Characters

The short story “N’goola” by Katharine Susannah Prichard features two important characters: Mary and Gwelnit. Mary is a half-Aboriginal woman who has been taken from her family as a child and raised in a missionary institution. As an adult, Mary is remembered of her real name – N’goola – and her origins. 

Gwelnit is an old Aboriginal man who raised N’goola as his own daughter, despite her being the child of his wife and a white man. After N’goola is taken by the white authorities, Gwelnit spends 30 years looking for her before arriving at Mary’s settlement. 

The story also mentions other characters, such as Mary’s family members, and her mother, Mittoon. People who represent white authorities or the Aboriginals in Mary’s settlement, which appear as a collective character, have a symbolic role in the story, as they illustrate the Aboriginal way of life and their relationship with white people.

You can read the full characterizations of Mary and Gwelnit in the following section.