![]() In his own words “I wanted to discover the extraordinary behind the ordinary, the mystery and the poetry which alone could make bearable the lives of such people, and incidentally, my own life since my return” (“The Prodigal Son”). He wanted to reinvent Australia, deepen its concerns with matters that were not materialistic. So why did he decide to stay in Australia if he was so disturbed by all that he saw? Do his stories and novels give a clue? I think they do. This is what Patrick White wrote in his essay “The Prodigal Son” an essay which, like the protagonist of its title, was about White’s homecoming to Australia after years away in Europe. ![]() ![]() “In all directions stretched the Great Australia Emptiness, in which the mind is the least of possessions, in which the rich man is the important man… in which beautiful youths and girls stare at life through blind blue eyes… the buttocks of cars grow hourly glassier, food means cake and steak… and the march of material ugliness does not raise a quiver from average nerves.” ![]()
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