The Thorn Birds

A detailed Summary of The Thorn Birds

The novel, The Thorn Birds, is a very well written story about a family living in a poorer section of New Zealand whose livelihood is shearing sheep. The money for the family depends almost solely on the sheep. In the family, there is Padraic Cleary (Paddy), the father of the clan. He is a likable man who commands respect from his children and from those who know him. His wife, Fiona Cleary (Fee), is a woman with a past who loves her children, respects her husband but is living in a world that she did not want, but accepted it as her only possible way of life. Then there are Fee and Paddy's children, Frank, Meghann (Meggie), Hughie, Jack, Stuart (Stu), Bob, and the twins, Jims and Patsy, but the story revolves almost entirely around their only girl, Meggie.

When Meggie was about 10 years old, Paddy's older sister, Mary Carson, beckoned Paddy to come work for her on her very large, very wealthy ranch in New South Wales, Australia, Drogheda. The family fell in love with Drogheda, even though they had to put up with drought, fire, and a climate that they were not used to. The boys in the family lived for Drogheda, and were the main work force of the ranch, herding sheep and cattle from one paddock t

o another, and working very hard during the most profitable time of the year, the shearing season, and the most hectic, the lambing season.

The Thorn Birds, published in 1977 by Harper & Row is a book that I have already recommended to my friends and family. The idea of the book is like that of Gone With The Wind. It revolves around a very strong woman who is after a man that she can not have but wants very strongly, and yet, at the same time, is trying to survive in her world. In Gone With The Wind the heroine is Scarlett O'Hara living in the Southern United States during the Civil War, for The Thorn Birds, it is Meggie Clearly living in New Zealand and Australia around the time of the Second World War. Both women settle for less then what they want, and both women end up getting their man, but lose him due to their surroundings and who they are. In both novels, the women have a strong link to their homes, Tara, and Drogheda. The land is who they are, and they both return to their lands to find peace and happiness.

Mrs. McCullough's purpose for writing The Thorn Birds is not entirely clear. She could have written the book to tell about the ways of the Australian people like the outback stockmen. She could have intended to explain what life in Australia is really like, the climate, the animals, etc. Another alternative is that she could have written this novel to talk about the Catholic Church and how man's desires are no match for an institution like the Church, or try to describe how the Church really works. All of these topics are present in her story and her points for each came across strongly and clearly. The reader learns that Father Ralph becomes a Bishop due to the fact that he helped bring to in large sum of money into the Church, and that Luke, a stockman at heart not just as a profession, lives for his work. He is constantly on the move to find work, never really wanting to settle down yet holding that image of a cozy home in his head as an excuse to work harder. None of these points are lost to the reader. McCullough seems to bring up the same topics, but never she never actually repeats herself, she just offe

Some common words found in the essay are:
West Indian, Wales Australia, Church Luke, Thorn Birds, Paddy Stuart, Australia Drogheda, Mary Carson, Catholic Church, Meggie Cleary, World War, thorn birds, father ralph, cleary family, south wales, father ralph bishop, drogheda carried, gone wind, mary carson, hack straighten, family lived, novels women, south wales australia,

Approximate Word count = 1454
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels