The Prisoner of War Experience and National Identity

in David Maloufs The Great World

By Bianca van de Water

Percy Stephensen analysed in 1935 that until Australia establishes a quiet strength of
intellectual achievement, we have nothing except our soldiers to be proud of (1969, p. 213).
Indeed, Australian servicemen have been championed as the epitome of Australianness,
embodying mythical qualities of mateship, resourcefulness and courage (Twomey 2013, p.
322). This legendary war hero is purportedly able to uphold these quintessential Australian
characteristics even in times of duress (Grant 2008, p. 50). Over recent years, World War II
has become increasingly central to formulations of national identity and nationalism (Twomey
2013, p. 321). However, this is a problematic phenomenon, in that 15,000 AIF soldiers became
prisoners of war subsequent to the Fall of Singapore in 1942 (Clarke 1992, p. 253). Their
experiences hardly constitute the stuff of legends as they had been broken and made to bow
down before their Japanese captors (Sobocinska 2010, p. 65). David Maloufs The Great
World (1999) contributes to this national debate by exploring prisoner of war experiences in
Singapore, and later in Thailand building the infamous Thai-Burma Railway, also known as
the Death Railway. This essay argues that this historical novel disrupts triumphant discourses
and in doing so provides a critical perspective on national icons such as courage, mateship and
resourcefulness.
Vance Palmer argued that Australia of the spirit sprang from the loins of men, who had
experienced hard conflicts but survived spiritually sounder and surer of our essential
character (1942, p. 8). Contrarily, The Great World disrupts these mythic ideologies, in that it
demonstrates that the Pacific War amounted to an emasculating rather than an empowering
experience. Diggers narrative highlights the years of slavery (Malouf 1999, p. 166), whereby
captives were forced to work sixteen hours at a stretch (Malouf 1999, p. 38). Consequently,
most men were so sick and brutalised they hardly knew where they were (Ibid.). Furthermore,
contrary to the lore of triumphant literature, the narrative reveals that captives demonstrated
neither courage nor disrespect for authority, in that they accepted degradation at the hands
of the guards (Malouf 1999, p. 132), who would suddenly strike and out of the storm of dust
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. . . you took it (Malouf 1999, p. 118). Ultimately, they felt humiliated, ashamed and
contemptuous for themselves and the filth they lived in (Ibid.). Thus, Palmers idealised hard
conflicts (1942, p. 8) culminated for many Australian servicemen in losing their status as
soldiers (Malouf 1999, p. 42) and being emasculated by their captors (Twomey 2013, 322).

Furthermore, The Great World demonstrates that the degrading circumstances had a
detrimental effect on the prisoners sense of mateship. Diggers inner monologue evidences a
cynical view of this notion, in that he believes the captives were mostly indifferent to one
another now, too preoccupied with their own terrors to care how the next man felt
(Malouf 1999, p. 38). This lack of compassion is demonstrated in Diggers remembrance of
fellow prisoner Anson, who showed symptoms of cholera. Digger, who presumably has an
eidetic memory, only remembers him as someone who meant nothing to him, merely a
statistic, another casualty who came early on in the list (Malouf 1999, p. 39).
The notions of mateship and courage are most strongly criticised in the scene depicting Macs
brutal murder. Although it is Vic who provoked a guard by expectorating in his face, it is Mac
who received the punishment. In vivid imagery, Digger remembers how the guards killed him
with rifle-butts and bayonets (Malouf 1999, p. 119) in a few moments of animal fury and
darkness (Malouf 1999, p. 120). Strikingly, no one - neither Macs friends nor any other
prisoners - intervened in the bloodbath. On the contrary, Digger remembers how he
experienced paralysis, with his body suspended while chronology had ceased to operate
(Ibid.). Rather than displaying the legendary courage and defiance (Grant 2008, p. 41), the
prisoners demonstrated such terror that they had frozen in place and kept their eyes lowered
to prevent further retaliations (Malouf 1999, p. 120). Digger justifies his cowardice by
reiterating that his paralysed body had saved itself, and him (Malouf 1999, p. 122). However,
the realisation that he is unwilling to sacrifice his life for mateship or justice causes revulsion,
symbolised by the statement that he is full of the smell of himself (Ibid.).

Hereby, mateship has been depicted as a superficial notion only, in that it is secondary to selfpreservation. In doing so, it shatters notions of mythic Australian qualities of mateship, courage
and defiance (Grant 2008, p. 41). Additionally, it disrupts current ideologies valorising
prisoners of war moral superiority, involving the capacity to endure the most trying of
experiences with their hearts and spirits intact (Grant 2008, p. 44). Contrarily, Digger reiterates
enduring shame and bitterness, in that he will have a lifetime to face the life his cowardice
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had bought for him (Malouf 1999, p. 122). Thus, Diggers characterisation demonstrates that
prisoners of war did not survive spiritually sounder (Palmer 1942, p. 8) but experienced
profound mental scars instead.
Finally, The Great World also satirises the legend of the resourceful Dinkum Aussie (Penton
1941, pp. 40-41). This legendary quality is lampooned in the description of prisoners marching
across Singapore, scrambling to salvage everything they could carry, including propelling
pencils, fly-swats, bronze Buddhas, copies of Gone with the Wind and Moby Dick (Malouf
1999, pp. 41- 42). The inadequacy and futility of these attempts is symbolised in a cotton
thread, which Vic had cherished as it would come in handy sooner or later (Malouf 1999, p.
149). However, upon release from captivity, he realises that cotton is as common as dirt and
his valuable resource is nothing but a bit of dirty thread (Malouf 1999, p. 172).

Nonetheless, The Great World also provides a positive perspective on national icons, in that it
provides an alternative form of mateship characterised by tenderness and resourcefulness rather
than heroism. Vic, who is arguably partially culpable for Macs death, redeems himself by
saving Diggers life. The latter is in a critical condition due to cholera and a gangrenous ulcer.
He is thus burdened by the weight of death that he is now descending towards a place of
light (Malouf 1999, p. 156-58). Nonetheless, Vic perseveres in half-supporting, halfdragging (Malouf 1999, p. 158) him to a nearby river in an attempt to heal him through bloodletting by carnivorous fish. The unconventional remedy is successful, in that Digger felt the
smell of . . . his own death . . . recede as all the stink and ooze of it was being taken back into
the world, away from him (Ibid.). Thus, Vics characterisation provides an alternative to heroic
mateship, in that his actions reveal tenderness, care, and, above all remarkable resourcefulness
in successfully discovering and implementing alternative medicine under adverse
circumstances.
In conclusion, The Great World disrupts masculinised discourses emphasizing the brave deeds
in the face of battle by the mostly victorious male warrior (Grant 2008, p. 47). On the contrary,
the text emphasizes flawed but sincere anti-heroes who contradict stereotypical notions of
courage, mateship and resourcefulness. In doing so, it provides recognition and respect for reallife ex-prisoners of war who often felt they failed to meet the nations unrealistic expectations
(Ibid.). Additionally, the text provides alternative interpretations of what it means to be

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Australian, in that The Great Worlds characters demonstrate that courage, mateship and
resourcefulness can be brought to bear in acts of compassion rather than heroism and defiance.

References

Clarke, FG 1992, 1940 1966, In Australia: a concise political and social history, 2nd edn, Harcourt
Brace Jovanovich, Sydney, pp. 247-92.
Grant, L 2008, Monument and ceremony: The Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial and the Anzac
Legend, In K Hack & K Blackburn (eds.), Forgotten Captives in Japanese-Occupied Asia,
Routledge, London, pp. 41-56.
Malouf, D 1999, The Great World, Kindle book, Vintage, London.
Palmer, V 1942, Battle, Meanjin Papers, vol. 1, no. 8, p. 8.
Penton, B 1941, Up from Botany Bay, in Think - or Be Damned: a subversive note on national pride,
patriotism, and other forms of respectable ostrichism practised in Australia, Angus and
Roberson, Sydney, pp. 39-49.
Sobocinska, A 2010, The language of scars: Australian prisoners of war and the colonial order, History
Australia, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 58-76.
Stephensen, PR 1969, The foundations of culture in Australia: An essay towards national self-respect,
In J Barnes (ed.), The writer in Australia: a collection of literary documents, 1956-1964, Oxford
University Press, Melbourne, pp. 204-14.
Twomey, C 2013, Prisoners of war of the Japanese: War and memory in Australia, Memory Studies,
vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 321-30.

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