The Thorn Birds “The best is only bought at the cost of great pain”
Colleen McCullough presents the story of an unrequited love - a priest and a beautiful girl have to suppress their feelings for each other because of the rules of their religion.
Stoican Cosmina
“There is a legend about a bird which sings just once in its life, more sweetly than any other creature on the face of the earth. From the moment it leaves the nest it searches for a thorn tree, and does not rest until it has found one. Then, singing among the savage branches, it impales itself upon the longest, sharpest spine. And, dying, it rises above its own agony to outcarol the lark and the nightingale. The thorn bird pays its life for just one song, but the whole world stills to listen and God in His heaven smiles. “ “But we, when we put the thorns in our breasts, we know. We understand. And still we do it. Still we do it.”
Colleen McCullough Colleen McCullough seems always to impress those who meet her by her physical appearance and by her presence. Her size-five feet 10 inches and around 200 pounds-her red hair, her chain smoking, her loose-fitting and unfeminine attire, her hearty laugh and her regularly commented upon. She talks easily and fluently about her writing and is known for gladly meeting with interviewers and readers. Though she is usually thought of as an Australian writer, she has lived most of her adult life outside that country and, in fact, has made it a primary setting for only a few of her novels, including of course “The Thorn Birds”, that created her reputation. She was born on June 1, 1937, in the Australian outback, at Wellington, New South Wales. At various times, she lived in areas of what growing, sheep raising, and sugar growing, from which came observations and experiences she later put to use in her fiction, especially in “The Thorn Birds”. Though she had written for herself since childhood, she began writing seriously only during her time at Yale, when she composed her first two novels, “Tim” and “The Thorn Birds”, at night. She had always considered that writing for publication would be a kind of prostitution, but practical considerations eventually made her change her mind. Many details from her own life and observation have appeared in her fiction. Her first two novels and “The Ladies of Missalonghi” rely upon settings from her youth. Her father was cutter of sugar cane, like Luke in “The Thorn Birds”. Her mother's background as a New Zealander is similar to that of Fee in the same novel. Dane's death by drowning, also in “The Thorn Birds”, reflects the death of McCullough's own brother. In most of her later work, however, she has turned to settings and materials quite different from those of her Australian background.
Plot and characters “The Thorn Birds” is the story of the Cleary family, a poor family of ranchers/shearers who uproot from their home in New Zealand to take over Drogheda, the most prominent sheep ranch in the Australian Outback which is owned by Mary, sister of family patriarch Paddy Cleary. “The Thorn Birds” follows the Cleary family for three generations but the heart of the story is Meggie Cleary who grows from a child to womanhood and her forbidden love for Catholic Priest Ralph de Bricassart who is torn between his love for Meggie and his desire to ascend to the greatest heights of the Catholic Church. The epic begins with Meghann "Meggie" Cleary, a four-year-old girl living in New Zealand in the early twentieth century, the only daughter of Paddy, an Irish farm laborer, and Fee, his harassed but aristocratic wife. Although Meggie is a beautiful child with curly red-gold hair, she receives little coddling and must struggle to hold her own against her numerous older brothers. Of these brothers, her favorite is the eldest, Frank, a rebellious young man who is unwillingly preparing himself for the blacksmith's trade. He is much shorter than his brothers, but very strong; also, unlike the other Cleary’s, he has black hair and eyes. Paddy is poor, but has a wealthy sister, Mary Carson, who lives in Australia on an enormous sheep station called Drogheda. One day, Paddy receives a letter from Mary offering him a job on her estate. He accepts, and the whole family moves to the Outback. Here Meggie meets Ralph de Bricassart, a young, capable, and ambitious priest who, as punishment for insulting a bishop, has been relegated to a remote parish in the town of Gillanbone, near Drogheda. Ralph has befriended Mary, hoping a hefty enough bequest from her to the Catholic Church might liberate him from his exile. Ralph is strikingly handsome; "a beautiful man"; and Mary, who does not bother to conceal her desire for him, often goes to great lengths to see if he can be induced to break his vows. Ralph blandly shrugs off these attentions and continues his visits. Meanwhile, he cares for all the Clearys and soon learns to cherish beautiful but forlorn little Meggie. Meggie, in return, makes Ralph the centre of her life. Frank's relationship with his father, Paddy, has never been peaceful. The two vie for Fee's attention, and Frank resents the many pregnancies Paddy makes her endure. One day, after Fee, now in her forties, reveals she is again pregnant, the two men quarrel violently and Paddy blurts out the truth about Frank: he is not Paddy's son. Long ago, Fee had been the adored only daughter of a prominent citizen. Then she had an affair with a married politician, and the result, Frank, was already eighteen months old when her mortified father married her off to Paddy. Because he resembles her lost love, Fee has always loved Frank more than her other children. To the sorrow of Meggie and Fee,
when Frank learns that Paddy is not his father, he runs away to become a boxer. Fee later gives birth to twin boys, James and Patrick (Jims and Patsy), but shows little interest in them. Shortly afterward, Meggie's beloved little brother, Hal, dies. With Frank gone and Hal dead, Meggie clings to Ralph more than ever. This goes largely unnoticed because Ralph has now been her mentor for several years; however, as she ripens into womanhood, some begin to question their close relationship, including Ralph and Meggie themselves. Mary Carson has also noticed their changing relationship, and from motives of jealousy mingled with Machiavellian cruelty, she devises a plan to separate Ralph from Meggie by tempting him with his heart's desire: a high place in the Church hierarchy. Although her will of record leaves the bulk of her estate to Paddy, she quietly writes a new one, making the Roman Catholic Church the main beneficiary and Ralph the executor. In the new will, the true magnitude of Mary's wealth is finally revealed. Drogheda is not the centre of her fortune as Ralph and Paddy have long believed but is merely a hobby, a diversion from her true financial interests. Mary's wealth is derived from a vast multi-national financial empire worth over thirteen million Pounds (about a$200 million in modern terms). The sheer size of Mary's bequest will virtually guarantee Ralph's rapid rise in the church. She also makes sure that after she dies only Ralph, at first, will know of the new will — forcing him to choose between Meggie and his own ambition. She also provides for her disinherited brother, promising him and all his grandchildren a home on Drogheda as long as any of them live. At Mary's seventy-second birthday party, Ralph goes to great lengths to avoid Meggie, now seventeen and dressed in a beautiful rose-pink evening gown; later, he explains that others might not see his attention as innocent. Mary dies in the night. Ralph duly learns of the new will. He sees at once the subtle genius of Mary's plan and, although he weeps and calls her "a disgusting old spider" he takes the new will to her lawyer without delay. The lawyer, scandalized, urges Ralph to destroy the will, but to no avail. The bequest of thirteen million pounds works its expected magic, and Ralph soon leaves to begin his rapid advance in the Church. Before he leaves, Meggie confesses her love for him; after the birthday party, Ralph finds her crying in the family cemetery and they share a passionate kiss, but Ralph refuses her because of his duties as a priest and begs Meggie to find someone to love and marry. The Clearys learn that Frank has been convicted of murder after killing someone in a fight. He spends three decades in prison. Paddy and his son Stuart are killed; Paddy dies in a lightning fire, and Stu is killed by a wild boar shortly after finding his father's body. Meanwhile, Ralph, unaware of Paddy and Stu's deaths, is on his way to Drogheda and suffers minor injuries when his plane bogs in the mud. As Meggie tends his wounds, she tries
to seduce him and is rebuffed. Ralph remains at Drogheda only long enough to conduct the funerals. Three years later, a new ranch worker named Luke O'Neill begins to court Meggie. Although his motives are more mercenary than romantic, she marries him because he looks a little bit like Ralph, but mainly because he is not Catholic and wants little to do with religion-her own way of getting back at Ralph. She soon realizes her mistake. After a brief honeymoon, Luke, a skinflint who regards women as sex objects and prefers the company of men, finds Meggie a live-in job with a kindly couple, the Muellers, and leaves to join a gang of itinerant sugarcane cutters in North Queensland. Before he leaves, he appropriates all Meggie's savings and arranges to have her wages paid directly to him. He tells her he is saving money to buy a homestead; however, he quickly becomes obsessed with the competitive toil of cane-cutting and has no real intention of giving it up. Hoping to change Luke's ambition and settle him down, Meggie deliberately thwarts his usual contraception and bears Luke a red-haired daughter, Justine. The new baby, however, makes little impression on Luke. Father Ralph visits Meggie during her difficult labor; he has come to say goodbye, as he is leaving Australia for Rome. He sees Meggie's unhappiness for himself, and pities her. Justine proves to be a fractious baby, so the Muellers send Meggie to an isolated island resort for a rest. Father Ralph returns to Australia, learns of Meggie's whereabouts from Anne Mueller, and joins her for several days. There, at last, the lovers consummate their passion, and Ralph realizes that despite his ambition to be the perfect priest, his desire for Meggie makes him a man like other men. Father Ralph returns to the Church, and Meggie, pregnant with Ralph's child, decides to separate from Luke. She tells Luke what she really thinks of him, and returns to Drogheda, leaving him to his cane-cutting. Back home, she gives birth to a beautiful boy whom she names Dane. Fee, who has had experience in such matters, notices Dane's resemblance to Ralph as soon as he is born. The relationship between Meggie and Fee takes a turn for the better. Justine grows into an independent, keenly intelligent girl who loves her brother dearly; however, she has little use for anyone else, and calmly rebuffs Meggie's overtures of motherly affection. None of Meggie's other surviving brothers ever marry, and Drogheda gradually becomes a place filled with old people. Ralph visits Drogheda after a long absence and meets Dane for the first time; and although he finds himself strangely drawn to the boy, he fails to recognize that they are father and son. Dane grows up and decides, to Meggie's dismay, to become a priest. Fee tells Meggie that what she stole from God, she must now give back. Justine, meanwhile, decides to become an actress and leaves Australia to seek her dream in England. Ralph, now a Cardinal, becomes a mentor to Dane, but still blinds himself to the fact that the young man is his own son. Dane is also unaware of their true relationship. Ralph takes great care of him, and because of their resemblance people mistake them for uncle and
nephew. Ralph and Dane encourage the rumor. Justine and her brother remain close, although he is often shocked at her sexual adventures and free-wheeling lifestyle. She befriends Rainer Hartheim, a German politician who is a great friend of both Dane and Ralph's - unbeknown to her; he falls deeply in love with her. Their friendship becomes the most important in her life, and is on the verge of becoming something more when tragedy strikes. Dane, who has just become a priest, is vacationing in Greece. While there, he goes swimming one day and dies while rescuing two women from a dangerous current. Meggie reveals before Dane's funeral that Dane is Ralph's son. Ralph dies in Meggie's arms after the funeral. Justine breaks off all communications with Rainer and falls into a depressed, hum-drum existence. Eventually, they renew their acquaintance on strictly platonic terms, until Rainer visits Drogheda alone in order to urge Meggie to help him pursue Justine's hand in marriage. Justine, now the sole surviving grandchild of Fee and Paddy Cleary, finally accepts her true feelings for Rainer. They marry, but have no plans to live on Drogheda. The most important characters are Meggie, Ralph and Mary.
Little Meggie and Ralph Meggie and Ralph Mary Carson Differences between the novel and the movie 1. The novel begins in New Zealand on December 8, 1915, Meggie Cleary's fourth birthday. The miniseries begins in Australia five years later. 2. Three of Paddy and Fiona's children, Hughie and twins Jims and Patsy, are left out of the miniseries. In the miniseries, Meggie and Stuart visit Frank in prison, where Frank eventually dies. In the novel, no one in the Cleary family sees Frank until he is released from prison after 30 years. 3. In the novel, Meggie is totally ignorant of sexual matters until her wedding and has her own childish idea of how babies are made, which is revealed in her dialogue with Ralph. In the corresponding dialogue in the film, she is at least aware that animals copulate. 4. Ralph dies while sitting in a chair with Meggie's head in his lap, recalling the legend of the thorn bird, not in Meggie's arms as in the novel.
Meghann Cleary (or Meggie) is the only daughter of Padraic, a country gentleman, married with Fiona Cleary. She is described as a very pretty tomboy at the start of the story who grows up into a mature and beautiful young woman. She is shown to have her father's red hair and her mother's looks, which are equally as handsome as that of her mother's as she grows up. Like her parents and siblings however, she is a proud and hardworking person with a lot of determination, iron will and a loving and affectionate heart. Ralph de Bricassart is a Catholic priest, who, because he had insulted a bishop, is sent at Drogheda. At first, he is shown as a very ambitious and capable priest, but, in time, he becomes weak, and has trouble with the struggle between love and religion. Mary Carson is a very rich woman, who owns Drogheda. She belongs to a higher social class than the other characters from Drogheda. Mary is shown as a smart woman, who knows how to manage most of the situation. When watching the movie we can draw a parallel between Mary Carson and Miss Havisham. They both appear as old wealthy ladies, dresses as brides, who suffer because of love.
Setting The action takes place in different cities and countries all around the world, but the main place is Drogheda, an Australian sheep station. Back then, it was a fictional place, but now there is an area in Australia called Drogheda. The action begins in 1915 ( 1920 in the miniseries) and ends in 1969.
Themes 1. Religion: In any romance, the hero and heroine inevitably encounter obstacles. Rabbis, Protestant ministers, Orthodox priests can marry. But a Catholic priest is bound by sacred vow to a life of service to the Church, meaning no flirtatious banter, no stolen kisses, etc. The vow of chastity is one Ralph long struggles with, repeatedly pushing Meggie aside. She tempts him, partly from her first naive belief that he can stop being a priest and partly from the depths of her obsessive love. She deeply resents the Church's requirement for the celibacy of priests and blames the Church for ruining her life, for making her marry Luke because she could not marry Ralph. 2. Suffering: Related to the theme of suffering is that of love and lust as destructive forces. Love leads to the suffering of Fee and Meggie and causes Ralph to break his vow of chastity. Lust impales Mary Carson to create the cruel choice Ralph must make. By making him decide whether to present the will leaving her fortune to the Church (but in his control), she forces him to choose between his integrity and his love for Meggie, on the one hand, and his ambition to rise in the Church, on the other. 3. The woman’s condition in society and family: In that period of time, women were legally powerless, totally dependent on the goodwill and kindness of first their fathers, than their husbands, and finally their sons. In this book, female characters are tending to become stronger and more competent. Mary Carson is a very good example. 4. Unrequited love: This theme is related to the “religion” theme. We can see the forbidden love between Ralph and Meggie, which goes stronger as time goes by.
The title The title refers to the Celtic legend of a bird which searches all its life for a thorn on which it may impale itself. That act, which kills it, enables it to sing so beautifully that its song is the loveliest thing in the world. As Ralph says "the best is only bought at the cost of great pain". All the major characters suffer, and for each there is some repayment though frequently not enough, and probably that’s why the novel is called “The Thorn Birds” not “The Thorn Bird” This motif is a very common one. Shakespeare’s Lucrece speaks to the bird: “against a thorn thy bear’st thy part/ to keep thy sharp woes waking” (Lucrece 1135-36) and Oscar Wilde builds on it in his story “The Nightingale and the Rose”. There are some other authors who have used this motif in their books.
Soundtrack The soundtrack of “The Thorn Birds” is composed by Henry Mancini, in 1983. There are 48 songs, each one used for a certain emotion, a certain character etc. Henry Mancini is best known for his songs used in famous movies as “The Pink Panther”, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and the list goes on. He won a record number of Grammy Awards.
Symbols 1. Roses: First of all, we can see that the color "ashes of roses" is often used. To become ashes, roses must burn. They must go through fire in order to create the beauty of color. Through suffering and pain beauty is created. This color is related to suffering. Meggie wears an "ashes of roses" dress at the Mary Carson's seventieth birth, where she feels jealous and also ignored by Ralph, and at her wedding too, the wedding with a man whom she's doesn't belong to. Second of all, the rose that Ralph keeps with him is the symbol of love between Meggie and him. Finally, the rose garden is the traditional place of love, which can be seen as a fortress against evil.
2. Wild Boars: They are the symbol of courage. The scene where Stu kills the wild boar shows a brave child, who can defend himself.
Other literary works Possible inspiration: “The Nightingale and the Rose” by Oscar Wilde Other books published after “The Thorn Birds”, inspired by it: a. “The Ring and the Book” by Robert Browning b. “The Marriage Bed” by Claudia Dain c. “This Widowed Land” by Kathleen O’Neal Gear
Bibliography 1. Mary Jean DeMarr, “Colleen McCullough: a critical companion”, 1996, GreenWood Press; 2. Michael Ferber, “A Dictionary of Literary Symbols”, 2007, Cambridge 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
www.wikipedia.com www.archive.org www.sparknotes.com www.heroesandheartbreakers.com www.likesbooks.com
