Wake in Fright : Doc = Grant in a couple of years

Doc = Grant in a couple of years

It's pretty clear in the film that Doc represents what Grant was in the process of becoming.

Like Grant, Doc was an educated and cultured man who became stranded in the outback and "went native." He retains vestiges of his past while being able to fit in with the locals through drunkenness, violence, and debauchery. Grant was undergoing the same procedure, being "initiated" into the world of the locals.

That's why Grant doesn't know whether to kill Doc or himself at the end, because they represent different time points in the same life, had Grant decided to stay in the outback.

Re: Doc = Grant in a couple of years

nice idea!

Re: Doc = Grant in a couple of years

Well observed, OP. I'm not sure if Grant would have stood the test of time. Early on, when they first meet, the Doc mentions the number of suicides. I suspect Grant would have killed himself eventually. The Doc was an alcoholic when he arrived in Yabba, if I recall rightly, so his ability to endure was in proportion to his addiction.

I give my respect to those who have earned it; to everyone else, I'm civil.

Re: Doc = Grant in a couple of years

Yep, I thought the same. As soon as the doctor said he had been there for five years and had moved from Sydney I thought "This is you in five years...".

Like a bird on the wire, like a drunk in a midnight choir, I have tried in my way to be free

Re: Doc = Grant in a couple of years

I think that only goes half way there, Ed. Doc recognised that Grant is already him. Grant discovers that he doesn't have to go thru an 'education' to become like the lads; all he has to do is drop his pretenses and find within him what was always there. What he rejected in others with sardonic contempt was always within him- self-rejection (Ennis?). The 'true' capabilities of his nature didn't dramatically emerge- they were merely revealed. By the time he realises that his personal cat is out of his bag, he wants no more of himself in his life.

But yes, agreed that given that the the 'Yabba supports a structure of 'types', Grant would fill the 'Doc' position- the only one available for any male with an education.


I can't imagine why.

Re: Doc = Grant in a couple of years

Grant seems ambivalent about the whole thing in many of the scenes, part of him wants to embrace the depraved life among the townspeople, part of him is still afraid of it and disgusted by it. Doc, on the other hand, has gone completely native and revels in the lifestyle.

In any case, it's interesting that Donald Pleasence's two best performances - Doc in this film and George in Cul de Sac, are completely opposite personality types.
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