Kate Grenville

THE LIEUTENANT
YEAR 12 ENGLISH: ENCOUNTERING CONFLICT

Types of conflict in The

Lieutenant
Within Grenvilles text, there are a range of

different conflicts that occur.

The conflicts occur at a personal level as

well as societal or wider level.

Conflict in The
Lieutenant
Internal
Violent/Physical
Environmental
Social
Interpersonal
Cultural
Communication
Fear

Internal Conflict
From the beginning of the novel we see that

Rooke is struggling to understand who he is

and how he can fit in to the regular world. As
a child he admits that He yearned to be a more
ordinary sort of good fellow, but was helpless
to be other than he was. (Pg8)
After joining the marines he feels that he has found his
place in the world, where order and duty are simple and
clear. But this is shaken when he witnesses the
hanging of a Lieutenant convicted of mutiny. He
thought he had found all he needed in the marines. But
now he dreamed of that mans hand opening and closing
on air, speaking to him of something he wished he had
never learned. (Pg29)

Internal Conflict (Cont.)

In the open spaces and unexplored land of Australia
Rooke finally feels as if he has found himself. Out
here, with his thoughts his only company, he could
become nothing more or less than the person he was.
Himself. It was as unexplored a land as this one.
(Pg78)
But it is in Australia that Rooke faces his greatest
internal struggle. After a visit from Silk, Rooke admits
that He had let himself drift in his mind some distance
from serving and obeying. He allowed himself to feel
he was his own man(Pg170)

However He was not his own manThe

commission he had given his governor awarded James
Gilbert sovereignty over every man black or white
(Pg170)

Internal Conflict Conscience

Ultimately, Rooke is forced to choose between

his growing friendship and respect for the local

indigenous people and the orders he is duty
bound to follow.
When Rooke is forced to join an expedition to
kidnap or kill a number of local men, he is faced
with the biggest internal conflict of his life. He
decides to stay true to himself and his belief in
what is right, he leaves the expedition and
courageously explains to the Governor why he
cannot or will not obey orders. While his
insubordination does not result in him being
hanged, he is sent back to England.

Internal Conflict Conscience

Like Rooke, Gardiner faces great internal conflict. Does
he follow orders, or does he follow his own conscience?
Gardiner recounts to Rooke the kidnapping of two
Aboriginal men at the order of the Governor. Gardiner
is haunted by his involvement in this incident. Oh God.
They may be savages, we call them savages. But their
feelings are no different to ours. (Pg111)
Rooke attempts to reassure Gardiner by telling him that
he has done his duty, however he realises how hollow
this sounds. Yes, Mr Rooke, I know. Yes, we are all
servants of the governor here and the Devil take any
man who says different! (Pg113)

Physical/Violent conflict
The Hanging Rooke tried to take a breath but a
shudder came up from deep within him and he heard
himself moan. (pg32)
It is possible that Rooke identifies with the hanged
man as he was a Lieutenant the same rank as Rooke .
The American War of Independence.
- Shows the horror of war. Between Rooke and Silk,
Private Truby went on earnestly pushing at the deck
with his hands, a terrible puzzled smile on his face
(Pg32)
- Also shows the effects of war The psychological
effects on the survivors. Lack of job prospects after
the defeat Rooke is one of many officers on halfpay.

Physical/Violent Conflict
Cont.
Guns and violence = Power
In the first encounter with the natives Surgeon
Weymark shoots a shield belonging to one of the
locals.
The shield is a symbol of protection for the locals, by
shooting it Weymark demonstrates the power of the
white man. (Pg54 55)
Tagaran tells Rooks that the Cadigal are afraid
Because of the guns. (Pg253) To cause fear, again, is
another sort of power.
The expedition to capture/kill a handful of natives
(Pg247) is designed to be a show of force. Using
violence to instill fear into the locals, to gain power.

Physical/Violent Conflict
Violence = Power
The military use violence and the threat of violence to
control their men and the convicts.
Rooke understands this power and what can happen
when you disobey orders or criticise them. He protects
Gardiner when he expresses displeasure at having to
kidnap two Aboriginal men. I wish to God I had not
done it. He had heard those words, and heard them with
sympathy. That made him subject to their dangerous
power. He must forget that he had ever heard them.
(Pg123)
This make his disobeying of orders later in the text all
the more courageous.

Interpersonal conflict
Rooke and Lancelot Perceval James
Rooke and Silk while they are good friends for the
most part, when Silk asks Rooke if Gardiner told him
how Boinbar and Warungin were kidnapped, Rooke
lies to him. Silk seems to see through this lie, and is
displeased. Rooke knows his friend is ambitious and
he feels the need to protect Gardiner . He did not
trust a man whose narrative was so important to him.
(Pg127)
He saw for the first time how different they truly
were, he and Silk. Silks impulse was to make the
strange familiar, to transform it into well-shaped
smooth phrases. His own was to enter that
strangeness and lose himself in it. (Pg139)

Societal conflict
British society was a very hierarchical one. The wealthy
held the power and looked down on the lower classes.
We see an example of this through Lancelot Perceval
James who looks down on Rooke for being the son of
nothing more than a clerk. (Pg9)
The convicts are of a lower class than the military and
the settlers who chose to go to Australia, rather than
being forced. The convicts are powerless in their
society, their only form of rebellion to spit whenever the
Kings name is mentioned. Every time Governor Gilbert
uttered the name of His Majesty, from some anonymous
place within the restless mass of prisoners there was the
unmistakable sound of a hawk and spit. (Pg61)

Conflict with the

Environment
The English settlers have great difficulty adjusting
to the new Environment. In particular they have
trouble growing their crops that are crucial to the
survival of the colony.
Scarcity of food.
A hot, alien place. Different to anything they have
ever seen before.
They seem to lack an understanding of this new
land they inhabit. Rose Hill, Rooke thought, that
untamed place where no rose had ever grown?
(Pg106)
We see how little the English understand the land
when they go in search of Carringay.

Cultural conflict
Much of the conflict that occurs between the
white settlers and the Aboriginal people is to
do with a lack of understanding of each others
cultures.
Under his gaze Rooke saw how strange it might be to have such
hair, such skin. To cover the body with small shiny objects.
(Pg116)
This was the first time they had seen a teacup or a forkRooke
was aware of witnessing something unrepeatable and irreversible.
He was watching one universe in the act of encountering another.
(Pg137)

Through learning their language Rooke comes

to understand their culture and their ways.

Cultural Conflict
The British see themselves as culturally superior.
They make no effort to learn from the Aboriginal
people.
The Governor clearly expects the Aboriginal people
to come to understand British culture, yet he
makes no attempts to understand theirs.
Silk tries somewhat, so that he can give an account
of it in his writing.
Rooke is the only one who truly tries to
understand their culture.

Fear
Fear is at the heart of a lot of conflict that occurs
during the text.
Fear is at the heart of the Military Regimes brutal
suppression of any signs of rebellion. Eg. The Hanging
they use violence as a form of suppression or show
of power. They can not loose control through rebellion
like they did in America.
The British are afraid of death at the hands of the
locals. When Brugden is killed Governor Gilbert orders
that six Aboriginal men are to be captured or killed in
response, to ensure that the Aboriginal people fear the
British.

Fear (cont.)
Fear took everyone a different way. For

Rooke it led back to his old friends the

primes. (Pg30)
Fear was what you felt when your
actions could make a difference to what
was about to happen. (Pg103)
Why are the Cadigal afraid?Gunin.
She looked him straight in the eye.
Because of the guns.

Communication
Communication is at the heart of conflict,

effective communication is the quickest way

to resolve a conflict, whereas
miscommunication is a common cause of
conflict.
The Governor recognises the importance of
having good communication with the
Aboriginal people.
The natives are on all occasions to be treated with amity and

kindnessIt is of utmost importance to open friendly intercourse

with themHis majesty has instructed me to establish good
relations with the greatest possible dispatch, and to become
familiar with the native tongue as swiftly as opportunity may make
possible. (Pgs61-62)

Communication
You know the governor is wanting to speak to the natives and

they will not come near. He came up with a way to settle the
thing. Decided in his wisdom to seize one or two by force.
Teach them English, learn their tongue. (Pg110).

Note that the Aboriginals are expected to learn English

first.
Through learning their language Rooke opens himself up
to understanding and becoming friends with the
natives. He cannot learn their language without
developing a relationship with the people.
The learning of language is at the heart of Rooke and
Tagarans friendship.
It was like a dance between the two of them, or the
voices of a fugue. (Pgs 163-164)

Rooke
Intelligent
An outsider
Complex
Thoughtful
Courageous
Abolitionist

Tagaran
Innocent
Quiet
Intelligent

Talbot Silk
Ambitious
The quickest Jack-in-the-box in the

regiment. (Pg115)

Gardiner

Secondary Characters:
Anne
Lancelot Perceval James
Dr Vickery
Governor James Gilbert
Wagarin
Boinbar
Brugden