killing binary

On April 21-23, 1937, eleven white administrators from various states within Australia met at the capital city of Canberra to address a growing issue facing the nation – the ‘problem’ of the Aboriginal population. Dubbed Aboriginal Welfare: Initial Conference of Commonwealth and State Aboriginal Authorities, this first ever formal dialogue of its kind on a national scale approached Aboriginal affairs not in the effort to better understand the native population, but to decide their various legal statuses in accordance with existing Australian law, native influence on white economical spheres, and the final fate of Aboriginals as a culturally distinct group. Under a section titled “Destiny of the Race,” their final resolution read: “That this Conference believes that the destiny of the natives of aboriginal origin, but not of the full blood, lies in their ultimate absorption by the people of the Commonwealth, and it therefore recommends that all efforts be directed to that end” (Aboriginal 3). Those in question, also known as “half-castes,” “quadroons,” and “octoroons,” had both Aboriginal and white ancestry of differing variations, and they represented the greatest threat to Australian settler nationalism at the time: they destroyed the accepted notion of ordered binary in Australia, of black and white, of pure and unclean (Moran 176). They confused the binary by adding a gray area. They were a threat to ‘White Australia.’

Eight years before this resolution toward biological assimilation, a man named Arthur Upfield published a detective novel, The Barrakee Mystery¸ whose titular character is a biracial detective named Bony, after the Napoleon Bonaparte. In the story, Bony is called to action when a black Aboriginal, King Henry, is murdered on a stormy night. There is only one witness. Bony’s investigation through Barrakee station takes the reader on a bumpy expedition through land riddled with racialized stereotypes of Aboriginal men and women, depictions of miscegenation, and toward the final destiny of a young man, another ‘half-caste’ like Bony, named Ralph. Operating as a detective novel, The Barrakee Mystery is perfectly suited for addressing social unrest in Australia, including the Aboriginal ‘problem’ of miscegenation and ‘half-castes.’ Existing in the time between the two great wars, popularity of clue-based Golden Age detective novels signaled a need for social catharsis and resolution on behalf of the reader (Worthington 116). Detective novels made people feel active in solving tangible problems. Although Upfield didn’t attain immediate success with The Barrakee Mystery in Australia (Ruskin 4), its presence alone is worth noting as a conduit for post-colonial studies in relation to Australia and its snapshot of their society and politics. Detective novels both reflected and influenced societies with their commentaries, and Upfield’s novel is no different. His message is striking.

It is also worth noting that a breadth of analysis of Arthur Upfield and Bony, much of it contextual, exists in the canon of literary criticism. Investigating Arthur Upfield: A Centenary Collection of Critical Essays, edited by Kees de Hoog and Carol Hetherington, deserves attention for its comprehensive grasp of Upfield’s life and literary career. Bony is generally the center of the analyses, primarily about how he, as a half-caste, has an ability to both alienate and attract different readers with various instances of racism through all 29 Bony stories. My analysis here doesn’t dispute the racism of Upfield’s novels, or of The Barrakee Mystery in particular, but it does offer a unique contextual analysis that provides a more complex, nuanced view of Upfield’s work and his perspective on miscegenation and Aboriginal assimilation.

With Bony and Ralph, Upfield provides a suitable, if opinionated, analogy for the rising racial tension in Australia leading up to the point that it was published. Upfield undoubtedly aligns himself with racist ideology in many instances, but he also subverts the conclusions of the ‘Destiny of the Race’ as explicated by the Australian government. In this essay, I will do three things: contextualize Upfield’s detective story with the historical narrative of miscegenation and biological assimilation in ‘White Australia,’ show Upfield’s insensitive and racialized characterization of ‘half-caste’ and Aboriginal characters that parallels ‘White Australia,’ and offer an analysis for Upfield’s simultaneously counter-cultural view of the binary of black and white in Australia. I will center my arguments around the last three chapters of the novel. While other sections of The Barrakee Mystery might more concisely capture Upfield’s perspective of miscegenation, the last three chapters demand my attention because they function both as a literal ending to a fascinating story and a metaphorical punctuation for Upfield’ statement.

Miscegenation, ‘White Australia,’ and Biological Assimilation

Australian Aboriginal policy at the beginning of the 20th century marked a historically significant moment in which institutional powers both condoned and condemned sexual relationships between the colonizer white class and the colonized Aboriginal population. The act of sexual intercourse between two races, historically defined as ‘miscegenation,’ is a metaphor for both the physical “penetration and violation” of an Aboriginal woman and the intimate possibility for social reconciliation through a white man (Robert 69). Miscegenation with Aboriginal women was permitted institutionally while existing as a vice for white males asserting imperial power, but it was not encouraged in most cases (69). These complicated relationships were the cause of great, baffling obsession for colonizers and settlers (Ashcroft 138). Naturally, the product of these sexual relationships was offspring; marginalized, biracial children that became a problem to be solved by Australian administrators. These children were in direct opposition to the mission of a ‘White Australia,’ one that is required to operate on a binary level of white and black (Moran 169). They created a confused space in between, and this space had to be eliminated before white could overpower black in the socially constructed binary. ‘White Australia’s’ most basic, systemic goal was to preserve the collective binary in the effort to eventually destroy it.

Homogeneity, a tenant of nationalism, relied on the clear distinction of land, race, and territory for settler nationalists in Australia (Moran 169). Australians clung to burgeoning nationalism because of the very nature of their settler identity: they were two parts of a whole, originating from Britain but living in Australia, and facing a native population that seemed to be dying. Born a “black sheep of a yeoman Sussex family” who was sent to Australia in his youth and fell in love with the land, Upfield is a curious reflection of Australia’s split identity (Ruskin 2). Settler nationalists inevitably positioned their identity around race, which resulted in the formation of strict immigration policies that preceded assimilation strategies in the 1930’s (Dragojlovic 64). This opened the door for outrage and panic for when Australians began to realize that “doom” for the Aboriginal population was a myth and that ‘half-castes’ would be a force to be reckoned with (Moran 172). Biracial offspring killed the binary by complicating it. They needed to be confronted. “By contrast with killing, the demographic consequences of sexual contact are productive rather than reductive. And miscegenation… not only increases the population but produces people who are a potential challenge to the very terms, and terminology, of the colonial encounter” (Donaldson 61-62). This resulted in the ‘Destiny of the Race’ resolution in favor of biological assimilation. ‘Half-castes’ also defied perceived notions of “sexual control” of the native population because they were a manifestation of vice, “of shame and guilt; after all, they had to come from somewhere” (Moran 174). Biological assimilation was just another form of sexual dominancy over a growing biracial population. Child removal policies, under the guise of “protection,” were also used to further biological absorption (Stanciu 129). Children were the most vulnerable targets.

Aboriginal assimilation utilized eugenics to accomplish its ends, in theory. The problem was genetics, and so was the solution. Anthropologist Norman Tindale suggested that white blood was stronger than Aboriginal blood, so, in time, the white population would naturally absorb the “detrimental” characteristics of Aboriginals and erase them altogether (Moran 177). Tindale said that a “low percentage of Australian Aboriginal blood will not introduce any aberrant characteristics and there need be no fear of reversions to the dark Aboriginal type” (177). Hypothetically, this would destroy the uncomfortable space that lived in between the two binaries of black and white in Australia. And in time, Aboriginals would die out and ‘half-castes’ would be absorbed into the population. This was ‘White Australia’s’ solution to the binary: keep the sides clear and let time kill the opposite side. It was the only conceivable solution to the problem. Either ‘half-castes’ are absorbed, or the binary is confused. If it was confused, it couldn’t be killed. Australia would have to forget that Aborigines ever existed (178). Australian policy failed, and as time wore on, it had to reconcile itself with a post-war world at odds with racialization (178). Australia pivoted to cultural assimilation, which I will not discuss.

As mentioned earlier, Arthur Upfield’s The Barrakee Mystery was published almost a decade before the resolution of ‘The Destiny of the Race’ was ever made, but the novel captures the racial tension of the history of ‘White Australia.’ In the next two sections, I will present textual evidence from The Barrakee Mystery’s final three chapters that both reinforces racist Aboriginal representation and undermines it. First, I will discuss the texts by observing the ways in which Upfield aligns with ‘White Australia’ views of miscegenation and ‘half-castes,’ and second, I will discuss how the texts subvert the very notion of biological assimilation. Since much analysis of Bony already exists, my arguments revolve around the character Ralph.

‘White Australia’ at Barrakee Station

Arthur Upfield’s final three chapters in The Barrakee Mystery conclude the story in a neat fashion, dealing equal parts death and judgement upon the characters with the help of racialized portrayals of Aboriginals. In these final chapters and the ones leading up to it, the mysterious story of Barrakee Station is finally uncovered. King Henry is revealed to be the father of Ralph, and the Little Lady, Ralph’s adoptive mother, is revealed to be the ultimate murderer (l. 4134). In her confession to detective Bony, the Little Lady describes her motivations for adopting Ralph, citing the stark image of her dead baby beside her bed and the piercing sounds of a newborn infant, the son of another woman, echo into her room. She speaks of unflinching ‘Maternal Love,’ which is also the title of chapter 40. The Little Lady tells Bony that Mary, the birth mother of Ralph, said to her before she died:

“‘Make him yours, Ma’am! Oh, Ma’am! I am dying because of my sin. Never let him know of it, or who his father is.’ For a little while she lay so still that I thought her dead, and then quite distinctly she said: ‘I don’t know why-perhaps it was because he was so magnificent a man that I became as putty in his hands. When he put out his arms I was compelled into them; when he touched me he lifted me off the earth. Oh, Ma’am! He is King Henry’” (l. 4086).

Plainly, Mary tells the Little Lady that her ‘sin’ of miscegenation is not only resulting in a ‘half-caste’ baby being born, but it is also killing her. Her unequivocal attraction to an Aboriginal is leading to her demise, and she is helpless against it. Mary demonizes both inter-racial relationships and King Henry himself, an Aboriginal. By proxy, she demonizes the unnamed baby Ralph as well. This is a clear reflection of ‘White Australia’s’ fervent disillusionment toward the Aboriginal population and their understanding that a growing ‘half-caste’ population threatens a clear binary. It is also something to be absolutely ashamed of to them.

Interestingly, as illustrated in chapter 40 and 41, one of Upfield’s greatest crimes in The Barrakee Mystery is not found in his obvious moments of racism, but in his subtle stripping of agency for Aboriginal characters, similar to how ‘White Australia’ silenced the voices of Aboriginals. In The Barrakee Mystery, Aboriginals and ‘half-castes’ are pawns in a game that Upfield cannot even recall the name of. The Little Lady recounts her life to Bony in chapter 40 and the ‘battles’ she has waged: “‘I have fought many battles and won them all, but this is my Waterloo,’ she said haltingly. “Like the great Emperor, I have risen to great heights and tasted the joy of life; and like him, too, when the pinnacle was reached, I fell. His enemy was Man; my enemy is Nature’” (l. 4072). The Little Lady is an actor in the story, fighting for the love of Ralph, whose agency is overshadowed by ‘nature.’ To the Little Lady, nothing can stop nature. Nothing can stop genetics. In chapter 41, Bony tells the Little Lady’s confession to Ralph, and Ralph wonders how much longer he will stay white before he physically develops into a black man indistinguishable from a fully Aboriginal man. Bony replies that he won’t have much longer, to which Ralph says: “‘A few years! Somehow I am not greatly sorry for myself. My thoughts now are of Mrs Thornton, to whom I was and am so necessary. You would think, wouldn’t you, that such a love would keep a fellow back from this-this-And yet what you find here is irresistible to me” (l. 4177). Ralph himself credits his fate to some unseen power that draws him from Barrakee Station and the love of his mother, in the sphere of ‘White Australia.’ He cannot help himself. He even tells Bony not long after this that he could never go back to Barrakee because he would be too ashamed (l. 4177). He is no longer a character whose choice fully belongs to him; he goes to live with the Aboriginal population but the action inevitably takes away his own agency. My position is that this is a moment of Upfield’s commentary coming into play. Aboriginals in The Barrakee Mystery tend to lose the element of choice. This falls completely in line with the ‘Destiny of the Race.’ Aboriginals and ‘half-castes’ were not actors in the dialogue of the resolution. They are pawns in The Barrakee Mystery and in the historical ‘White Australia’ as well. When Bony leaves Ralph after this conversation, Ralph visits his dying mother in the dead of night:

He felt ungrateful, ashamed, not a little frightened; yet he knew that his severance from white people was dictated by a power which only that afternoon he recognized as the power of his ancestry. Realizing that he had brought pain and anguish to the woman who had given him her all, he blamed himself less than he blamed his fate. What he did not realize was that this midnight visit represented the last link binding him to her, that when it had been strained and broken the forces of heredity would become forever victorious (l. 4192).

Ralph is finally, helplessly, floundering in the presence of inescapable fate. Upfield has stripped identity and agency from Ralph, a ‘half-caste,’ aligning himself with ‘White Australia.’ In the next section, I will discuss Upfield’s curious but clear departure from ‘White Australia’ with analysis and two metaphors.

Killing Binary

While the above racialized passage shows how Upfield has a similar attitude to biological assimilation as ‘White Australia’ and the policies of assimilation, he ultimately departs from it. In the above passage, the “ancestors of the bush” compel Ralph away from maternal love, and away from Barrakee Station for the rest of his life (l. 4231). Ralph leaves. However, he doesn’t just leave. He goes somewhere. He joins Nellie, an Aboriginal, in a place away from home, away from his white family and acquaintances. According to Upfield, while bound to destiny, ‘half-castes’ are drawn to the Aboriginal way of life. Upfield defies anthropologist Norman Tindale’s racist assertion of white and black blood under the umbrella of eugenics in his own uniquely racist way; white cannot overcome black. Aboriginals are unable to be assimilated because they live in distinct worlds with walls built around and clearly defined by ‘White Australia.’ Ralph is bound to an Aboriginal life even as a product of miscegenation – a ‘half-caste.’ While speaking definitively for Aboriginals as a white man is still totally objectionable, Upfield’s departure from ‘White Australia’ here is incredibly important to the novel. Ralph leaves Barrakee Station in chapter 41, and isn’t seen again in the novel. The following chapter, and the final one of The Barrakee Mystery, titled “Flood-Waters Subside,” provides a contrast for Ralph’s new life with Nellie among the Aboriginal population by his absence in the novel’s conclusion.

With Ralph gone, Bony visits Barrakee Station to speak with Mr. Thornton, the Little Lady’s husband and Ralph’s (once) father, about the solving of the mystery. Bony tells Mr. Thornton the truth, who then asks in return what Bony will do with the truth about his recently deceased wife. Bony answers: “Nothing—nothing whatever… The case is finished. Besides, I would find it utterly impossible to tarnish the character of so great a woman as was the Little Lady” (l. 4250). Not only is the Little Lady’s character absolutely tarnished in her murder of an Aboriginal (although she is somewhat sympathetic in her evergreen love for Ralph), this passage personifies Upfield’s final narrative shift in point of view. The story, the mystery of Barrakee, is no longer about Ralph, the ‘half-caste.’ In the final moments of the novel, the reader is left to watch the remaining threads be tied up at Barrakee Station. The Little Lady’s death is tragic and Dugdale, a white man who has fallen in love with Kate, is essentially adopted as Mr. Thornton’s new son. “‘Would you object greatly to calling me Father or Dad?’” asks Mr. Thornton. Dugdale replies: “‘No. I’ve been wanting to do it for years, Dad’” (l. 4325). Ralph is literally and figuratively gone and removed from the sphere of ‘White Australia,’ a counter-point to biological assimilation. Finally, the book ends with Martha, an Aboriginal servant at Barrakee Station, helping Kate move furniture. Kate sees Dugdale, and they begin a new life together (l. 4333). Barrakee Station has its new son and it isn’t a ‘half-caste’ in a white world. This is Upfield’s final message of The Barrakee Mystery. It seems here that the binary is clear; Ralph and Nellie are living with Aboriginals, Dugdale and Kate begin their life together, and Barrakee Station is ‘pure’ and white. This is not so. Upfield folds a wrinkle into the ending narrative. To show this, I must go back to chapter two of the novel, titled “The Sin of Silence.”

This is the chapter that the reader is introduced to the central conflict of The Barrakee Mystery; we learn that Ralph is a ‘half-caste’ and that he is returning home from college. In this chapter, we are also introduced to an exceedingly minor character, Martha. Upfield’s racialized first descriptive words assigned to her call her an “enormously fat aboriginal woman” (l. 140). Martha enters the room and the Little Lady (who Bony later admonishes for being of high moral fiber) severely demands to know where Martha’s shoes went. “‘Missy, I dunno,’ Martha gasped. ‘Them slippers got bushed’” (l. 148). The Little Lady’s response is the first of two metaphors for the novel that I have determined to explicate:

“For twenty years, Martha, have I tried to encase your feet in footwear,” Mrs Thornton said softly, but with a peculiar grimness of tone. “I have bought you boots, shoes and slippers. I shall be very angry with you, Martha, if you do not at once find your slippers and put them on. If they are bushed, go and track them” (l. 148).

Here, Martha, an Aboriginal woman, is demanded to go to the ‘bush’ and look for something lost of hers, something given to her by a white woman. When she is re-introduced at the end, Martha walks in, “her feet unencumbered by hateful, unnatural footwear” (l. 4336). She never looked for the shoes. She never found them. They exist as a motif for white control over Aboriginals, and she has rejected it, while still living in Barrakee Station. She lives in ‘White Australia.’ “‘Well, well, we must remember that Martha once was a semi-wild thing,’ Thornton urged indulgently. ‘Doesn’t it ever surprise you that Martha, who has been with us for twenty years, has never wanted to return to her tribe?’” (l. 170). Martha is a metaphorical foil for Ralph, a ‘half-caste,’ and his exile from the white world. He leaves, but at the end of the story, she doesn’t. She is just there. I would suggest that Martha’s presence in The Barrakee Mystery bookends and modifies Upfield’s assertion of a binary world that opposes Australian notions of biological assimilation. Considering Martha, The Barrakee Mystery suggests that strong binary with no confusion has inherent fault. Her function at Barrakee Station racistly enforces plantation culture, readily identifiable by American readers of the time, but the door is left slightly ajar for reconciliation.

Viewing the decades-long story of Ralph in The Barrakee Mystery with a wide angle lens enables my second and last metaphor to be seen, one for Australia’s ‘Aboriginal problem.’ Much like the life of Ralph, who is born looking identical to a white infant and experiences a darkening of his complexion into his adulthood, the realization of the ‘Aboriginal problem’ was a process. ‘White Australia’ as a colonized ‘place’ was perceived as settlers as being white, like Ralph (Ashcroft 174). Time changed this perception. The Aboriginal side of the binary was an invisible threat, and eventually appeared in full effect, and resulted in a moment of choice. Will Australia condone biological assimilation in the effort to distinguish binary and let the Aboriginal population die – in effect killing the binary? Will Ralph follow Bony’s lead and live in ‘White Australia’? A fact remains: both Upfield in his fictional story and ‘The Destiny of the Race’ in its stark reality, strip agency from Aboriginals in their own way. Regardless of intention, Aboriginal voices are silent, they are subdued. They are absent.

In this essay, I identified the ways in which Arthur Upfield, in The Barrakee Mystery both reinforces and subverts the notions of ‘White Australia’ and biological assimilation in a historical context. Arthur Upfield, ‘White Australia,’ and the fictionalized and true ‘half-castes’ alike all share something remarkable in common. They are each of them torn in two, belonging perhaps to both sides and to neither at the same time. There, in the intersection of these very real, tangible lives full of memory and love and heartbreak, rests a deep tragedy – a failure to realize that they are each of them the same.

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