Discuss the way in which 'Neighbours' by Tim Winton and 'Stolen Car' by Archie Weller reflects the specific values and attitudes of a culture in which is produced.

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English                Naomi Fuller

No text is culturally or socially neutral. Discuss the way in which ‘Neighbours’ by Tim Winton and ‘Stolen Car’ by Archie Weller reflects the specific values and attitudes of a culture in which is produced.

Throughout all novels, whether long or short, fiction or non-fiction, there must be a series of themes which convey specific values and attitudes. The values and attitudes chosen are to reflect an era in which they have been produced. Tim Winton’s ‘Neighbours’, and Archie Weller’s ‘Stolen Car’ both mirror the significance and point of view of Australian’s at the time of production. They both contain strong messages of life, culture and a sense of belonging. Within the two texts there is evidence of style, characterisation, settings and themes to express the values and attitudes of the people.

Characterisation in ‘Stolen Car’ and ‘Neighbours’ both depict localisation of beliefs and attitudes through either dialogue or actions. ‘Neighbours’ uses characters to strongly express with actions, neutrality, whether with positives or negatives to equally influence the reader. The young couple are the first to be introduced into the story, when they move into their new street. The characters in ‘Neighbours’ are more of a mystery compared to the characters in ‘Stolen Car’. The reader is only given an insight into the characters profile from the authorial background. The first characters to be introduced into the story are a young couple, a female who works in a hospital, and a male whom is working on his thesis to develop his twentieth century novel, a reversal in gender roles. From the beginning of the story to the end there is a clear change in values and attitudes. At first the couple appear to be snobbish and arrogant, but as the story progresses and so to the time in which the story is set, they learn to relax and understand the traditions of their foreign neighbours, to become more tolerant and with the birth a their child to understand the values and the attitudes of the old fashioned valued neighbours.

The couple are newly-weds and had just moved in after they had left their expensive outer suburbs. The text states ‘…where good neighbours were seldom seen or never heard. The sounds of spitting and washing and daybreak watering came as a shock.’. This is the first piece of evidence to suggest the attitudes and values of the young couple. From leaving their quiet, serene neighbourhood to the noisy and outrageous life of their new territory to now live with a community of people whom seem to be from another light year. The newly-weds whom are unacquainted with the old strategies of life find that their contemporary lifestyles are extremely different to those of their neighbours. As the story progresses, the couple find that even the most different combinations of people find that their values and attitudes are some what similar. This is evident when the young couple find out about the pregnancy and to their surprise so does the rest of the neighbourhood. Italian women offering names, Greek women guessing the sex of the child, the Macedonian woman knitting a baby suit.

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Women in ‘Neighbours’ and ‘Stolen Car’ are marginalised. In ‘Neighbours’ it is the Macedonian women (through their beliefs and attitudes of their culture) whom are marginalised, with men butchering and women plucking, this is the common sight of some traditional values, men out killing, and the women preparing the food.

In Stolen Car it is the young women who are marginalised. Wallaby is driving a stolen car and Jody feels uncomfortable in the car, at the speed it is going at, and the reply ‘You shut up, ya stupid bitch. I’m a good driver.’ Although Jody is correct ...

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