The Drought

The drought in Kiewarra, and the tensions surrounding it, symbolize the human tendency to turn on one another in times of stress or danger. The rural farming community of Kiewarra is in a drought that started two years prior to the start of the novel. This fact causes great stress for the community, as its main industry is farming and the farms cannot produce crops in a drought. When Falk returns to Kiewarra, he finds that tensions are high in the town due to the drought, and these tensions create an air of great hostility. Local residents act very contemptuously towards Falk and bring up old traumas in an attempt to direct their drought-related fear, stress, and frustration in a different direction.

Gossip

Gossip symbolizes the negative tendencies and destructive social patterns that often form in a small community. Falk and Raco represent law and...