Away

Michael Gow

Summary
Away is evolved around the idea of self discovery through a physical
means. Gow allows the reader to delve into the lives of various
characters each from different backgrounds ,embarking on a typical
Australian holiday to the beach.
The characters are central to understanding the notion of discovery
through physical means but also as a way to develop mentally.

Anger intolerance
The character Gwen is most representative of anger and intolerance
through out the play. Her views are controversial to say the least. She
is depicted as a materialistic snob that almost always tries to fight
people to prove that she is better. The beginning of the play highlights
Gwen's materialistic nature when she brags about the new caravan to
Tom stating that it has everything you could want in it
Later her aggression is shown when she packs her bags with Meg,
constantly criticising her to prove she is superior. Her selfish
behaviour is seen before she takes on her transformation through
self discovery.

loss
Loss is most visible throughout the play through the character Coral. The
difficulties Coral faces are mainly due to the fact that her son had passed
away. The process of self discovery is hard for Coral as she appears to be
fragile constantly trapped in the memory of her son. Corals emotional
soliloquy lyrically expresses how distraught she is by the loss wondering if
its better for them to die like that. Roy , Corals husband begs her to come
back to reality as he believes her approach to dealing with loss will
prevent her from discovering the beauty in life.
Similarly Toms family is going through an expected loss as Tom is suffering
from cancer. The inevitable is that Tom will die but his father Harry does
not believe his son is aware of the full extent of his illness and attempts to
maintain a supposed deception.

Shakespeare
The play is set around three Shakespearean plays. Away moves from a
light-hearted funny tones of A Midsummer Night Dream to the darker
King Lear with the addition of The Tempest allowing for Away to
transition from comedy to tragedy.
Midsummer- The use allows the audience to have a deeper meaning
of away
King Lear- tragedy may lead to the unlikeliest people helping you
The Tempest- people being removed from comfort zones.

Relationships
In a dialogue between harry and tom , harry states that the holidays were
something to look forward to emphasising that discovery is an anticipation of
the bonding experience that lead to relationships. After tom had walked home
from the play he finds his father waiting form him. The conversation between the
father and son indicates that their relationship is loving and protective. As they
plan on embarking in a physical discovery it reminds the reader that the family is
close-nit and caring.
Harry could be seen as a character in denial about his sons illness as he tells tom
when you have your own kids you'll know what I'm talking about. Aside from the
feeling of denial this could also mean that the bond between these two
characters is so strong that harry may feel optimistic towards his sons situation.
When Gwen discovers that tom is terminally ill she realises that her mentality was
so narcissistic that it acted as a barrier in developing relationships with others.
She realised that life is short and precious and without discovery life cannot be
truly enjoyed.

Transformation
The idea of transformation through discovery is highlighted in the beginning. Toms speech from A
Midsummer nights dream emphasises the idea of making amends through the process of
discovery. In addition the opening dialogue establishes the action of going Away is described as a
physical journey of discovery.
Through the theme of transformation it is apparent that that physical discovery can in most
situations leads to mental discovery that being discovering an emotion or acceptance not
previously known.
An example of this is the character Gwen. Her transformation is triggered when her sense of
materialism is diminished as her possessions are swept away and broken showing how easily her
possessions are lost. This gives Gwen a chance to delve deep into her emotions to become more
accepting.
Reconciliation is often a major issue with transformation through discovery. Gwen becomes more
compassionate reflecting of her action stating you must hate me? Why do you still bother? I'm
sorry. Gow uses this character to convey the message that discovery is necessary to development
of ones ideas and also so that life goes o without regret.