http://hsc.csu.edu.au/english/area_of_study/belonging/3725/simple_gift.htm
http://nebo-lit.com/topic-areas/belonging/The-Simple-Gift.html

literally and figuratively

Rejection from
Old Bill

he growled, Piss off son. Piss

off. Leave me alone. (p. 55)

Security of the
home Billy has
created, Carriage
1864

It was like a little cave, a warm,

safe little cave Billys cave. (p.
63)

Sense of family,
by tracing lineage

and Luckett, which is Scottish

in origin. I found an ancestor who
was a Duke from royalty to
employment in a few generations.
(p. 66)

A relationship has
centred Billy. His
life has direction,
routine and
meaning. He has
reached a sense of
belonging.

This morning I woke and I knew

where I was going for the next few
months to the Library to
McDonalds to the river and home
here to the Hilton a circuit of
plans with Caitlin at the centre, and
me a badly-dressed satellite
spinning crazily in her orbit. (p.
70)

A wage or money
does not create a
sense of security

with nothing youre rich. Youve

got no decisions, no choice, and no
worry go back to being rich and
penniless again. (p. 81)

No friendships but But I didnt have any friends, I

escaped sense of
didnt want any. I had books and
isolation through Westfield Creek (p.102)
books. Belonging
through avenues
other than
relationships.
Billys hope as to
what Caitlin sees
in him - a
definition of

what she sees in me. I hope its

someone to talk to someone to look
in the eye knowing theyll look
back. (p. 103)

emotional intensity of
vulgar slang

simile

repetition

irony

self-depreciating humour

anaphora (repetition of
word/phrase at the start of
successive lines)

extended metaphor

paradox

reaffirmation.

anaphora (or repetition)

HSC Online:
http://hsc.csu.edu.au/english/area_of_study/belonging/3725/simple_gift.htm
http://nebo-lit.com/topic-areas/belonging/The-Simple-Gift.html

belonging
Recognition of the
importance of
belonging to his
family for Old Bill

how hes afraid to forget

because without his ghosts hes
afraid hell have nothing to live for.
And at that moment I know I am
listening to the saddest man in the
world. (p. 105)

Ultimate act of
belonging:
making love to
Caitlin

It was like falling headlong into

the clear waters of the Bendarat
River and opening my eyes to the
beautiful phosphorescent bubbles
of light and trying to catch those
bubbles in the new world of quiet
and calm that carried me along,
breathless (p. 127)

Welfares
definition of
belonging

I knew Welfare would ask about

where I lived and how I lived. (p.
147)

Role of physical
I knew that Old Bill was giving
home in concept of me more than these keys I held
belonging
holding someones past in my dirty
hands. (p.166)
Romantic
commitment

Caitlin and I lay in the huge bed

with the moon a perfect light to
show Caitlin the beautiful green
emerald ring. (p. 194)

Homes are not

permanent

I know Im only here for a while

so I tread lightly with respect for
this house and for Old Bill. (p.
200)

Trappings and
requirements of
belonging. Billys
uncertainty about
belonging in a
school
environment

Irene went over to the Resource

section, brought back a TAFE
Handbook and a government study
assistance. If they paid me maybe,
just maybe, Id go back to school.
(p.201)

Belonging reaches and I looked up into the sky, the

beyond
deep blue sky that Old Bill and I
boundaries
shared.(p. 205)

superlative

hyperbole (exaggeration)

simile

light imagery

invasive authority

metaphor

surreal/magical colour

imagery

metaphor

low modality

symbolism

HSC Online:
http://hsc.csu.edu.au/english/area_of_study/belonging/3725/simple_gift.htm
http://nebo-lit.com/topic-areas/belonging/The-Simple-Gift.html