What Is The Difference Between Stewart And Claire In Jindobyne

The differences in the way Stewart and Claire, in ‘Jindabyne’, react to the discovery of the woman’s body are due to their individual experiences which in turn are indigenous to deeply affirmed gender roles. The staunch male output presented in Stewart’s reaction, we see as a fallacy in his moments of isolation, however it is maintained to the utmost for the majority of his interactions with others. Claire, while not conforming to this stereotypical idea of a soft, emotional woman, reacts with fervour, seemingly desperate to rectify her husband’s wrongs and though this is not necessarily a gender-locked reaction it is one that is shared between and the partners of the men that found the body.
After finding the body Stewart is emotionally incontinent; choosing to bottle up his emotions until they are released
While it is possible that she is doing this as a means to remove the guilt she feels and has transferred to this from her eighteen month abandonment of her son, it is relatively clear that this experience is in fact a catalyst that creates the realization that what has occurred in the past is unchangeable. Susan, the dead woman, cannot be brought back and the men cannot change their decision to fish over her corpse, that they must all move on both physically and emotionally and Claire tries to make clear (Trbic 60). The maladroit fashion with which Stewart and the other men handle the affair upsets her and leads her to leaving Stewart for the second time, leaving to make commiserations to the family of the deceased. Throughout the film the way that Stewart emotionally drifts between gauche and accusatory of Claire’s past faults causes tension between the couple and depression in Claire and is a direct result of Stewart’s own inability to deal with his