Tracks Study Guide
Chapter 1
Vocabulary Bank:
Word
3 synonyms
to wriggle
to smirk
patronizing
to shanghai
to slacken
fidget, squirm, twist
leer, sneer, simper
condescending, demeaning, belittling
trick, coerce, force
loosen, relax, release
Summary:
Robyn arrives in Alice Springs, a remote desert town in Australia’s Northern Territory.
She is there to pursue her ‘lunatic idea’ of exploring the Australian desert with camels.
On the train ride over she is immediately confronted with the racism and misogyny that
is unfortunately often deeply entrenched in this region. After camping with some young
people for the night and discovering that they are racist too, she gets a job at a local
pub and is also offered a room. She then meets several cameleers. The first few scoff
at her plans of crossing the desert alone with camels. Finally, she meets Gladdy and
Kurt Posel. Kurt offers to teach her to train the camels if she works for him for eight
months and then buys one of his camels. The work is gruelling: Robyn is to start at 4
a.m. and have a variety of tasks most of which involve cleaning. Moreover, Kurt is
verbally abusive. Robyn eventually stands up to him, packs her things, and moves into
the pub.
Character Notes (How have the characters developed? What new
characters have we met?):
Robyn
-author and protagonist of the book
-ambitious and determined albeit a bit naïve
-outraged by the rampant racism and misogyny in Alice Springs
Sallay Mahomet
-an Afghan cameleer who is sceptical of Robyn’s ambitions
Kurt
-An Austrian-born cameleer who makes a living by charging tourists to ride his
camels
-He is an excellent cameleer, but is very demanding and prone to fits of rage
Gladdy
-Robyn immediately takes a liking to her
-one of the few people Robyn meets who isn’t racist
-Kurt’s wife
Significant Quote
or Passage
Theme(s)
Stylistic Elements
What does the quote/passage reveal about a particular theme and/or
character?
“It’s all very well to set
off on a train…and
reading books about
camels.” Pg. 3-4
Ambition,
Courage,
Freedom
-Use of pronoun “you”
-repetition of no: no
one, nowhere,
nothing, no idea
-Behind ambition lies a lot of uncertainty
- by using the pronoun “you” Robyn tries to draw the reader into her experience,
connect to a common experience of uncertainty when doing daring things
-repetition of “no” highlights the loneliness and risk of such endeavours; freedom
comes at a price
“It is difficult to sort
out fact from
fiction…Rabbits, too,
have their survival
mechanisms.” pg. 7
Racial
Tension
and
Oppression,
Survival
-Robyn questions the reasons for the severity of racism here, expresses shock
through questioning
-opposites + list of questions underscores Robyn’s outsider status, she does not
know much about this part of Australia
-nature vocabulary applied to human things emphasizes how connected the town
and its natural environment are
-Rabbit metaphor portrays Robyn as prey, she is vulnerable. However, just as
rabbits, she is capable of survival
“I hated myself for my
infernal cowardice in
dealing with people. It
is such a female
syndrome, so much
the weakness of
animals who have
always been prey.”
pg. 15
Femininity
and Society
-juxtaposition of
opposites
-list of questions
-nature vocabulary
applied to human
things, e.g.
“camouflaged violence
in this town”
-metaphor: “Rabbits,
too, have their survival
mechanisms”
-metaphor: women as
prey animals
-Robyn expresses self-hatred at what she defines as the female condition: being a
prey animal
-comparison of women to prey animals establishes women as victims, emphasizes
powerlessness
-suggests that it has always been this way/will always be this way
Themes to consider: Chaos vs. Order, Individuality and Interconnection, Isolation vs. Belonging, Femininity and Society,
Racial Tension and Oppression, Survival, Ambition, The Role of Nature, Freedom, etc.