The Narrow Road to the Deep North

Dorrigo drives into a part of the forest that has already burnt, hoping that it will not reignite. A new wall of flame appears and forces him to turn around. He drives as fast as he can. The flames race to the edge of the road, and houses begin exploding on either side of the car. A tree falls in their path, blocking their progress. He manages to drive to the side of it, smashing through a fence. This requires them to drive through the bonfire for a few moments. The children scream, but then they are on the other side of it, back on the road towards Hobart. When they see the police roadblock again, they all grow quiet, in “a conspiracy of affections, illnesses, tragedies; jokes and labour; a marriage—the strange, terrible neverendingness of human beings. A family” (382). 

As part of a school project, Jimmy Bigelow’s daughter Jodie asks him to tell her about the war. He shows her his bugle and plays “Last Post” but says that he wasn’t there for much of the war. He says the POWs were “lucky, we only had to suffer” (382). Jimmy’s wife has been dead for 28 years, and he has come to see the universe as a massive comedy.