The Exiles

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2020

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue and Chapters 1-5

Chapters 6-8

Chapters 9-16

Chapters 17-19

Chapters 20-24

Chapters 25-28

Chapters 29-35

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Themes

Gender, Race, and Social Class Inequalities in the Victorian Period

One of the hallmarks of the Victorian period in English history is the ultimate control issued by those who have the skin color and the social status to command such respect from others, leaving those who do not fit the credentials left behind in the dust. Because wealthy white men stood at the top of the social hierarchy pyramid, many of the main characters in the novel fall victim to their own inadequacies according to English customs.

Evangeline is considered “less than,” especially as a poor woman compared to the wealthy Mrs. Whitstone, who feels it necessary to treat Evangeline as a criminal because her stepson could never truly love someone like Evangeline. It is Cecil’s status as a wealthy man that allows him the privilege of ignoring the pregnant woman he claims to love—she is dispensable due to her servant status. Though Evangeline spends her life knowing her place in society, especially when she works for the Whitstones, she does not understand the harshness of human nature and the new hierarchy aboard the Medea. There, her previous status is erased, and she is labeled a convict without rights, making her a prime attraction for the men on board. As an educated governess, she would have held rank over these murderous men, but once she becomes labeled, she is beneath them. As Evangeline’s journey continues, she witnesses numerous acts of gender inequalities on board the Medea—the men act as if the women are objects they can exploit. Buck’s belief that he can command a woman’s body, especially a criminal woman—seen through his attempted rape of Hazel—proves that the social pyramid places decent women below the likes of convicted murderers, provided they are male.

In Mathinna’s case, her race automatically makes her a “savage,” “less than” the rest of the British settlers who seek to exploit her. Though the novel mentions many times how cultured the Palawa people are, the truth remains that they stood between the British Empire and expansion, thereby rendering themselves dispensable. By stripping Mathinna of any items that would remind her of home, the Franklins, as representatives of the British government, erase her identity in their attempt to “civilize” her. Because race is an identifying characteristic, unlike poverty, Mathinna cannot escape the burdens of her skin color and the preconceived judgment that comes along with it.

The Exploitation of Aboriginal Peoples by Europeans

There is an old saying that during Queen Victoria’s reign, “the sun never set on the British Empire,” meaning that England controlled territories all across the globe. While these conquests attributed great wealth and prestige to the country, they often came at great cost to the original inhabitants of those places across the world.

If the Franklins represent the ruling British government, then Kline’s opinion of the British during the Victorian period is that they consider themselves superior to all other races and cultures. Though they consider themselves “civilized,” the word is a misnomer—they are actually the savages in their treatment of other people, whereas those who are deemed savages are actually cultured and respectful. The British in the novel tend to exile anyone who stands in their way—from convicts to Aborigines. They can’t have anyone of lesser quality—according to them—sully and pollute the British Empire.

Two hundred years before, when Europeans first arrived on the shores of Australia, they began innocently enough—as mutual traders—but that quickly turned into a persistent invasion, pushing the Palawa further and further back until the settlers were “officially authorized by the British government to capture or kill any natives on site” (76). Regardless of the vivid and vivacious native culture that existed there before, the British annihilate the Palawa until the remaining few can be controlled, “forced into stiff British clothes” and “made to sit in the dark chapel and listen to sermons about a hell they’d never imagined and moral instruction they didn’t need” (76-77). The British lies to the Palawa people—that they’d receive some of their land back eventually—are nothing more than empty promises, indicative of the opinion they hold of those whom they consider “less than.”

After the Franklins “adopt” Mathinna, Lady Jane has no use for the girl except to parade her out at tea parties where she can show off just how successful her “civilize a savage” experiment has been. However, when Mathinna’s native culture rears its head, Lady Jane sweeps it under the rug as a product of the girl’s savage upbringing, never taking into account that the Palawa exist under a different definition of civilization—where everyone is treated equally and with full respect, a concept that Lady Jane cannot begin to understand. This experiment culminates in the worst possible way—Mathinna loses her entire identity until she is caught between two worlds, adrift in the unfamiliar world of the Franklins while unable to return to the place she once called home. This loss of her identity ends tragically for Mathinna, as she remains adrift in a world that will never accept her.

The Old World Versus the New World

As history shows, new movements eventually replace old and outdated ways of life. For women in Victorian England, their lives consisted of being a wife and mother—anything outside of those boundaries remained anathema. The thought that a woman could control her own destiny and make a living for herself did not exist in a society that anointed men as the powerful commanders.

Even as a vicar’s daughter with an extensive education, the highest opportunity that Evangeline can consider is as a governess—basically an elevated servant to a rich family. Yet even her education cannot save her once the wealthy have condemned her. At that point, she becomes no better than the lowest of criminals in Newgate Prison—and she faces the same confinement. However, Evangeline’s character growth over the course of her story proves that she becomes a new woman who no longer desires to fit into what was once considered normal. Her choice to attack Buck after his attempted rape of Hazel—a sign of the control that men have over women—shows that she will no longer settle for being considered inferior. Though the cost of this decision is ultimately her life, Evangeline dies knowing she has protected those she cares about and that she is free of anyone else’s constraints.

Likewise, Hazel’s journey through the medical field is initially controversial. To be a midwife was to be an untrained doctor, someone without formal training. Doctor Dunne, though he is a good man, looks unfavorably on someone who has not gone through the formal training—which, at the time, was only available to men. His arrogance is off-putting to her, as her experience far outweighs his. However, because of the belief that women were not intelligent enough to practice medicine, she is limited by the constraints of her gender.

Though their opportunities for success are limited in their lifetimes, Ruby represents a new world where women are given the rights and privileges they deserve, where “social hierarchies are not as rigidly enforced” (348). She has the opportunities that her adopted mother, Hazel, never had—to attend a medical apprenticeship under the first female doctor in London. Hazel, restricted to the herbal healings of her poultices and potions, could never imagine that kind of freedom—however, Ruby brings forth a new world of opportunities, and it is through her lineage that the first women’s hospital in Australia is founded.