Secret River

Focus Questions – “Any journey includes both realities and possibilities”
To what extent do the texts you have studied support this idea?
In your answer refer to your prescribed text and at least ONE other related text of your own choosing
In a journey, there are endless realities and even more possibilities which will shape and change the person’s mentality and physicality according to the experiences and their consequences. Two texts that support this idea are “The Secret River” by Kate Grenville and “Life of Pi” by Ang Lee. These texts revolve around the realities and the endless possibilities that the protagonists have taken that alter their inner psychological mentality or their external geographical physicality. The texts that I have studied explore the paths that were taken but give an insight of the roads not taken.
Secret River displays many aspects which support the idea that in any journey, there are both realities and possibilities which Thornhill take in this journey. Thornhill embarks on his journey to Australia because he was a convict and was forced, having no other choice other than death. He and his family pass various mental and physical obstacles when overcome help them gain a new perspective on things around them. For example, in the beginning of the text, it says, “This was a kind of madness, as if a dog were to bark in English”. This quote refers to the mentality of Thornhill and the progressive change that occurs to it due to the experiences and the exposure to different perspectives of this new land. His views and morals back in England are completely altered upon arriving in the new southern land as they all challenge his assumptions on everyday life. The possibility of becoming a man of his own and being able to stand just as tall as the other men without being looked down upon is soon becoming a reality for him. Founding “Thornhills Point” affected his inner mentality as this meant that he was becoming a changed man who could shape his own future. The clash of opinions between Sal and Thornhill is a silent but violent struggle where Sal loves the possibility of returning back to London and living out a better life whilst Thornhill is perfectly happy with the reality of staying in Australia being a with a family living a comfortable life.
“Life of Pi” directed by Ang Lee is a film which displays the paths within a journey that a young lost man must take to ensure his safe return to his life. Many key scenes are utilized to show Piscine’s inner journey and also his outer physical journey. These inner journeys can be viewed as the possibilities whilst the physical are the realities. The scene where Piscine faces the challenge of establishing boundaries with the tiger greatly displays the possibilities due to the fact that lacking courage, Piscine is initially unable to bring him to physically and emotionally confront the Bengal tiger. This restriction limits his journey and his experience by forcing him into a life boat tied to the boat. But facing up to the challenge, he eventually makes peace with the tiger and the possible becomes reality. In the final scene, Piscine retells his story to two Japanese men but instead of telling them one story, he tells them two. One story is the possibility whilst the other is the reality not knowing which is which. The second story replaces the tiger with himself and the animals on the boat as his mother and passengers of the ship. Not telling them which journey is the reality, they are left to decide for themselves which story they choose to believe and which to ignore. The ambiguity of the reality leaves the us confused whether to believe either story.
These two texts support the idea that any journey includes both realities and possibilities by exploring themes and scenes of which both realities and possibilities are shown. The reality and possibility are closely linked but are two completely separate factors of a journey; the possibility has a small influence where there is regret or guilt whilst the reality impacts physically on the traveler by shaping them physically or psychologically into a completely different human being. The story of Life Of Pi encompasses the idea of having both realities and possibilities within a single story and journey whilst The Secret River explores the possible futures and actions that Thornhill and his family could undertake.