Character Analysis (VCE SSCE English): Revision Notes
Character analysis
Jane Harrison's Rainbow's End presents a powerful ensemble of Aboriginal characters whose lives intersect with themes of intergenerational trauma, resilience, and identity in 1950s Australia. The play centres on three generations of women—Nan Dear, Gladys, and Dolly—who each embody distinct responses to dispossession and systemic racism. Supporting characters like Errol Fisher and Mr Coody highlight the complex relationships between Aboriginal and white Australians, whilst figures like Leon and Papa Dear reveal the internal struggles within the Aboriginal community itself.
Understanding these characters deeply is essential for VCE English analysis, as Harrison uses each personality to explore broader historical forces and social dynamics. The characters are not simply individuals but representatives of different approaches to survival, belonging, and cultural identity under oppressive conditions.
Nan Dear: The fierce matriarch and cultural guardian
Nan Dear stands as the family's unyielding anchor, a 70-year-old grandmother whose pragmatism and fierce protectiveness have been forged through decades of hardship. Her experiences of mission life, sexual violence, and survival on the margins of white society have shaped her into a cynical yet powerful force who prioritises the family's wellbeing above all else.
Resilience and connection to Country
Nan Dear's character embodies cultural resilience through her deep connection to traditional lands and ways of being. Her memorable outbursts about the "bloody river" in Scene 1 are more than angry rants—they represent defiance against colonial displacement and a profound spiritual connection to Country. This connection ultimately pulls her homeward, demonstrating that despite decades of forced removal, her identity remains rooted in the land of her ancestors.
Her practical resilience shows through daily actions like scavenging the local dump for materials such as linoleum. Whilst this might seem degrading, Harrison presents it as an act of resourcefulness and survival, showing how Nan makes do with what little is available to her family under discriminatory conditions.
The legacy of trauma
One of the play's most powerful revelations comes when Nan Dear discloses that she was sexually assaulted as a teenager, which resulted in Gladys's birth. This confession demonstrates the cyclical nature of violence experienced by Aboriginal women, as her own granddaughter Dolly later suffers a similar assault. However, Nan's choice to break her silence and warn Dolly represents an attempt to interrupt this cycle through honesty and protection.
This intergenerational trauma shapes Nan's entire worldview. Her distrust of white institutions—hospitals, the monarchy, even well-meaning individuals like Errol—stems not from irrationality but from lived experience. She has learned that such institutions and people rarely serve Aboriginal interests genuinely.
Protective cynicism as resistance
Nan Dear's cynicism functions as a survival strategy and a form of resistance against assimilation pressures. When she fakes coughing fits in Scene 4 to interrupt and ultimately block Errol's romantic advances toward Dolly, she's exercising control over her family's narrative and protecting her granddaughter from potential harm. Similarly, when she drives off the rent collector Mr Coody in Scene 6, she reclaims power and space from a system designed to control and diminish Aboriginal people.
These acts of protective cynicism might appear stubborn or difficult, but they represent cultural sovereignty—the right to make decisions for one's own family and community without white interference. Nan Dear has witnessed too much pain to trust easily, and Harrison validates this wariness as wisdom rather than presenting it as a character flaw.
Analytical Approach for Essays:
When analysing Nan Dear in essays, consider how her character challenges the false promises of assimilation. You might argue:
"Nan Dear's stoic guardianship embodies a form of cultural sovereignty, where her experience-born wariness serves as necessary resistance against systems that have repeatedly failed Aboriginal people."
This approach connects her cynicism to broader themes of resistance and self-determination rather than treating it as a personality flaw.
Gladys: The aspirational bridge generation
Gladys occupies the difficult middle position between her mother's cynicism and her daughter's hope. As a woman in her forties, she represents the bridge generation—those who lived through the harshest discrimination but still dream of acceptance within white society. Despite being illiterate, Gladys possesses sharp intelligence and burning ambition to secure a better future for Dolly.
Pragmatic ambition and the pursuit of acceptance
Gladys's character is defined by her pursuit of symbols of white middle-class respectability. She buys encyclopaedias on layby despite being unable to read them herself, explaining that "knowledge lifts ya"—revealing her belief that education and cultural capital might provide her daughter with opportunities denied to her. Her excitement about seeing the Queen during the royal visit represents a deeper longing for recognition and inclusion in Australian society.
However, Harrison shows the painful limits of this assimilationist dream. When Gladys and her family are excluded by a hessian fence during the Queen's visit, forced to watch from a segregated area, her royalist dreams are crushed. This moment crystallises the reality that no matter how much Aboriginal people attempt to conform to white expectations, systemic racism creates barriers to genuine equality and acceptance.
The "proper house" Gladys dreams of represents more than material comfort—it symbolises dignity, permanence, and belonging. Her current situation, living in a shack by the river under constant threat of eviction, denies her these basic human needs.
Hidden intellect and deep shame
One of Gladys's most compelling characteristics is the gap between her intelligence and her educational opportunities. She demonstrates her sharp mind by winning radio quizzes and frequently finishing other people's sentences, showing quick wit and cultural knowledge. Yet her illiteracy remains a source of deep shame, representing how systemic discrimination has denied her the education she deserved.
This aspect of Gladys's character powerfully illustrates how assessments based solely on formal education fail to recognise Aboriginal intelligence and capability. Harrison challenges audiences to see the injustice in a system that prevented someone as intelligent as Gladys from accessing literacy and formal learning.
Transformation and finding voice
Gladys's character arc reaches its climax in Scene 6 when Papa Dear's absence forces her to deliver the petition speech demanding housing rights and basic services for the Aboriginal community. This moment represents a profound transformation from someone who has internalised shame and sought acceptance through assimilation to someone who vocally demands rights and justice.
The impassioned nature of this speech shows that beneath Gladys's desire to conform lay a deep awareness of injustice and a capacity for activism. Her journey from kneeling in dreams before the Queen to standing up to demand housing rights represents a shift from seeking white approval to asserting Aboriginal agency and dignity.
Analytical Perspective for Essays:
When writing about Gladys, consider how her character reveals the psychological cost of assimilation attempts. A strong analytical approach might be:
"Her fraught journey—from conforming to white expectations to finding her own voice—demonstrates that true dignity comes not from acceptance by the dominant culture but from self-assertion and community solidarity. Her transformation affirms Aboriginal agency whilst exposing the futility of seeking belonging through assimilation."
Dolly: The hopeful rebel of the next generation
Dolly, at sixteen years old, serves as the play's protagonist and represents the next generation's navigation of Aboriginal identity in a racist society. She balances youthful dreams of romance, dance, and education against the harsh realities of family duty, poverty, and racial violence. Her journey from optimistic teenager to young mother demonstrates both the brutal limitations imposed by racism and gender discrimination, and the resilience that allows Aboriginal people to continue hoping and surviving.
Rebellious optimism and dreams
Despite the oppressive circumstances surrounding her, Dolly maintains a rebellious optimism that distinguishes her from Nan's cynicism and Gladys's anxious ambition. In Scene 2, she daydreams about creating a family tree, showing her desire to understand and connect with her heritage. This optimism isn't naïve—it coexists with her awareness of injustice—but represents hope for something better.
Her romantic interest in Errol demonstrates this hopeful dreaming, even as she ultimately recognises the importance of family and community ties over individual escape. When Errol offers her a "better life in the city," Dolly eventually rejects this path, choosing to remain with her family. This decision shows maturity and an understanding that individual advancement means little without community connection.
Trauma, assault, and painful growth
Dolly's optimism is shattered when her cousin Leon sexually assaults her after the ball. This traumatic event represents a brutal coming-of-age, destroying her romantic dreams and forcing her to confront the violence that permeates her world. The assault is particularly devastating because it comes from within her own community—showing how colonisation's trauma ripples through generations and damages relationships between Aboriginal people themselves.
The resulting pregnancy with Regina marks Dolly's transition into womanhood, though it's a transition forced upon her through violence rather than chosen freely. The stage direction describing her smile as "tinged with sadness" in Scene 7 captures the complexity of her situation—she loves her baby but carries the weight of how Regina was conceived and the limited future they both face.
Agency within constraints
Despite the severe limitations placed on her by racism, poverty, and gender discrimination, Dolly demonstrates agency in meaningful ways. Her choice to remain with her family rather than leaving with Errol represents a rejection of individualist solutions to systemic problems. She recognises that her identity and strength come from family and community bonds, not from assimilating into white urban society.
When Nan grants Dolly recognition as a woman following her pregnancy and motherhood, despite the traumatic circumstances, Dolly smiles with a mixture of pain and acceptance. This moment shows her understanding that womanhood in their circumstances involves bearing difficult realities whilst maintaining dignity and connection to family.
Sophisticated Analysis for Essays:
Consider how Dolly's journey illustrates the intersection of race and gender oppressions:
"Her experiences of sexual violence, forced motherhood, and limited opportunities show how Aboriginal women face compounded discrimination. Yet her resilience and choice to remain connected to family hint at the possibility of progress, even whilst acknowledging the ongoing cycles of trauma. Dolly represents a generation that refuses to fully abandon hope, even in the darkest circumstances."
This approach shows understanding of intersectionality and the complexity of Harrison's characterisation.
Errol Fisher: The well-meaning white outsider
Errol Fisher, a young encyclopaedia salesman from Melbourne, enters the family's world as a romantic interest for Dolly and a symbol of white Australia's relationship with Aboriginal people. Whilst his intentions appear good, his character reveals the limitations of individual goodwill in addressing systemic racism and the problems inherent in "white saviour" narratives.
Idealistic ignorance and individualist solutions
Errol bonds with Dolly over their shared experiences of poverty, as he also grew up near a rubbish dump. This common ground leads him to believe he understands her situation and can offer solutions. His repeated suggestions that Dolly pursue a "better life in the city" with him reveal a naive individualism that fails to grasp the importance of community bonds and kinship ties in Aboriginal culture.
His frustration in Scene 5, when he physically grabs Dolly's arm trying to convince her to leave, shows how even well-meaning white people can become aggressive when Aboriginal people don't accept their "help" or conform to their expectations. This moment reveals the power dynamics at play—Errol assumes he knows what's best for Dolly without truly listening to her needs or understanding her cultural values.
Limited empathy and cultural blindness
Whilst Errol recognises some injustices, he remains blind to the depth and structural nature of racism. He doesn't understand why Dolly can't simply leave her community, failing to recognise that Aboriginal identity is fundamentally relational and tied to kinship and Country. His education and relative privilege allow him mobility that Dolly doesn't possess, yet he can't see these structural differences.
The fact that Gladys consistently outwits Errol with her intelligence—despite his formal education and her illiteracy—demonstrates the limitations of his worldview. He has access to knowledge through books, but lacks the wisdom and understanding that comes from lived experience and cultural connection.
Potential for growth and symbol
To Errol's credit, he shows some capacity for growth. When he returns in Scene 6 offering literacy assistance, and eventually earns Nan Dear's cautious acknowledgement, it suggests he's beginning to understand the need to support rather than rescue. However, this growth remains tentative and unproven by the play's end.
As a symbol, Errol represents the allure and ultimate inadequacy of assimilation. He embodies the promise that Aboriginal people can "escape" their circumstances through education and integration into white society, but Harrison shows this promise to be hollow—it requires severing community ties and denies the value of Aboriginal culture and identity.
Essay Application:
When analysing Errol, emphasise how his limited empathy exposes the pitfalls of white saviour approaches:
"His individualist solutions ignore the collective strength of the family and the structural nature of racism. Contrasting Errol's approach with the family's collective resistance highlights that genuine progress requires systemic change, not individual rescue attempts."
This framing positions Errol as a critique of well-meaning but ultimately ineffective white liberalism.
Supporting figures: Systemic antagonists and family
Beyond the central characters, Harrison includes several supporting figures who embody different aspects of the social forces affecting the family or represent extended kinship connections.
Mr Coody: The face of state control
Mr Coody, the rent collector, represents the bureaucratic racism of Australian institutions. His invasive presence, racist attitudes, and threats of eviction over the "illegitimate" baby demonstrate how state systems policed and controlled Aboriginal lives. He judges, threatens, and attempts to evict the family based on white moral standards that hypocritically ignore the violence Aboriginal women faced from white men.
Nan Dear's successful rebuffing of Coody represents a small but significant reclamation of power and space. Her ability to drive him away shows that Aboriginal people could resist these petty bureaucrats and their attempted control, even when the broader systems remained oppressive.
Leon: Intra-community violence
Leon, Dolly's cousin who assaults her after the ball, represents the painful reality of how colonisation's trauma ripples through Aboriginal communities, damaging relationships between Aboriginal people themselves. His drunken rage and violence aren't excused by the play, but Harrison contextualises them within the broader patterns of dispossession and trauma.
Leon's character shows that Aboriginal communities didn't simply stand united against external oppression—internal problems existed, often stemming from the psychological damage of racism and dispossession. This honest portrayal adds complexity to Harrison's representation of Aboriginal experience.
Papa Dear: The absent activist
Papa Dear, Nan's husband and Gladys's father, remains absent during the crucial petition moment, which forces Gladys to find her own voice and deliver the speech. His activism takes him away from the family, representing a tension between public political work and family needs. However, his absence also creates space for women's voices—specifically Gladys's—to emerge.
Ester: A cautionary tale
Ester appears mainly through Nan's stories as a cautionary example—a woman who married a white man only to face abuse. Her story serves to warn Dolly about the dangers of relationships with white men and reinforces Nan's protective cynicism. Ester represents the vulnerability of Aboriginal women who attempted to cross racial boundaries through marriage.
Understanding the Supporting Cast:
These supporting characters amplify the play's central themes:
- Coody embodies state control and institutional racism
- Leon represents trauma's ripple effects within communities
- Papa Dear shows the complexities of activism and family obligations
- Ester warns of interracial relationship dangers
Together, they create a fuller picture of the forces shaping the central characters' lives.
Intergenerational dynamics: Three generations, clashing yet united
The heart of Rainbow's End lies in the complex relationships between Nan Dear, Gladys, and Dolly—three generations of women with contrasting approaches to survival and identity, yet fundamentally united through kinship bonds.
Contrasting approaches to oppression
Each generation responds differently to systemic racism based on their experiences and historical moment:
- Nan Dear, the eldest, protects her family through cynicism and distrust of white institutions, having learned through painful experience that such institutions serve white interests
- Gladys, the middle generation, pursues assimilation and acceptance, hoping that conforming to white expectations might secure better opportunities for Dolly
- Dolly, the youngest, maintains rebellious optimism, dreaming of romance and education despite the barriers she faces
These approaches often clash. Nan dismisses Gladys's encyclopaedias as worthless, seeing them as symbols of false hope. Gladys becomes frustrated with Nan's cynicism, fearing it limits Dolly's possibilities. Dolly rebels against both, wanting to make her own choices about her future. Yet these clashes reflect different survival strategies forged in different circumstances, not fundamental disagreements about values or identity.
Shared trauma and mutual recognition
Despite their differences, the three women share profound connections through trauma. The revelation that both Nan and Dolly have experienced sexual violence creates a painful bond between grandmother and granddaughter. When Nan grants Dolly recognition as a woman following her assault and pregnancy, it's a moment of shared understanding across generations—both women have been forced into womanhood through violence, and both have survived.
Similarly, Gladys's struggles as a mother born from violence connect her to both her mother and daughter. This cycle of trauma could break the family apart, but instead Harrison shows it creating deeper understanding and solidarity. The women recognise in each other their shared experiences of surviving in a world that devalues Aboriginal women.
Unity through action
The family's ultimate unity becomes visible during practical crises. When the floods come, all three women work together to rebuild, symbolising their collective endurance and mutual support. When Regina is born, despite the traumatic circumstances of her conception, all three generations come together to care for her, investing hope in the next generation's future.
Gladys's petition speech in Scene 6, delivered when Papa Dear is absent, represents another moment of unity—Nan and Dolly support her as she finds her voice to demand rights for their entire community. This moment shows the women's collective strength, as each generation's particular gifts contribute to resistance.
Analytical Perspective for Essays:
The intergenerational dynamics illustrate how Harrison uses family as a site of cultural sovereignty and resistance:
"The women's different approaches—Nan's protective cynicism, Gladys's pragmatic ambition, Dolly's hopeful rebellion—aren't presented as contradictory but as complementary strategies for survival. Together, they trace a continuum of trauma and resilience, showing how Aboriginal families maintained cultural identity and dignity despite systematic attempts to destroy both."
You can argue that Harrison mirrors generations to demonstrate both the persistence of trauma and the continuity of resistance across time. The family unit becomes a space where cultural knowledge, survival strategies, and mutual support pass between generations, enabling continued Aboriginal presence and identity despite colonial violence.
Exam advice: Using characters effectively in VCE essays
When writing about characters in Rainbow's End for VCE assessments, remember that characters serve as evidence for Harrison's exploration of broader themes and historical realities. Your goal isn't simply to describe characters but to analyse how Harrison uses them to develop ideas about identity, racism, resilience, and belonging.
Anchor analysis to specific traits
Focus your analysis on two to three key character traits, linking each trait to context and themes. For example, rather than generally discussing Nan Dear, examine specifically how her cynicism functions as cultural guardianship.
Strong Topic Sentence Example:
"Nan Dear's cynicism safeguards Aboriginal culture, evident in her confrontation with Coody which stages active resistance against institutional control."
This sentence anchors the analysis to a specific trait (cynicism), connects it to theme (cultural guardianship), and references textual evidence (Coody confrontation).
Integrate quotes purposefully
Use brief quotations from the play and analyse them rather than simply inserting them as decoration. For instance, when Gladys speaks of wanting a "proper house", analyse how this phrase reveals both her internalised shame about their current dwelling and the assimilation pressures that make her equate "proper" with white middle-class standards. The quote becomes evidence for your argument about dignity's cost under racism.
Avoid Quote Dumping:
Never drop quotes into your essay without analysis. Every quotation should be:
- Integrated grammatically into your sentence
- Followed by analysis of its significance
- Connected to your broader argument about themes and context
Compare characters dynamically
Rather than discussing characters in isolation, compare them to reveal Harrison's ideas. You might write:
Dynamic Character Comparison:
"Dolly's optimism tempers Nan's wariness, yet their bond ultimately affirms that belonging comes through kinship rather than individual advancement."
This comparison shows how different generational perspectives work together to explore themes of identity and community.
Avoid mere description
Critical Rule:
Never simply describe what characters do—always connect their actions to broader ideas about power, racism, or resistance.
- DON'T write: "Errol offers Dolly a chance to leave."
- DO write: "Errol's individualist offer ignores Dolly's community connections, critiquing whiteness's inability to comprehend Aboriginal kinship structures as sources of strength and identity."
Practice structured paragraphs
Try writing one paragraph per major character, focusing on how each illuminates different aspects of the play's themes:
- Nan Dear and survival: Cultural resistance through protective cynicism
- Gladys and ambition: The psychological costs of assimilation attempts
- Dolly and hope: Navigating intersecting race and gender oppressions
- Errol and Coody: White characters revealing systemic racism's operations
Link characters to historical context
Always ground character analysis in the 1950s Australian context. Mention relevant historical realities:
- The White Australia policy
- Aboriginal exclusion from citizenship rights
- Forced removal policies
- Segregation and discrimination
Show how characters' experiences reflect broader patterns of systemic racism rather than individual circumstances alone.
Key Points to Remember:
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Three generations, three approaches: Nan Dear's protective cynicism, Gladys's aspirational assimilation, and Dolly's hopeful rebellion represent different generational responses to dispossession and racism—yet all three strategies stem from survival needs and ultimately unite in family solidarity.
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Characters reveal systemic forces: Harrison uses individual personalities to expose broader historical patterns. Nan's distrust reflects decades of institutional betrayal; Gladys's shame reveals assimilation's psychological costs; Dolly's trauma demonstrates ongoing violence against Aboriginal women; Errol's naïvety exposes white saviour limitations.
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Intergenerational trauma cycles and breaks: The revelation that both Nan and Dolly experienced sexual violence shows trauma's repetition across generations, but Nan's choice to speak honestly represents attempts to break silence and protect future generations, whilst Regina's birth offers cautious hope for the future.
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Family as sovereignty: The play presents family bonds and kinship structures as sites of cultural sovereignty and resistance. Despite constant external pressures to fragment and assimilate, the three women maintain connection, rebuild after disasters, and support each other through crises—asserting Aboriginal identity and belonging through collective strength.
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Use characters analytically in essays: Move beyond description to analyse how Harrison uses characters to explore themes. Link traits to context, compare characters dynamically, integrate quotes purposefully, and always connect individual experiences to broader historical forces and social patterns. Your character analysis should reveal Harrison's ideas about identity, racism, resilience, and belonging in 1950s Australia.