Patrick White Down at the Dump
Patrick White, most noted for his longer works of fiction, exemplifies his craft of storytelling in his short story 'Down at the Dump'. White has dramatized an event in life, such as a funeral, and given us a very believable insight into our own culture. Some readers will take offence to such a raw and truthful portrait, while others will find humor and hope in the same story. White is a writer who crafts a story with such intensity, that at times it slaps you in the face with the truthful, dirty, honest depiction of his characters. All of whom we can see something, if not the smallest little detail of our selves in them.'Down at the Dump' counterpoints two families, and their journeys on an afternoon. One of the families is off to the funeral of Mrs. Hogben's sister Daise. The other family the Whalley's, off to the Sarsaparilla dump, for busness and pleasure 'I thought the beer was an excuse for comin'.' (Isba pg.8) 'Down at the Dump' is also a modern day Australian Romeo & Juliet, the forbidden love between Lummy Whalley and Meg Hogben. Both it seems are destined for more then what is expected of them. The story is also a comment on the staid middle-class lifestyle, the petty bourgeois
Daise' rise from the grave is significant to white's concerns about intimacy, about people following their hearts. Daise, White's heroin or mystic seer, has a will to create her own freedom, above the social constraints of her sisters middle-class conformities. This is nowhere more evident then in her haunting comment from the grave towards the end of the section I've been discussing. The story finishes with a glimmer of hope. Maybe a budding relationship between Lummy and Meg, each I feel is destined for something more out of their lives. A life where honesty, like that of a first kiss, takes precedence over learned social behaviors. Our story takes its journey to the funeral and the dump respectively where towards the end of the funeral serves daise rises from the grave to relinquish her thoughts and feelings. It is about here in the story that the passage I will be discussing indepth occurs. White arranges the framework of the story around a shifting Point Of View. The story moves from the Whalley's perspective, to the Hogben's. From there it moves on to a family of no real importance, Horrie and Georgina Last, shifting back and forth until the resurrection of Daise Morrow. White cleverly uses this technique of each family commenting on the other, to give the reader valuable insights and help the reader empathize. However we must not for get that in doing so White is in some way controlling how the reader interprets each character, everyone brings their own experiences to every story they read.
Some common words found in the essay are:
Morrow Patrick, Hogben's Whalley's', Meg Hogben, Morrow White, Daise White's, Dump' White, Hogben's Hogben's, Whalley's Sarsaparilla, Lummy Meg, Patrick White, 'down dump', story comment, dirty honest, direct opposition, patrick white, contempt boredom apathy, language describing, describing whalley's, apathy sense, sense injustice, injustice occupied, grief contempt boredom, apathy sense injustice, boredom apathy sense, 'even rage grief,
Approximate Word count = 1207
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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