Vertigo - Amanda Lohrey - Texts & Human Experiences

Amanda Lohrey – Vertigo

Amanda Lohrey’s novella Vertigo (2009) explores how individuals deal with adversities in their lives. This piece explores a new beginning by changing landscapes to heal within nature. However, it is essential to note that nature can bring about healing and destruction.

The text is relatable because it grapples with the intricacies of the human condition. We see this by exploring Luke and Anna’s loss, their change and how they navigate this next chapter of their life. As the text is Australian, we know about the devastating impacts of bushfires. Think about the 2019 – 2020 bushfires.

Overall, the text is a beautiful homage to nature and illustrates adversity's power to bring about new life and growth.

Human Experiences Explored Within the Text

(This list is not exhaustive)

- Belonging

- Identity

- Overcoming Adversity

- Grief / Loss

- Changing environments – Catalyst for change

The Plot

The novella is divided into three chapters.

Chapter 1 –

This chapter sets the scene for the story. We are introduced to Luke and Anna, their current life in the city, and their move to Garra Nalla.

The audience learns that the “invisible vampire” is a reference to the couple’s stillborn child. Their stillborn child is an emotional issue they have to come to terms with so that they can move forward.

Luke and Anna move to Garra Nalla. It is described like this:

• “Garra Nalla could scarcely be described as a town. It was a settlement of eighty or so houses, each one nestled in among a greygreen cluster of casuarinas and shaggy old banksias laden with masses of black seed cobs.” (page 11)

• "No shops, no hotel, no community hall, no boat ramp or barbecue area.…They felt that in some essential way it was uncultivated, a landscape out of time, and as such it could not define them. Here they could live, and simply be.” (page 14).

Think about how these lines reflect the pastoral genre. Think about the power of nature. Think about the human experience.

Chapter 2 –

The adversity that the couple face in this chapter is to do with the power of nature. Also, we see their individual personal growth and realizations. Anna says this, “I keep wondering if we’ve made a mistake.”

The new environment that they’re in is a catalyst for change within their lives.

Anna encounters a snake – “she had bent so low, had been so close, had somehow entered into the snake’s zone”.

“But the rain doesn’t come. Nature is out of whack, thinks Anna; even the birds can’t read the signs”

Chapter 3 –

This chapter of the novella illustrates the small community of Garra Nalla and the imminent danger they are about to face. The fire is an emotionally tumultuous event. Luke and Anna are rescued and return, only to discover that their house is one of three that are left standing.

Thinks to think about in this chapter:

- The symbolism behind Luke and Anna planting the “she-oaks”. How does it relate to the human experience?

Quotes from this chapter

“Luke takes out his heaviest sweater, an old favourite in thick navy-blue rib, but after contemplating it for a few seconds tosses it onto the bed.”

- This sweater was the one Luke had worn when the couple scattered their stillborn child’s ashes at sea.

“Then she sees a figure on the lagoon, sitting upright in a small skiff and paddling out to sea. And the shape of this slight figure is familiar. She jerks her head upright, squinting into the sun, for it’s hard to see clearly and the glare off the water is blinding. And yes, it is him, it’s the boy, and she sees now that the sloop is for him, is waiting to carry him to his next destination”

Other quotes to think about in relation to the human experience…

• “At last, she sighs, for it’s the boy. Here he is, dressed only in his underpants and snuggled up beside her. And oh, she could weep with the relief of it. For weeks she hasn’t seen him and now, suddenly, he is here.”

• “One minute the squall line of cloud, the next a maelstrom of smoke and flaming embers hurtling into the backyard.”

• “Trees are exploding into fire-bombs and great shards of burning bark are being flung into the air and out to sea. Even here, across the lagoon, the air is vibrating from the explosive force of the firestorm, while all around them, small black embers are swirling and gliding on anarchic currents of air.”

• “At dinner parties people spoke solemnly of their renovations; with the air of diplomats renegotiating the Geneva Convention they discoursed on the problem of installing a second bathroom…”

• “This is our Promised Land, he thinks, and we are here to stay.”

• “‘You know, I don’t think I could live here all my life,’ she says.” - Anna about Garra Nalla

• “They have everything they need; everything, that is, except water. If only it would rain.”

• “But this is not Eden, this is drought country.”

• “In the claustrophobic spaces of their dark little apartment his appearances were erratic and unpredictable,”