The Politics of Race

One of The Bat’s prevailing themes is the Politics of Race as depicted by the historic conflict between Australia’s Aboriginal people – the continent’s original inhabitants – and the white population that descends from the British settlers who colonized the country in the late 1700s.

Throughout the book, the Aboriginal characters – primarily detective Andrew Kensington and boxer Robin Toowoomba – provide Harry, who is Norwegian and new to the country, with background information on the history between the two groups, educating the reader in the process. The Aboriginal people inhabited Australia and its surrounding islands centuries before the British arrived. They were a nomadic people who lived off the land and held a spiritual system based primarily on animal mythology. As is the case with many other cultures, the new settlers gradually pushed the indigenous population away and set up a culture and...