After the Fire, a Still Small Voice: Analysis of Major Characters
"After the Fire, a Still Small Voice" delves into the lives of the Collard family and their neighbors, exploring themes of isolation, trauma, and connection. Central characters include Frank Collard, a young man grappling with the aftermath of a failed relationship and his own inner demons, who seeks solace in a secluded shack in Queensland. His father, Leon, a Vietnam veteran, struggles with the scars of war and the burdens of alcoholism, which strain his relationship with Frank. The narrative also illuminates Leon's father, Roman, a Jewish immigrant and baker whose experiences as a prisoner of war shape his troubled demeanor and the dynamics within his family.
Frank's neighbors, the Haydons, play a pivotal role in his life, particularly young Sal, who befriends him despite her own challenges. The story touches on a range of characters who reflect themes of loss and survival, including Lucy, Frank's girlfriend with a complicated background, and Linus, an Aboriginal man navigating racism with resilience. The interplay between these characters offers a poignant look at how past traumas influence present lives, as they all seek connection and understanding in a world marked by pain and hardship. Overall, the narrative highlights the complexity of human relationships and the enduring impact of history on individual lives.
After the Fire, a Still Small Voice: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Evelyn Rose Strange Wyld
First published: 2009
Genre: Novel
Locale: Queensland, Australia; Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; Vietnam
Plot: Psychological realism
Time: 1960s and 2000s
Frank Collard, the estranged son of Leon Collard. After his girlfriend, Lucy, leaves him, Frank abandons his life in Canberra and moves to “the shack,” a rough, isolated dwelling in Queensland, on Australia's east coast. A rough man of few words, he is befriended by his neighbors, the Haydons, and finds work moving freight at the local marina. Frank misses Lucy acutely but is afraid of the violence within him that caused her to leave. Though he sought isolation at first, Frank slowly develops friendships with his neighbors, particularly the Haydons' daughter, Sal, and with Linus, another worker at the marina. From Linus, he learns more about the history of his family and the shack.
Leon Collard, Frank's father, a baker and a Vietnam veteran. A child of immigrants, Leon faces slurs and prejudice at school. He helps his father in the bakery and later takes over in his father's absence. After his parents leave Sydney, Leon is conscripted to fight in the Vietnam War. The brutality of the war scars him deeply, and while he is able to find some peace with his marriage to Amy Blackwell, her death pushes him to alcoholism and leaves him unable to maintain a relationship with his son. He later finds Jesus and lives in a religious community outside Sydney, working as a traveling Bible salesman.
Roman Collard, a Jewish immigrant to Australia who owns a bakery in Sydney. Roman is a small man and a talented baker, and he teaches his son, Leon, to bake and create delicate sculptures from sugar. His Australian patriotism leads him to volunteer to serve in the Korean War, where he is captured and held as a prisoner of war. When Roman returns to his family in Sydney, he is palpably changed. No longer able to run the bakery or live in the city, he moves to the shack in Queensland, where he is later joined by his wife. Suffering the aftereffects of war, he avoids crowds and company and stalks his wife in his sleep.
Maureen Collard, Leon's mother and Roman's wife. Maureen, like her husband, is a Jewish immigrant to Australia who lost most of her family in World War II. She is strongly opposed to Roman enlisting, and the news of his capture in Korea demoralizes her, causing her to rely heavily on Leon. After Roman returns and is unable to live in Sydney, she leaves Leon to live with Roman at his shack, where she suffers occasional physical abuse at his hands until their deaths.
Amy Blackwell, a grocer's daughter and Leon's classmate. Tomboyish and direct, Amy was Leon's girlfriend before his conscription. After Leon leaves school, Amy brings him fruit from her family's store. Later, her parents send her to finishing school in Brisbane. After Leon returns from Vietnam, Amy finds him in his bakery, and the two start a family.
Bob Haydon, Frank's nearest neighbor in Queensland. Bob is a youthful-looking man with an easy smile and very white teeth. He moved from Perth with his wife, Vicky, after their eldest daughter died from leukemia. Bob is gregarious and generous, bringing Frank an old refrigerator and some chickens to get him settled at the shack and helping him find work at the marina.
Vicky Haydon, Bob's wife, an attractive, tanned woman who raises chickens and shares her husband's generous nature. After the death of her eldest daughter, Vicky has trouble sleeping and avoids putting down deep roots so that she and her family can pack up and move if she feels the need.
Sal Haydon, Bob and Vicky's seven-year-old daughter, a dark-haired child who names all her mother's chickens. Uncomfortable with being a girl, Sal avoids typical feminine appearances and pursuits. She becomes friends with Frank and convinces him to pay her for working in his vegetable patch. She later disappears, along with Frank's machete.
Lucy, Frank's girlfriend, a pale-haired young woman who grew up in an orphanage and in foster homes. When her longing for family connections leads her to pressure Frank to reconnect with his father, he becomes physically abusive. Lucy leaves Frank but later tries to find him again.
Linus, an old Aboriginal man who works at the marina. Linus navigates the racism he encounters at the marina with a sense of humor and equilibrium. He has a long memory.
June Shannon, an unpleasant childhood acquaintance of Frank's. She and her husband later take over Leon's bakery. A mother of three, June envies Frank's freedom.
Stuart, a worker at the marina who is raising his two children on his own after being abandoned by his wife. He has freckles and straw-colored hair, and he frequently makes racist remarks.
Pokey, the marina foreman. He is a tough, older man with a scratchy beard who is no stranger to a fight.
Joyce Mackelly, a missing fourteen-year-old girl who was last seen hitch hiking.
Bo Flowers, Frank's childhood friend, a big, soft boy with brown eyes whose mother beat him regularly.
Paul Cray, the forward scout in Leon's military unit in Vietnam. Cray carries a photograph of his pregnant wife and a machete that he took from a dead Vietnamese soldier.
Klyde, a Vietnam veteran. Klyde has a matted beard, wears a Grateful Dead T-shirt, and lives in an isolated desert community of veterans.
Mrs. Shannon, a frequent customer at the Collards' bakery who shows a fondness for Leon. She is a pretty woman who attempts to hide the marks of her husband's physical abuse.