Lockie Leonard Scumbuster, by Tim Winton, accurately reflects the life of an average adolescent boy. The main character, Lockie, is not exceptional in his experiences, as is reflected in the exploration of themes that commonly characterize teenage existence. He suffers love issues, finds it difficult to understand his parents, and develops a friendship with someone who is totally unlike himself. In realistically developing these themes, the author forces us to an inescapable conclusion: Lockie is a typical teenage boy. Adolescents will, quite commonly, explore friendship with someone whose personality is the polar opposite of their own. Lockie and Egg are complete opposites. John East points this out, telling the two that they are “… an unlikely pair”. Another interpersonal issue is negotiating the ups and downs experienced over the course of any friendship. When Lockie and Egg have an argument, they settle their differences and then “… laid on the beach and laughed themselves blind”. Becoming friends with someone who is different, getting into arguments with them, and having to forgive them are normal teenage experiences. Thus showing us that Lockie is a regular …show more content…
Lockie is no different. When he falls in love, he is dumbfounded. He explains what falling for Dot feels like, saying that “….. he was barking mad… and leglessly in love”. For a besotted and bamboozled Lockie, adolescent love sadly follows its predictably traumatic path, and he is forced to learn the lesson that, as quickly as it can flourish, love can end. Lockie terminates his romance with the “love of his life” after experiencing a rough patch, and is forced to describe it as “the shortest romance on record”. Navigating through a breakup and falling in love are normal teenage experiences, thus showing us that Lockie is a normal adolescent