It is clear that the novel demonstrates the effects of neglect. This is shown through the characters Carl and Harley. At the start of the novel the boy’s mother Kerry leaves them, all through the novel the boys fear that she will never come back and that she didn't love them. It was a common thing for their mum to run away but she always came back. The kids invented a name “mums holiday” …show more content…
This is shown through the characters Carl and Harley. They are new to Wattle Beach as they were just intending to stay for a few weeks with their Aunt Beryl, but a few weeks turned into a few years. When the two boys first came to Wattle Beach Carl found it very hard to fit in. He was forced to drop out of school and find a job. After looking for a job he finally found the barge. The barge is where carl feels most accepted and fits in the most. “He couldn't explain to the boy how he loved working on the barge, how alive he felt between its rusting sides” Imagery is used here to create a picture in the reader's mind of Carl feeling happy and alive on the barge. Before carl came to Wattle Beach his mother had left him and his life before he came was quite miserable and lonely, his mother was always running away and he learnt to take care of himself and his brother. Until he started working on the barge he was happy “Carl slumped against the hull, shivering in the evening breeze. He was exhausted but happier than he’d` been since he arrived in wattle Beach, happier than he’d been since his mother’s disappearance” Repetition is used to emphasize the word happier and to show that this is the first time in a long time he has felt happy. When Carl first working on the barge for the Duncan’s him and skip weren't that tight, but through all the hard situations that him and skip faced together their bond grew stronger …show more content…
He has made many friends along the way, maddie and justine and has bonded with skip as he worked for