"The misfortunes of the characters in these stories are entirely due to forces outside their control.
The text shows that the treatment of Aborigines by white society, is based on racism and stereotypical attitudes for example, in "Going Home- when Billy and Darcy go to buy beer from the pub, the barman automatically assumes that Billy is from the reservation "only if you bastards drink it down by the camp- and that was the condition that he would allow them the beer.
This was a result of societies attitudes towards Aboriginals, and "Billy's black and the barman white nothing can ever change that."".
In "Herbie-, Herbie's misfortunes were completely out of his control. Being the only Aboriginal or "Boong- in the town's school, Herbie was an easy target for being mistreated by the white children. Herbie, although being mistreated because of being black took great pride in himself and never backed down to the bullies. Herbie's family was the normal stereotypical Aboriginal family that everyone seems to perceive, drunks, poor, dirty etc. Herbie is very different from this as he isn't a drunk, and goes to school.
The stereotypical views about Billy and his family are out of their control. "Going Home- strongly symbolizes this, when one of the stores in town is robbed and the authorities go straight to the reservation.
When the authorities arrive, Billy is accused of being involved in the robbery and brutal beating of a storeowner. His rights aren't upheld by the police, as they take no notice of what he has to say as he is put under arrest for possessing the gold watch. The police don't believe Billy about being at the reservation that night, and when he asks them to ask Darcy they reply, "you bastards stick together, like flies on a dunny wall-.
This attitude is further supported in "Herbie-, as Herbie receives no help or support from any of the teachers or other authorities around the school, to defend him from the Bullies.
