Authority In The Carpenter's Pencil

The Carpenter 's Pencil by Manuel Rivas and The Secret River by Kate Grenville clearly present challenges to authority. Authority in the Carpenter 's Pencil is portrayed by various members of the military and, in a broader context, by General Franco 's regime, while authority is represented, initially, by the British government and later on by William Thornhill, in the Secret River. The use of such challenges towards authority have aided other techniques used by the author to further develop a character and to represent them in a positive or negative light.

Throughout The Carpenter 's Pencil, the sense of authority created by General Franco is present in everyday interactions and can be seen as the driving force behind the incidents which

This is due to the fact that any centralised form of authority is left behind when William Thornhill is deported to Australia. Nevertheless, William Thornhill initially experienced the power of authority after he was caught stealing expensive Brazil wood from Mr. Lucas. Facing prosecution, Thornhill attempts to challenge judiciary authority by claiming to be "as innocent as an unborn child". Resulting to lying as a means of challenging and evading authority may make Thornhill appear morally weak in the eyes of the reader, however, considering the time period in which the novel takes place - a time period where stealing can result in death - the reader starts to feel sympathy for Thornhill and rather starts to view the authority in the story as corrupted and socially discriminatory. This is also seen in The Carpenter 's Pencil, when Dombodán was unfairly prosecuted by a corrupt military

Initially, William is assigned as a prisoner to his "master" and wife, Sal. However, it is clear that this relationship of a difference in power is not accurate as William continues to live with his wife and Sal urges William to attempt to gain freedom as soon as possible. However, such a relationship of master and prisoner is established once William convinces Sal to come with him to settle a piece of land on the shores of the Hawkesbury river for five years. From the first day on which they arrived, Sal began marking the number of days left on a piece of wood in the same manner as to how a prisoner would do so on the walls of his cell. This is further made evident in the book when it states that "the unspoken between them was that she was a prisoner here.". Thornhill 's newly created sense of authority is immediately employed when Aborigines come to his house to indicate that he had destroyed one of their food sources: daisy roots. Thornhill tells them to go away and starts hitting an elderly man when he takes Thornhill 's shovel. This scene, in a sense, indicates two challenges of authority. On the one hand, the Aborigines challenge Thornhill 's authority by confronting him and by attempting to take his shovel, doing this since they live by the mantra which is used throughout the novel by Blackwood: "Give a little, take a little". This first challenge of authority is appreciated by the