Keiran Austin, Yr 11 English, Mrs Ferguson :: English Literature

Keiran Austin, Yr 11 English, Mrs Ferguson THE DIVINE WIND The description of the situation in Broome portrayed in The Divine Wind is a complete accurate account of the events that occurred during 1938- 1946. Practically everything in the novel was precise including the description of Broome, the Japanese internees, the dates and things as detailed as street names. It is quite obvious that Garry Disher had studied the town in depth before writing the novel. The fact that Broome is described as a pearling town with a tropical existence is true. As quoted in The Divine Wind â€Å"Broome was a straggling mile of wood and corrugated- iron shops and dwellings† (pg 1and). This quote is a precise vision of what Broome would have looked like judging by descriptions from various sources of information and photos from that period in time. Even though the characters are made fiction the major events are real and the author has gone to such detail by using exact dates. For example the pinnacle of Broomes direct involvement in the war occurred on 3rd March, 1942 when Japanese Zeros Bombed Roebuck bay. As quoted in the Divine Wind â€Å"I was burning. Some of the scars I have now are from that fire, the burning water of Roebuck bay on 3rd March, 1942† (pg 144). Another example of the accuracy of dates in the novel is the 8th December, 1941 were Authorities began interning Japanese residents. As quoted in the novel â€Å"The authorities acted swiftly on 8th December, right around the country. In Broome a hundred Japanese were arrested and taken to jail† (pg 105). Other important facts that have been accurately recorded in The Divine Wind are how the residents of Broome were faced with rounding up and interning friends and employees simply because they were Japanese. This is an excellent description of what the Anglo Saxons were faced with doing regarding the Japanese. Other facts state that many of the Japanese who were born and raised in Australia and had no Japanese ties were interned. As quoted in The Divine Wind â€Å"They interned single women, old men, children. They interned European and Aboriginal wives of Japanese born men, mixed race children, Australian- born Japanese. Many had never been to Japan† (pg 113). This is an example of the accuracy of the people who were interned. An area in this subject that perhaps wasn’t so accurate was the treatment of the Japanese community. Reality shows that in Broome the residents tried to make life as easy as possible for the Japanese bringing food and presents too the camp and allowing regular visits to town to go shopping.