Wake In Fright: An Honest Critique Of Australian Society

“Wake in fright”: An Honest Critique of Australian society

Australia, the average assumption would think of this continent as a hot, tropical, beach stricken paradise with many wonderful attractions. And they are right. Yet within this beautiful continent there are many obscurities filtering this so called “paradise” into one of the most dangerous places on the earth. Attractive beaches are asking to be swum in with their perfect waves; not showing that over the next break is an 18 foot Great white shark. The Outback is the heart of Australia possessing many amazing attractions, but where unbearable heat and unchanging environments combined can cause strange things to happen. Wake in Fright portrays the Australian outback in a rather peculiar
way highlighting its ruthlessness, linking to horrible incidences showing that this so called “paradise” contains hidden impurities. Therefore Wake in Fright is an honest critique of Australian society.

Tourism is everywhere, you may be serving a tourist at your work place or even be lucky enough to be yourself a tourist. Australia is considered a paradise with many beaches and a desolate outback in the centre of the continent. According to The Tourism Forecasting Committee (TFC) forecasts for Australian inbound arrivals to decrease by 0.5 per cent in 2006 to around 5.5 million. The predicted 5.5 million is a huge number and a quarter of this number visit parts of the outback. Uluru in Alice Springs and Coober Pedy(opal mines) are the most visited areas in the outback welcoming tourists from all over the world. Tourists often visit the outback with high expectations thinking that it’s going to be a great adventure by experiencing the high heats and great natural attractions, and they are right. But what they don’t know is that the Australian outback can also be one of the most dangerous and frightening places.

Danger can come in many forms and in some way or another we experience danger everyday. Crossing the road, walking around and even driving in your car you experience risks taken that involve dangerous circumstances. The book Wake in Fright delivers messages of danger throughout different incidences, which somehow refer back to the outback. The outback can be described in many different ways that often highlights the positives or negatives. “The Aussie outback is a lyrical land of Banjo Patterson's poems and Frederick McCubbin's sun-washed paintings, misty valleys and billy tea.”
Or “It can't compete with the immediate terror of the ocean's sharks and stingrays, but it’s the heat and remoteness of the outback that can fry you”
John Grant experiences many risky and dangerous activities throughout the book and he blames it on the outback.
While staying in this rather peculiar township he meets many new faces, distinguishing between friends and foes. Grant experiences many instances in which his life is put in danger. From the daily overdose of alcohol, to the most disturbing sequence in which Doc Tydon and his buddies take their guest on a night-time kangaroo hunt where John enthusiastically joins in the drunken bloodlust of his companions. Throughout this kangaroo hunt there are countless instances of insanity and violence, but yet again the Outback is renowned for these kinds of
instances.

Violence is a very disturbing thing that we see everyday. Wars, sports and even obtaining food involve violence. Throughout chapter 3 in the book “wake in fright” there is a major scene in which John Grant, Doc Tydon, Joe, Dick set out on a Kangaroo Hunt. Armed with 3 .22 rifles and an amount of alcohol that could intoxicate several people. The group slaughter an uncountable amount of kangaroos, Shooting them several times and then finishing them off by slicing up the carcasses so that the inner organs flow out like a river. Towards the end of this slaughter Grant thinks he shot a kangaroo and heard it die but when he went over to mark his trophy it wasn’t there. I believe that this was just a hallucination from having too much alcohol and that’s why the others couldn’t find it as well.
When you think of violence and the outback you think of the most gruesome and the most inhumane circumstances.
Names like Bradley Murdoch, Ivan Milat and Kimberley killer would pop into your head. Bradley Murdoch the killer of Peter Falconio, Ivan milat the most gruesome who tortured, raped and killed backpackers (wolf creek movie) and Kimberley killer who shot down many backpackers. The most frightening thing about the outback is that everything is the same. The same unchanging straight road, the same unchanging environments and the unforgiving complete darkness. Not only does this play with mind but to it doesn’t reveal anything with its element of
darkness “I sat on a ledge with my legs dangling down and I'm not scared of heights and not easily scared generally but my spine started tingling," the legendary producer said yesterday. I thought, 'oh my God, what's behind me' and I had to back up away from the ledge before I could turn around. There was no one there but the Australian bush can be very haunting indeed. I do feel the bush has its spirits, whether kind ones or otherwise. “
“It terrifies me.” Taken from on Lindsay's book about the disappearance of three schoolgirls and their teacher.
After reading the book Wake in Fright (Kenneth Cook) and article “Rugged outback hides Danger” (Janet Fife-Yeomans) I came to the conclusion that while the Outback is a beautiful place it is also a very dangerous place. What I’m really trying to say is that yes visit Australia and visit the outback but be aware that its very dangerous out there. Always expect the unexpected, as you may travel to the outback and experience something totally different to what the brochures say. Therefore, Wake in Fright is an Honest Critique of Australian society.