Gwelnit

Outer characterization

Gwelnit is an important character in the story “N’goola” by Katharine Susannah Pritchard. He is N’goola’s step-father. Gwelnit is from the Waharrie tribe (p. 39, l. 11) in the far south of Australia (p. 39, ll. 13-14). He was raised by a white family after many of his tribe died following a battle with white people (p. 39, ll. 12-13). He then moved near Port Hedland (p. 39, l. 22) where he became head stockman and married an Aboriginal woman named Mittoon, with whom he had several sons (p. 39, ll. 35-37). Like N’goola, Gwelnit also has an English name: Jo Moses (p. 39, ll. 11-12). 

He is an old, Aboriginal man with a “broad, dark face” (p. 39, l. 5), “shaggy grizzled hair” (p. 39, l. 7), and “deep lines in the worn leather of his face” (p. 38, l. 36). His clothing shows that he has spent the last 30 years tirelessly looking for N’goola: “The bare toes with broken nails sticking out of shoes, thick with red dust, told her that he had come a long way.” (p. 35, ll. 1-3). This could also hint at the poverty among Aboriginal communities.

Inner characterization

Gwelnit’s inner characterization is constructed through his words when he tells the story about N’goola, his behavior, and through Mary’s perception of him. 

Gwelnit i...