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ESTERLY stories poems reviews articles FOCUS ON WESTERN AUSTRALIA John La Nauze and Walter Murdoch Perth in the Thirties Paul Hasluck and Western Australia John Boyle O'Reilly F. C. B. Vosper and the Goldfields Era a quarterly review price two dollars registered at gpo perth for transmission by post as a periodical Category '8 ' UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA PRESS Giving the widest representation to Western Australian writers E. J. STORMON: The Salvado Memoirs $13.95 MARY ALBERTUS BAIN: Ancient Landmarks: A Social and Economic History of the Victoria District of Western Australia 1839-1894 $12.00 G. C. BOLTON: A Fine Country to Starve In $11.00 MERLE BIGNELL: The Fruit of the Country: A History of the Shire of Gnowangerup, Western Australia $12.50 R. A. FORSYTH: The Lost Pattern: Essays on the Emergent City Sensibility in Victorian England $13.60 L. BURROWS: Browning the Poet: An Introductory Study $8.25 T. 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WESTERLY a quarterly review EDITORS: Bruce Bennett and Peter Cowan EDITORIAL ADVISORS: Patrick Hutchings, Leonard Jolley, Margot Luke, Fay Zwicky Westerly is published quarterly by the English Department, University of Western Australia, with assistance from the Literature Board of' the Australia Council and the Western Australian Literary Fund. The opinions expressed in Westerly are those· of individual contributors and not of the Editors or Editorial Advisors. Correspondence should be addressed to the Editors, Westerly, Department of English, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia 6009 (telephone 803838). Unsolicited manuscripts not accompanied by a stamped self-addressed envelope will not be returned. All manuscripts must show the name and address of the sender and should be typed ( double-spaced) on one side of the paper only. Whilst every care is taken of manuscripts, the editors can take no final responsibility for their return; contributors are consequently urged to retain copies of all work submitted. Minimum rates for contributions-poems $7.00; prose pieces $7.00; reviews, articles, $15.00; short stories $30.00. It is stressed that these are minimum rates, based on the fact that very brief contributions in any field are acceptable. In practice the editors aim to pay more, and will discuss payment where required. Recommended sale price: $2.00 per copy. Subscriptions: $8.00 per annum (-posted); $15.00 for 2 years (posted). Special student subscription rate: $7.00 per annum (posted). Single copies mailed: $2.40. Subscriptions should be made payable to Westerly, and sent to The Bursar, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia 6009. Synopses of literary articles published in Westerly appear regularly in Abstracts of English Studies (published by the American National Council of Teachers of English). WESTERLY No.4, December 1977 CONTENTS STORIES Jocasta's Chair 5 SUSAN HAMPTON Fruit Salad 9 JEAN KENT A House Like God 11 PETER MURPHY Parrots 15 MALCOLM LEADER POEMS WENDY JENKINS 10 FAIRLIE SZACINSKI 24 PAUL O'OONOHUE 13 JENNIFER COMPTON 26 DIANA KAN 14 COLLEEN BURKE 27 ROBERT C. BOYCE 17 MICHAEL DUGAN 46 JOHN GRIFFIN 18 SUSAN HAMPTON 60 PHILIP COLLIER 19 CAROLINE M. CADDY 70 MARK MACLEOD 20 STEFAN IE BENNETT 78 MARGARET HARGRAVE 21 ANNE LLOYD 87 JOHN FOULCHER 22 COLLEEN BURKE 93 JOHN LEVETT 23 ROBERT c. BOYCE 114 AR TICLES Bread and Democracy: 29 EDWIN J AGGARD F. C. B. Vosper in the Roaring Nineties History, Literature and J. B. O'Reilly 47 VERONICA BRADY Perth in the Turbulent Thirties 61 NORMAN BARTLETT A Local Identity-Paul Hasluck 71 G. C. BOLTON and Western Australian Self Concept John La Nauze on Walter Murdoch 79 FRED ALEXANDER Early Literary Responses to Charles Harpur 88 VIJAY MISHRA English-A Dying Discipline? 94 DERICK R. c. MARSH BOOKS Patrick O'Brien-The Saviours 99 s. A. GRAVE Bernard Hickey, ed.-Da S/essor A Dransfield 102 LEON TRAINOR Judith Wright-Fourth Quarter 104 SHIRLEY WALKER and other poems Colin Talbot's Greatest Hits 110 MARGOT LUKE The Radical Reader Peter Cowan, ed. The Letters of 112 MARIAN AVELING Thomas and Eliza Brown Buildings at Cue (photos) PETER COWAN Notes on Contributors 115 SUSAN HAMPTON Jocasta's Chair The house looked as intimidating as ever. Fran had just raised her hand to knock when Mrs Harvey opened the door abruptly in her face. "Oh, it's you. Paul's in showing some slides to his father." Fran watched as Mrs Harvey marched out to the kitchen, and then entered the darkened lounge-room on her right. She touched Paul's hand and said hello to his father. She could see the white glint of Mr Harvey's smile across the room. They were looking at a slide of the family: Mrs H. in her W.A.A.F. uniform after a re-union do, Mr H. in his overalls, spanner in hand. Between them was Mike, Paul's older brother, a seventeen stone businessman who always looked ... sleazy, Fran thought. Paul had taken the photo. They stared at it for a long time, at the tentative way Mr Harvey held an arm around Mike's shoulder, and at the discomfort on Mrs Harvey's face. She was standing a little apart from Mike, as she had done all his life. She made no bones about disliking his fatness, and the way he cringed continually; nor could she forgive him for having frequently bashed up Paul when they were boys. She pre tended to like him now, for the sake of the family. After all, he had a flourishing business and a nice wife. He didn't come home very often. Fran knew that Mrs Harvey's only complaint about Paul was that he talked too much about alterna tives. He wasn't settling down. "You have to face reality sometime," she would say. "I'll see if I can help in the kitchen," Fran murmured. She made a grotesque face at herself in the hall mirror, baring her teeth like a looney. The rigours of this place. Rigor-mortis, yes. Why did she still bother to offer help? The paring knife had to be put in a certain drawer, the tea-towels hung in a certain way, the spoon replaced in the tea-caddy. Offers of help were mandatory, but nearly always rejected because no-one but Mrs H. could do it properly. Constant nagging and supervision if you did help. Not worth the bloody bother. It worried her that Mrs Harvey's life was entirely bound up in the running of an immaculate house and the coddling of Paul when he was home. Fran had tried to talk to her once about women's issues and independence, but Mrs H. had laughed cynically and said that young women didn't know what liberation was, she'd been liberated when she was in the W.A.A.C.'s, she didn't need to wear overalls to prove a point. Fran almost hated her. Waving a carving knife, Mrs Harvey swung around from the sink as she heard Fran come into the room. "Ha ha hah!" she said with a flourish, "I'm cutting up my husband's sand- wiches!" "So I see," said Fran. "Would you like to stay for dinner?" "If it's no trouble." Fran didn't really want to stay, but she didn't feel like WESTERLY, No.4, DECEMBER, 1977 5 arguing about it, and besides, she'd hardly seen Paul for the last week. "Well, would you like to stay?" "If it's no trouble, I said." "Make up your mind, Fran. Yes or no." "All right, fine." And so on. There was no avoiding it, really. What followed was a long dis cussion about whether she would have schnapper or steak, tea or coffee, dessert or an apple. Fran knew that "I don't mind" wasn't an answer, but she said it anyway. She was tempted to yell, in the black-and-white tiled kitchen, I DEFINITELY WANT PRAWNS AND I WANT THEM RIGHT NOW. During dinner, she wondered for the hundredth time why Paul still came home. His mother was sucking at her fish and asking endless questions about who they lived with, what was so good about communal houses anyway, (wasn't it sloppy?) when would they finish Uni and get jobs, why didn't they get married if they were going to live together like this ... Paul was giving one-word answers. "Have you ever thought of getting engaged?" she asked. "The schnapper's very nice," Fran put in. "Yes, very nice," said Mr Harvey, "lovely." Fran took Paul's hand at the comer of the table and squeezed it hard. He gave her a soft look and went on eating, ignoring his mother's last question. "How can you concentrate when you're holding hands like that?" she asked. "How's work, Mr Harvey?" Fran said. "Not bad, Fran. Night shift all this week." Mrs Harvey was still watching Paul, and with her head on one side and her fork in the air at an odd angle she looked like some frail water-bird, seeking reassurance.