The feeling of not belonging is one of the worst feelings. In the novel, The Secret River by Kate Grenville, 2006, William Thornhill often suffered from this feeling. He lived in poverty in the early parts of the 19th century. They never had enough food to feed the family, or enough warmth to sleep comfortably at night. In attempts to support his family, he shuffled through many awful jobs and was taught if one was born into a poor family they would remain poor for the rest of their life. Thornhill finally found hope when he got a stable job he enoyed, working as an apprentice for Sal’s father, a local waterman. One winter when the river froze he was diverted back to shuffling jobs and began to steal from his foremans, on top of his workload to survive. He was later caught and to get out of being hanged he was shipped to New South Wales. In Australia, Thornhill settled with Sal and together they had six kids. He bought land which he named Thornhill Point, and a boat. He created a reputation for himself as a successful colonist. He finally found his sense of belonging and …show more content…
While Thornhill was contemplating agreeing to the massacre, Dan whispered in his ear, “‘Get rid of blacks and she’ll stay Will, Ain’t no other way to hold her (312).” He needed no further convincing and agreed to the plan thinking Sal would stay if the threat of the aboriginals was gone. Although she stayed on Thornhill Point their relationship would never be the same as before. After the massacre she could barely look him in the eyes. Near the end of the novel, Sal came out and sat with him while he watched the sunset. “She spoke a sudden thought. ‘You know, Will, I thought you were wonderful, when I was a little thing (p. 346).”’ She shared this as if expressing that her feelings weren’t the same anymore. It was a sad reflection they shared that their once love for each other had