Books

Reading Notes

1. Why does Mick Mahoney consider himself to be “a nowhere man”? Is this a common belief of the members of the Stolen Generations? Do they have the same reasons as Mick Mahoney?

2. Why was Mary Richardson spared the trauma of being stolen by the Catchers Lady when she was a small child? Was she merely very lucky or was there more to it?

3. Was Mick’s fate at the end of his first year in Grafton Gaol sealed when he was stolen a week before his eighth birthday or were later circumstances to blame? If the former is the reason, then why? If the latter, then what were those later circumstances and why did they lead to Mick’s tragic fate?

4. Why were full-blood aborigines spared the trauma of having their children stolen by the Aboriginal Welfare Lady and her ‘Catcher Men’ that all half-blood aboriginal parents had to suffer?

5. Is the attribute that creates greatest empathy for Mick his stolen childhood, his nobility in the face of prejudice, his upbeat never-say-die response to every challenge that befalls him, his love for his Mary, his heroism in the gaol in the face of the vendetta of the brutal skinhead gang, his sense of achievement in finally belonging somewhere – the Kinchela boys’ gang in gaol – or all the above?

6. Is the priest an important character to our understanding of Mick? Is he necessary to help us to get inside Mick’s head and work out what drives him, what haunts him and what drove him to his final fate?

7. Is the character of Keg Hoeben important to the exploration of Mick’s character, and to a wider understanding of who the Stolen Generations were and the ghosts which drove them all?