Themes

The main themes of the short story “Flight” by Katharine Susannah Prichard are the conflict between law and justice (between responsibility and ethics), and racial discrimination. Through this short story, the writer’s message criticises Australian society and politics which allowed for the adoption and implementation of a policy according to which half-Aboriginal children were taken away from their mothers and raised in state institut…

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Responsibility versus ethics

The theme of responsibility versus ethics is explored through the story’s characters and plot. Sometimes what is the responsible or lawful thing to do is not the same with what is moral, ethical, or just. In the story, Constable O’Shea is affected by this conflict. He is a policeman w…

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Racial discrimination

The theme of racial discrimination is explored through the whole context of the story and some of the characters. The story describes the process of removing half-caste children from their Aboriginal families as a result of a government measure. The measure is clearly discriminatory, as it…