Blueback Essay

Have you ever read a story about a boy whose best friend is a fish? In Blueback by Tim Winton this is exactly what happens. Like in many of Winton’s stories Blueback is set in a seaside town in Western Australia. Winton uses the setting, characters, conflict and resolution to portray the message that we should protect the environment and not plunder the oceans for our own benefit.

The main Characters in Blueback are Able and his Mum, Dora, who live in the sleepy seaside town of Longboat bay. Winton constructs Longboat bay as a peaceful quite place that belongs only to Able, Dora and Blueback, a place were they enjoy diving and were “Able swims with his mother in turquoise waters ”. Winton constructs this setting to make the reader think of it as a healthy easygoing place to live away from the city.

Winton makes Abel’s home sound like a very pleasant place to live being nestled between Longboat bay with its abundant marine life and pristine national park, with thriving wild life. Able and Dora enjoy the simple life and are very self sufficient and do everything from fixing motors to collecting abalone and selling the shells. Able and Dora take advantage of the land and go fishing and planting crops Dora Tells Able that “Able and his mother lived of the sea and land. Jackson had been living here like this for more than a hundred years”.

Able is constructed as a strong willed character that does his best to help other people and the environment. When Able sees Costello “stripping the reef bare” he goes out to try and stop him and in the process saves Blueback, this to me shows that Abel is a very unselfish person. Another example of able being unselfish is when Longboat Bay is almost ruined by an oil spill, and Able rushes home from the city to try and