For those Year 12 English students studying this complex text ‘Flames’ by Robbie Arnott in the Victoriam Curriculum VCE, I hope this essay helps you to revise for the Exams.
Essay Prompt ‘How does dramatic character progression in ‘Flames’ allow Arnott to expose key messages in the text?’
The Essay follows a TEEL structure with a Topic Sentence, Evidence, Explanation & Link back toTopic. Body Paragraph 1 = Background/Cause. Body Paragraph 2 = Response. Body Paragraph = Consequences.
Introduction is colour coded to help you.
Introduction / Context / Main Contention / Message of Author
Whilst Tasmania is the ‘setting’ of the novel ‘Flames’ by Robbie Arnott, it is also in a way, the main character, where the other characters, both realistic and supernatural, form a web of relationships that highlights interconnectedness and passions both constructive and destructive as they travel in their narratives around the island. In this Tasmanian gothic, the novel explores the inner worlds of a number of characters, often times utilising the genre of magic realism to depict the rapid transformation of characters in times of crisis. Moreover, traumatic events act as a catalyst for intense character progression, allowing Arnott to contrast the different ways people respond to these events. Furthermore, he is able to expose the absurdity of common beliefs and values entrenched in masculinity, grief, and love. Ultimately, Arnott explores how some characters change for good through love, trust, friendship, and internal self-reflection, while others descend into mental instability and create pain for those around them due to their skewed values and negative influences.
BP1 – Background – focus Allen Gibson
Topic Sentence: Perhaps one of the greatest transformations that occurs in Flames is that of the farm manager Allen Gibson during the wombat killings in Melaleuca. He is introduced as a level-headed, hard-working man who is initially compassionate towards the wombats and is saddened by their deaths. Hence, he is determined to find the wombat killer. He states how, “the deaths are taking a significant toll on [him]” because of his “strong bond with the wombats” and how they are the “closest thing to family” to him. He is also respectful towards the farm-hands, Nicola and Charlotte, and calls Nicola the “most reliable hand the farm has ever hired”. However, as he begins to be increasingly plagued by strange and horrific dreams, he becomes less angered by the suspected killer, the cormorant, and states how he “no longer feels horror when they swamp [his] sleeping mind, only curiosity”. At the same time, he grows paranoid of the farm-hands and becomes misogynistic towards them, stating how “their attachment to the wombats once such a benefit to the farm, is now a sappy and engaging show of foolishness” which he blames on their “futile, feminine softness”. Furthermore, his curiosity about the power of the cormorant to kill the wombats turns into respect, he admires its “calculated wisdom” and now sees the wombats as “four-legged lumps of uselessness made flesh”. Allen’s abrupt character change throughout the chapter ‘Feather’ is finally complete when he is revealed as the killer of the wombats and he decides to completely abandon his morals and integrity to obey the wishes of the cormorant. Arnott uses magic realism when describing the effects that the cormorant has on Allen. By the end of the novel, Allen has lost his humanity and has physically morphed into a half-bird, half-man creature with his “burning skin fused with [cormorant] feathers”. The powerful cormorant spirit is as a metaphor for how the need to belong to a group can easily corrupt one to suddenly change and commit unthinkable crimes. Arnott depicts how these negative influences can exploit the vulnerability of the powerless and offer them hope and security. Link to topic & message of author: Thus, Arnott portrays how the vulnerable like Allen crave the sense of power that comes from belonging to a group and commit horrific crimes as though they are possessed by some external force, they do not recognise that came from their own minds.
BP2 – Response – focus Levi McAllister
Topic Sentence: Furthermore, Levi McAllister is another character that regresses throughout the novel, descending into severe mental illness after the death and consequent resurrection of his mother. From the outset of the novel, Levi puts on a façade, initially becoming arrogant and conceited, stating that “he quickly got over” his mother’s return from the dead. The matter-of-fact tone Levi uses to describe the horrific details of his mother’s self-immolation on their father’s front lawn indicates to the audience the growing mental instability in his character. This is cemented when Levi states that he will bury his sister “whole and still and cold”, the polysyndeton emphasising the grotesque nature of his admission. Through Levi, Arnott portrays how the stereotypical societal toxic beliefs of masculinity pressed onto young men to be strong, unemotional, and take control of those around them, cause unnecessary suffering, mental decline, and pain. Although hyperbolised, Arnott reveals the ways in which men can suffer when they are not able to feel and come to terms with their grief. This is further analysed by Arnott through omniscient narration later in the novel, where the narrator reveals that “Levi is not realising [that] he could have just spoken to her [Charlotte]” about his grief and difficulty with honest communication to heal the rift in his relationship with his sister. Other characters also reveal that Levi is “nervous” and “shaky” exposing the lies that people tell themselves to stay in control. Levi’s obsession and need to control Charlotte in particular, and his own emotions, eventually leads him to finish making the coffin for his sister by himself. Charlotte finds Levi maniacally swinging an axe at a tree fern looking “emaciated” with his “ribs slant[ing] out at harsh angles” showing how his mental health has affected his physical health too. When Charlotte calls out “Levi” his head snaps towards her but “there is no recognition in his eyes” admitting that he has been “a bit preoccupied” fixated on “building [Charlotte] a coffin”. When Charlotte asserts that she does not want a coffin, Levi barrages her with his opinions, unable to listen, telling her what he thinks she wants “a coffin” so she “won’t be cremated”. Arnott shows that through Levi’s clear descent into madness is catalysed by his inability to accept his feelings of grief and the dangers of damaging patriarchal ideals which coerce men to feel nothing in the face of grief. His stoic attitude leaves him sick, alone, and afraid. However, after reuniting with Charlotte and finally accepting how irrational his behaviour had been, Levi is able to recover. In the final chapter ‘Sea’, Levi feels a sense of solace by connecting with Karl as a mentor and experiencing the wonder of the natural world by being open to other’s experiences. Although Levi’s dramatic character changes are hyperbolised and laden with elements of magic realism, Arnott clearly depicts the ways in which toxic masculine values can affect men and those around them and cause unnecessary isolation and suffering. In the end Levi’s journey and character progression throughout the novel is a coming-of-age story, where after a traumatic event Levi must learn to deal with grief and survive in a world without his parents. Link to topic & message of author: Ultimately, Arnott uses Levi’s character transformation to purport that one must be open to listening to others and accepting their own emotions in grief to attain mental and physical wellbeing.
BP3 – Consequences – focus Charlotte McAllister
Topic Sentence: Although Charlotte McAllister also runs away from her grief and problems, like her brother Levi, Arnott explores how her character is able to undergo a drastic change to become a better person through the love, trust, and respect of Nicola. This is apparent in the transformation of Charlotte from a defensive and guarded girl, who has a hard time being vulnerable, even to those she loves and trusts, to a more mature and patient woman. Charlotte is initially portrayed as someone who is afraid of communicating and instead runs from her problems and the people she loves as a coping mechanism. The chapter ‘Sky’ starts with a short abrupt line told in third person, present tense “Charlotte is running” to convey a sense of urgency and restlessness as she runs from place to place reflecting her inner world which has been thrown into turmoil by her mother’s death and discovery of Levi’s plan to build her a coffin. Similar to both Karl and Levi, who attempt to distract themselves from the pain and grief they are experiencing, Charlotte too avoids dealing with her trauma by running from everyone she knows and loves. While appearing to the audience to be a strong, assertive, and bold character, free to choose her own path in life, Arnott projects Charlotte as a woman who defies the ‘damsel-in-distress‘ trope. Furthermore, she is opinionated and someone who does not like to be controlled, Charlotte shared her looks and values with her mother Edith. However, she does have flaws with deep emotions that are hard to control that she inherited from her father Jack. Using magic realism Arnott describes how Jack transferred “a drop of fire that descended, globular and hot” into Charlotte’s mouth as a baby, that had negative consequences for her future life as “flames of rage and loneliness”. In chapter ‘Grove’ Charlotte recognises her own flaws in the female detective and reflects that “she is not as tough as she would have us believe. She is just like me”. A turning point in Charlotte’s character is when the detective is questioning her and Nicola and instead of following her instincts of raging towards the detective, she simply sits and listens because “Nicola trusts her”. Moreover, Arnott uses magic realism when showing how Nicola can soothe and extinguish Charlotte’s fires, as she states “her touch had travelled through Charlotte’s heat. She had quenched the rage; she had stopped the fire”. Even when Charlotte returns to her childhood house and is anxious, she remarks how Nicola’s “touch is natural, easy” and how she “can’t trip or curse or sweat without popping out to support me”. This support from Nicola makes Charlotte more aware of her actions and how they have consequences on others, and in the end, she even asks Levi for forgiveness, saying that she will forgive him, “as long as [he] forgives [her] too”. Thus, with Nicola’s compassion and understanding and due to the love and comfort she feels around her, Charlotte is inspired to change for the better. In contrast to Levi and Allen, Charlotte had a person who trusted and respected her, allowing her to grow for the better, under a positive, reassuring influence. Unfortunately, Levi and Allen were infected with toxic values that led them to isolation and madness and Arnott clearly contrasts their character progressions as different from Charlotte. Link to topic & message of author: In the end Arnott identifies how characters need compassion, trust and positive influence in hard times and characters like Charlotte are able to recognise love from a trusted person in Nicola, and through internal self-reflection, she could transform into a better person.
Conclusion / Message of Author
Through the many contrasting character transformations that take place in Flames, Arnott depicts how toxic beliefs of control and masculinity can only lead to pain and suffering when exacerbated by traumatic events. Instead, he purports that the most successful personal changes are those that happen internally as a result of self-reflection, trust and respect from others when faced with hard times.