Jetty Rats Essay Example

Another example of this is Saphonia and Brett. Saphonia has been trying to get a boyfriend for a while and has tried a lot of different guys.

The complexity of this relation is that Brett is a policeman and Saphonia’s ex-husband is in jail. This relationship could become very complex when Saphonia’s ex-husband is free from jail. They may cross paths or he might come looking for her. Secondly, the text shows friendship can grow between people who have similarities but also differences. Saphonia and Sandy are an example of this. They met a pretty long time ago, when Dolphy, Saphonia’s bus broke down. They were helped by a passing truck that drove them to the nearest town which was Dougleg Bay.

The book doesn’t tell you exactly how they became friends, but probably how their lives are similar. They both lost their husband, both are mothers and both have kids (photocopies and Hunter) around their early teenage years. Another reason why they have become such close friends is their differences. Saphoinia is still a beginner in parenting but Sandy has already learnt the skills of parenting though Hunter. Saphonia feels more comfortable talking about her ex-husband, but Sandy is embarrassed in the thought of him. This makes it hard for Sandy because Hunter and Storm likes to talk about their dads.

Their personalities are different as Saphonia is more of a hippy and Sandy is normal mum who runs a caravan park. In saying this, Saphonia can learn a lot about parenting from Sandy, and Saphonia can help Sandy to handle her lost husband easier. Another example of this is Hunter

and Skullster. In primary school Hunter and his friends would bully Skullster. They would dack him every day for fun and Skullster would have no friends. But when Hunter needed Skullster’s help to hack the barrages, Hunter came crawling to Skullster’s house.

Skullster thought it was pathetic that Hunter had come back after all the years of bullying him to needing his help. Though Skullster didn’t really want to help Hunter, Skullster needed his mum to not worry about him not having any friends, so he made a deal with Hunter (chapter 21). Hunter had to come to Skullster’s house every now and then and Skullster would help Hunter hack the barrages. This is when the friendship started. Hunter started to talk to Skullster more and later on they were very good friends. Skullster was part of Jetty Rats and the group accepted him.

This relationship started from the differences. Though they went to the same primary school, Hunter used to bully Skullster and not really pay any attention to him. Skullster was more the indoors type of person and Hunter was the outdoor type. But because Hunter loves fishing, he needed to get mulloways back into the bay, and because Skullster was so good at hacking with computers but was in need of a fake friend, they helped themselves and each other out. Thirdly, friendships can grow between different age groups who may or may not have the same interests. Hunter and Warwick are an example of this.

Warwick is a paleontologist who studies extinct fish who came to Dogleg Bay to find and study fossils. They met in the M.

A. B when Warwick needed to go to the toilet while Hunter was cleaning up (chapter 4). The first expression Hunter thought of Warwick was a really hairy, geeky sort of guy that also flosses and uses the urinal like he’s in the city. The next time they talked was in the M. A. B again. This time Hunter listened to Warwick more, accepted him because Warwick treated Hunter like an adult. Hunter was interested in the experiment of unsinkable poo, until Hunter found out he had to touch them (chapter 11).

This shows Hunter isn’t really committed to be a scientist that has to touch disgusting stuff. Afterwards, they talked about how mulloways could come back if there was more fresh water; this gave Hunter the idea to open the barrages. When Warwick was talking about how he didn’t think it was a computer malfunction, Hunter was scared Warwick was going to find out it was him who opened the barrages. Hunter quickly changed the subject saying he knew where a fossil is (chapter 24). Warwick was so excited that he did the scrubbing of the toilets by himself really quickly. On the car drive there, Hunter admitted he didn’t really like Warwick.

Half way there Hunter wanted to pick up Jasmine, but instead Storm came. When they were there Hunter thought the Murk (where his dad died) was really rough but it wasn’t, so for that moment he was comfortable. But when the waves started becoming rougher and the wind strengthening, Hunter felt really uncomfortable, telling Warwick he wanted to leave. This friendship started from different interests but have similar objects

in them. Even though Warwick is more into extinct fish than live fish, they both like fish. Hunter said he used to want to be an ichthyologist, so they both have something connected to science.

This friendship has bonded pretty well, but it could easily fall apart, as Warwick wants to date Hunter’s mum, Sandy. Another example of this is Hunter and the Fairchild brothers. Hunter started off only knowing Zappo, the one who wears dresses. But along the adventure, he met Dougy, Zappo’s brother. Zappo is the old fisherman who always hangs around the jetty. His groupies (pelicans, Smoky the cat and the seagulls) are always around him, there for some free fish. Dougy is also an old fisherman who has been hiding from kids or people who steals his stuff.

Hunter soon learns that Dougy is the man who caught the ninety four pound seven ounces mulloway in the older days. Dougy also has the special gift Hunter soon gets himself, the smell of the mulloway (chapter 17). Zappo and Dougy used to fish together and catch mulloways. They separated afterwards and Dougy left to the Mully’s jetty. This big friendship started by similarities. All three of them love fishing, especially mulloways. At that time the only connection between the two Fairchild brothers was Hunter. On the night Hunter caught the massive mulloway was the night Zappo and Dougy reunited as brothers.

Jetty Rats is an adventurous novel that explores the friendship to its very depth. It shows us that friendship is a massive factor of our lives and if we don’t have any, life could bore you to the

very end. Besides the rewarding experiences of bonding with other people, the novel shows how to endure the conflict that friendship brings and how to make relationships even stronger than it already is. Remember that friendship can start from just about anything, from similarities to different age groups and genders. Having friends is the most rewarding and helpful thing you can ever have.