Many novels focus on the issues of teenage life, but few incorporate the issues of war. The Divine Wind by Garry Disher and Children Of The River by Linda Crew are two such examples. The Divine Wind deals with Hartley Penrose reflecting back on his life in Broome during the years of World War 2. Whilst Children Of The River deals with the story of Sundara Sovaan, an escapee of the Communist war in Cambodia, and her new life in America with her aunt and uncle. These two novels are appropriate to compare because although the themes in both novels may be conveyed in different ways and in a different context, there are still many similarities and differences. The characterization of Mitsy Sennosuke and Sundara Sovaan have similarities and differences and themes of: Relationships, tradition, war, jealousy, stereotyping, immigrants, choices and regrets are all evident but are conveyed in different ways.
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Rests of victims of the Khmer Rouge in the Kampong...
Children of the RiverThere are many similarities and differences in the characterision of Mitsy Sennosuke and Sundara Sovaan in each text. In The Divine Wind Mitsy is characterized as a strong willed individual who is often caught between her two cultures. Hart describes Mitsy as, "Born and educated in Broome, she slipped easily from speaking Japanese in John Chi Lane to speaking English with Alice and me... She was composed of two natures; modest with her parents and Japanese families, and raucous with everyone else." This shows us that Mitsy has to live between Japanese and Australian cultures but she is still proud and equally embraces both of them. The characterization of Sundara in Children Of The River is similar to that of Mitsy as she has her old Cambodian culture whilst trying to fir into American society. This is shown in the lines: "What did Soka think? That she could go...