Characters in "The Divine Wind", written by Garry Disher, live in a society where prejudice is present in everyone. Although the characters try to overcome this prejudice, it is impossible due to surrounding and distant pressures.
The lifestyle in Broome in the late 1930's, early 1940's was a struggle for any woman. Due to sexism, women were never held in such high regard as men were. This restricted the abilities of the average women. The typical image of an adult female character in the novel is to be respectful to her husband and to tend to house work. "She had the tired, tentative look of a woman who"d been ignored all her married life, who had no expectations- This prejudice was considered normal and accepted in many families.
Racism was a common and expected thing in old time Broome. As a multicultural town including Japanese and an Aboriginal population, conflicting attitudes towards these races could be expected. Although the Japanese were valued pearlers and therefore assets to the economy of Broome, they were viewed as lesser people than the white Australians. "They were marked people now, aliens in our midst." .
With the war against Japan happening at these times, white Australia categorised any person remotely Japanese as the enemy, even if these people had lived in Australia all their lives. This prejudice was brought about due to gossip and news coverage. News presenters on the radio didn't try to hide their view on the war, openly abusing the Japanese over the air waves. " the hatred poured from the wireless night after night. I suppose it's only natural that we should be touched by it.".
All throughout the novel, elements of separation are presented. The Japanese are divided from white Australians. First of all, Broome had a "Register of Aliens". This was a register or list that kept track of foreign people. This implied that foreigners were seen as aliens and that they didn't really belong in Australia.
