For students studying VCE Year 12 Mainstream English Curriculum in 2026 this resource is a basic set of notes for The Complete Stories Every Move You Make by David Malouf.
Introduction
The VCAA-listed stories for students in English come from the collection Every Move You Make and include: ‘The Valley of Lagoons’, ‘Every Move You Make’, ‘War Baby’, ‘Towards Midnight’, ‘Elsewhere’, ‘Mrs Porter and the Rock’, and ‘The Domestic Cantata’. The seven stories in the collection can be classified as realist fiction. This means that they are believable, involving characters and situations that feel true to life. The stories follow a linear structure, so readers experience the story in the same order as the events unfold.
Brief Synopsis
The stories in the collection feature a disparate group of protagonists and experiences, with a common theme – how an individual contends with life’s adversities, and their attempts to make sense of their place within the world. The stories all concentrate on the interior worlds of the characters rather than on animated dramatics, and are united by their focus on ideas such as self-discovery, vulnerability, and stoicism.
Place and belonging are central concerns for all the stories. Malouf is interested in how the individual experiences the physical world, and what connects individuals to particular places or regions. The Australian landscape features prominently in many of the stories (‘The Valley of Lagoons’, ‘Mrs Porter and the Rock’); its vast spaces and overwhelming natural beauty still contain something of the threat and danger that was present in earlier colonial representations such as those of Lawson and Baynton. In a story set outside Australia, ‘Towards Midnight’, Malouf explores the powerful connection of a foreign setting for a woman facing her mortality and the secret ritual she enacts each evening. Throughout these stories Malouf investigates the intimately personal connections between individuals and the places of childhood, memory, traumatic events, and loss. The question of belonging is never far from the focus of most of the stories.
| Story Title | Key Ideas | Main Characters |
| The Valley of Lagoons | Belonging / coming of age / connection to land / control / endurance / escape / expectations versus reality / family / friendship / identity / masculinity / interior worlds / liminal spaces / love / outsiders / self-discovery / vulnerability / wonder | 1st person character narration from Angus point of view, past tense Angus (protagnoist) / Katie (sister) / Braden (friend) / Stuart (friend and Katie’s former boyfriend) |
| Every Move You Make | Love / outsiders / aspirations / belonging / communication / conflict / control / grief / identity / illusion / interior worlds / liminal spaces / vulnerability | 3rd person character narration focus on Jo with shift to Mitchell, past tense Jo (protagonist) / Mitchell Maze (partner) |
| War Baby | Coming of age / family / identity / masculinity / aspirations / belonging / communication / conflict / control / endurance / grief / friendship / honour / interior worlds / liminal spaces / outsiders / self-discovery / stoicism | 3rd person character narration focus on Charlie, past tense Charlie Dowd (protagonist) / unnamed aunt / grandfather |
| Towards Midnight | Endurance / outsiders / conflict / control / escape / grief / identity / illness / interior worlds / liminal spaces / stoicism / vulnerability | 3rd person character narration, past tense Unnamed protagonist / unnamed swimmer |
| Elsewhere | Aspirations / family / identity / control / escape / expectations versus reality / impressions / interior worlds / outsiders / stoicism / wonder | 3rd person character narration focus on Andy, past tense Andy Mayo (Debbie’s brother-in-law) / Harry Larcombe (Andy’s father-in-law) / Debbie Larcombe (Harry’s daughter, deceased) |
| Mrs Porter and the Rock | Expectations versus reality / family / survival / wonder / aspirations / communication / conflict / control / grief / identity / interior worlds / liminal spaces / outsiders / stoicism / vulnerability / wonder | 3rd person character narration focus on Dulcie, shifts to Donald, present tense Dulcie MacIntyre (protagonist) / Donald MacIntyre (son) / Leonard MacIntyre (husband, deceased) |
| The Domestic Cantata | Belonging / family / identity / communication / expectations versus reality / liminal spaces / outsiders / trauma / vulnerability / wonder | 3rd person character narration focus on Sam, shifts to Maggie, Tom, Miranda, Diane, past tense Sam & Maggie McCall / Miranda & Tom (children) / Diane Novak (poet) |