Secret River William Thornhill

The character I have chosen to analyse is William Thornhill. He is the central character in the novel ‘Secret River’. His character is important, in the novel, because he was one of the first Europeans, sent to Australia, to work out their sentence for their crimes. Throughout the novel it shows that Thornhill did things for the right reasons, but his actions contrasted with his essentially good character. To some extent William Thornhill can be portrayed as a bad character due to his lack of responsibility regarding the law.
William Thornhill was born in 1777 in London. He grew up in a poor family which consisted of eight children. He continually stole as a form of survival. His family often lasted for days without eating, and their hunger
William wasn’t necessarily pleased with Smasher’s presence, although he wanted to stay polite and not start any conflicts with the other settlers. At Thornhill’s first encounter with him, Smasher shows Thornhill and Blackwood the pair of hands, he has cut off, of an Aboriginal man, who stole from him. Smasher’s Philosophy towards the Aboriginal people was that he and the other settlers were much better than the Aboriginals. This explains his actions towards them. Towards the end of the novel, it shows that William joins Smasher in the massacre, after Sal threatens to leave him in order to protect her family. This was one of the main influences that persuaded William to join Smasher in the Massacre. William was afraid of leaving the land he has become to love and believed that he wasn’t going anywhere just because of a few pests. He also believed that if the Aboriginal’s were around them Sal would continuously remind him about moving back to London. William was also terrified of the fact that he or his family could possibly be speared to death like Sagitty
William loves his wife and tried hard to please her, by giving her gifts, like a bracelet and things for the home, each time he went to Sydney. In the end he prioritised his own land over her happiness, knowing that she would not return to London, without him. Sal Thornhill and William had a confusing relationship with one other, although this it was extremely strong and the two stayed together even through there many conflicts. They also had to cope with the struggle of living in an unfamiliar