If Dorothy harbored any political, religious or social leanings, she kept them to herself, yet her profound empathy for her fellow humans is markedly evident throughout her works. (For full references see Reference Key)
“It shocked me to that any people should have to work until their hands were reddened and their beauty gone away; to work all life-long, and never have time to hear the sweetness of blue-hilled romance that ran in the operas; in old tales that that flowered in the almond tree.” (Gold, p. 51)
”If you could unbutton the neatly brushed, meagre waistcoats of the little neat clerks streaming into the cities every morning and peep at their hearts’ dream, I wonder what it would generally be? Not the hurried lunch and dutiful office surely. Man is still too much the child, loving wooden-battle axe and broom-handle charger, for that. And it always seems a shame somehow to keep him in stiff collar doing sums his life long.” (Gold, p. 206)
”Men, all of them, who lived so much in silence that to talk was a rare, shy delight or a braggart ecstasy, according to the nature of the man. Simple, strong-bodied, somewhat childlike vagabonds for the most part, even the evil amongst them touched by a certain gallantry of courage, the stamp of the rigour and loneliness of their lives. (Earth, p. 8)
Though a community of law-abiding folk and devout churchgoers--Southern Baptist, mainly--racial bigotry, long entrenched by tradition and codified by law, was the norm in Homestead, Florida as was elsewhere, not only in the South, but also, throughout most of America, as well as in white nations in general, Australia included. That cultural bent didn't sit at all well with the fair-minded Dorothy Cottrell. In her stories involving non-white or racially mixed people she goes out of her way to extol their nobility and virtues: “It’s strange that anywhere in the world we still associate quality with a white skin. (‘Hurricane Wedding’)
The Maori islanders who rebuild the roof of Joan and Clippings cabin and teach them how to open coconuts are: ‘Big, merry, soft-voiced, lazy fellows, who, even in their tattered European clothes, fitted into the tropical dusk as Clippings and I never could. (Gold, p.196).
The daughter of Old Backs and his half-caste aborigine concubine, Baada, is thus described: “For Georgina was a little quarter-cast girl, and when such a one is beautiful, it is with the beauty that no can believe unless he sees it: a beauty of crimson and black and dusky gold that takes away the breath--and that you can't believe you have really seen it afterwards. (Battle, p.20)
The Christophe brothers closest friend and most skilled of all Caribbean seamen is the big, noble Black Tobias: “Tobias stood with the immobile majesty of a black king of Africa, but his eyes changed as if the sun bursting through storm had suddenly lighted a dark mangrove pool.” (Reefs, p.9) “Here he sat at the edge of the ripples and scrubbed the majesty of his dark body and even his close-wooled head with handfuls of wet sand.” (Reefs, p.160)
"And the men are big, and many of the women are beautiful. There is a red note in their bronze that may mean there were Cribs on the island in the dead centuries. And the people are illiterate, and speak a most beautiful and ancient English. They are unafraid of storms and very much afraid of ghosts. Poor beyond belief and proud as the Kings of Africa. (‘Hurricane, North Atlantic’)
Young Liliom’s first mentor and the voice of common sense and wisdom in the story is Violet Smith, a native black woman. (‘My Love Will Come’)
Dorothy's cast of characters runs the gamut of every human type, from the faithful of the turn-the-other-cheek cult of Followers, who rather be beaten up and killed than defend themselves (Reefs, p. 235 ) to the heartless, craven Thomas Webber (Reefs, p.35), the cruel, drunken Shorty McGee (Orphan, p.66), the sadistic, sociopathic overseer (‘My Love Will Come’), and everything in between. Below are some examples:
Generosity, altruism, kindness:
Clippings Mackenzie, Joan Whatmore’s first husband “not merely would have shared his last crum with a beggar, but also given the whole of it to the first man, rich or poor, who looked as if he might possibly like it.” (Gold, p. 164) “Think, Joan, he didn’t know me from a bar of soap and he couldn't tell if I was lying, and he was out of work, too, and, oh, Joan, he lent me five shillings! . Oh! what fine fellows you do strike. (p.. 224)
Clippings, Jr., the fraternal twin son of Clippings, Sr. and Joan Whatmore, a brat of a kid yet generous to a fault, a trait inherited from his father [ who had died before he was born], asks for an advance of his allowance to give it to an alcoholic homeless man: “Please, Mummy, oh, please! He’s such a poor old man. He’s got nothing but a shirt and trousers, and they’re all torn.” (p. 278)
The Captain of the Sidney Salvation Army hostel where Clippings and Joan were illegally residing at first thought that Joan was a woman of ill-repute and was about to evict her, but then, seeing her lame foot and the predicament that she and Clippings were in, he bent the occupancy rules and allowed her to stay: “He was an immense, kindly, ruddy soul, and I smiled at him in relief.” (Gold, p. 216)
Joan starting to sell her poems and Clippings finally landing a steady job, the couple moved into a modest apartment. The superintendent of the building, Kill'em Patson, ex-heavy weight boxing champion of a Australia, who, “despite his formidable physique, was in reality “a kindly, slow-footed man patiently trying to follow the vagaries of his wife.” (Gold, p. 230)
A nameless swagman [itinerant laborer] takes pity on old Andrew McNair. “He hesitated looking at the slim roll of Andrew's swag [pack]. “You shouldn't be running around like this, Grandpa! I've got a pound in my pocket I was saving for a spree. Here! You take it and get yourself another blanket." (‘The Gantlet of the Flames’)
The retarded islander, Daniel, chose to sell the Spanish gold treasure he found at low price to the government museum rather than at much higher price to gold dealers, so that children could enjoying seeing it on display (‘The Mysterious Box’)
Jean Mareo leaves his cabin unprotected against a oncoming monster hurricane to warn his fellow islanders, and further risks his life to save a senile old man from drowning by knocking him out and carrying him off in his arms. Figuring that they are all doomed, anyway, the priest of the Catholic mission breaks with local custom and marries Jean and his beloved Théresè. The mother superior prepares a bridal suite for them in the storage room. (‘Hurricane Wedding’)
A physician forgoes a lucrative practice on the mainland to serve the poor natives of West Indian Island. (‘Hurricane, North Atlantic’) ”Elizabeth put her arm about a girl great with child. The girl’s naked and trembling body was velvety to the touch. There was something oddly moving in the great girth of the girl. Elizabeth had the illusion that she could feel not merely not merely the girl’s heart but the eagerly beating heart of the unborn child.” (Ibid) “They moved with a strange dignity. They were half naked, and hunched in a common purpose. The stronger shapes of youth supported the brittle shapes of age; women bent protectively over the round bundles of babies; small children clung to dead or dying pets.” (Ibid)
Intelligence, generosity, wisdom, common sense.
Joan Whatmore runs circles intelligence-wise around her brother Dickie, her first husband Clippings and most other characters. The surprisingly well-educated and well-travelled Billy the blacksmith is Joan Whatmore's first tutor, stirs in her the joy of learning and appreciation for good literature. (Gold) Jerry Fenton, Joan's second husband, teaches Joan to pace herself, control her considerable impulses.(Gold) Jerry had postponed courting her in earnest until she matured. (Gold). Joan's father, Marcus, manages the family farm with utmost efficiency and prudence. As Jerry Fenton put it, Marcus Whatmore, like the Creator who said "Let there be light!" tamed and cultivated the land, saying, "Let there be life!," (Gold)
Donald the Shearer, excels not only as the best shearer in the land, but also as master story teller and paragon of folk wisdom and common sense. (Earth, p.15) Continually on the go across the land as his trade requires, he also serves as volunteer
mail-carrier. (p. 51)
“Young Henri Christophe unravels the Thomas Webber’s complex scheme to cheat his insurers..(Reefs). Daphne, the widow of Malcolm, Henri’s older brother, killed by the murderous Hereras in collusion with Webber, holds the Christophe clan together while Henri and his slow-thinking yet intelligent brother, Joseph are off on their boat looking for work to feed the clan and to solve the mystery of the disappearance of Malcolm and his ship. (Reefs)
The native islander Viola Smith tutors young Liliom in the rudiments of womanhood, and the "young man" who finally wins her hand postpones their marriage until the illiterate she gets an education. (‘My Love will Come’) The retarded Daniel uses his “animal’ intelligence to locate a sunken Spanish treasure. (‘The Mysterious Box’)
Arrogance, hypocrisy, stupidity, cowardice, religious benightedness.
Rose Amelia Jerington-Whatmore, Joan’s snobbish, socially pretentious grandmother, mentally abuses, treats as a slave, her niece Martha Matilde, the only person who cares for and puts up with her. Martha Matilde had long foregone marriage and personal interests for her aunt’s sake. When the only woman dies, she bequeaths her estate to Joan and distant relatives, but leaves nothing to Martha Matilde.( Gold).
Doused in cheap perfume, Dickie Whatmore’s wife, Freda, an ignorant peasant girl, lies napping while in the next room a distraught Dickie tries to revive their dead two-week old baby. The not-too-bright elder brother of Joan, had returned from military service in WWI a humorless, narrow-minded man. Feeling pity for the abused Freda, he befriended her, got her pregnant, and announced to the family that he would marry her. When Dickie’s father, Marcus, questions his foolish decision, Dickie angrily breaks with the old man and leaves home never to return. Dickie eventually turns to alcohol for solace. (Gold)
Old H.B. ruthlessly uses and deceives others, his wife included, in his obsessive quest to conquer the wild land of Tharlane, but in the end gets his comeuppance when the “Little Man” he had falsely accused of attempted murder returns from a 30-year prison sentence (Battle, p. 78) and burns down H.B.’s property. Ironically, the very people whom he had used and deceived came to help him fight the fire. (Battle, p.307)
Deep-sea diver Ashby had known about Thomas Webber false insurance claim, had witnessed the sinking of the ship ‘Christophe’ and the cold-blooded murder of its defenseless crew by the thuggish Hereas brothers, but, out of fear and guilt, had chosen to go into hiding rather report the crime to the police. (Reefs, p.50, p.226)
Joan Whatmore’s missionary aunt, Austace, loves humanity but hates people. She meddlingly disapproves of Billy the blacksmith, Joan’s tutor, for his socialist leanings.
In her prudish zeal disguised as Christianity, she takes it upon herself to force parents in tropical islands to clothe their little girls into slips. She stops by for a visit on her way to a mission, bearing nine boxes of Bibles and fourteen boxes of slips. Finally Joan has enough of her aunt’s misguided religion, and snaps: “What right have you to condemn those who differ from your classbound opinions . . . to go jamming nice comfortable little brown babies into ugly slips.” For which impudence 14-year-old Joan is treated a to stinging face-slapping by her mom, Annie. (p. 57). .
Big, strong Joseph Christophe allows a gang of thugs to beat up on him and refuses to come to the aid of his brother Henri, who tried to fend off the attackers with an oar, because fighting back, whatever the circumstances, would be in violation of the turn-the-other-cheek doctrine of his religious cult, The Followers: “Joseph held one oar in his hands, but did not use. Instead he stood with head bowed on his great neck while the corded muscles of his shoulders trembled and his chest rose and fell gaspingly. The man laughed with a low, ugly sound and were onto him, their fists thudding on his unguarded face, their legs tripping him. . . Joseph was on his knees again, with blood gushing over his face. His mere strength was giving the men trouble, but he still did not defend himself.” (Reefs, p.185) Because Joseph would not use his oar against the thugs, his brother Henri was badly hurt and their ship, their only means of earning money to feed their family back home, set on fire. Henri justly upbraids Joseph and slaps him. “How dared you betray us?
With an enemy, one may deal, but with a traitor, one cannot deal! . . . Raising his hand, Henri struck Joseph flat-handed and resoundingly across the cheek. (p. 187)
Heavy Baileaux, a punch drunk former boxing champ an now sailor is subjected to the ridicule his fellow crewmen. (‘The Pit in the Jungle’) The retarded man Daniel is routinely taunted and browbeaten by his superiors and coworkers. (‘The Mysterious Box’)
Cruelty, depravity, evil
Mrs. Gluber, the Whatmore’s head housekeeper, treats the new maid Freda like an animal, and Freda, in turn, casually impales mice with a hatpin. (Gold)
Sandy got his name from having being born on a sandy gutter where his drunken mother had passed out. on a sandy gutter. He becomes the butt of other kid’s mocking and adult jokes. “The neighbours scraped the road off him and called him ‘Sandy,’ (Battle, p. 48). Though his father, Luther, bears Sandy no malice, he neglects him totally, the sole object of his paternal affection, if it could be called that, being the elder son, “Ox,” a huge, strong brute of a lad. (Battle, p. 50) Sandy is mentally and physically abused by his mother. Hungry for a decent meal, Sandy steals a piece of a cake the mother had baked for herself and, when confronted, Sandy blames it on a rat. To teach him a lesson, she burns his fingers on the stove. (p. 51-52)
. Sandy’s mother orders him to fetch her a bottle of whiskey from Murger’s bar. Along the way, the child’s constant hunger is exacerbated by the aroma of cooking food from eateries Afraid of the effects that the liquor will have on her, he returns with a lame story that Murger will not sell her the bottle. The mother becomes furious, forces him to wash the in boiling hot water, while she cooks a hearty breakfast for herself and tauntingly proceeds to savor it. Finally she offers him some, but deliberately drops it on the floor. Sandy, on his hands and knees, picks up the hot food and stuffs it in his shirt to eat later when alone. (Battle, p.60)
A circus featuring a caged “man-eating” lion comes to town. Because t Sandy cannot afford the admission to see the lion, the impresario shoos him away, but his young female assistant, feeling sorry for him, sneaks him in during off hours. The lion’s cage, however, is boarded, so Sandy cannot see the lion, but can smell him “real good.” One of the roles of the female assistant is to attract customers by singing and serving the needs of the impresario, who, it turns out, beats her. (Battle, p. 54)
While Tom Henton is away one day, his yardman stages a boxing match with Henton’s pet kangaroo, Chut, and charges admission. But as Chut refuses to cooperate, the yardman, to rouse him, burns his nose with a cigarette. “The yardman was hot, nervous, exasperated. His audience was threatening to walk out on him. Unnoticed by any of the spectators, he brushed the live cigarette, and holding it hidden in his glove he pressed the glowing tip upon Chut’s sensitive nose. Pressed it hard, twisted it.” (Orphan, p.44)
Having fallen on hard times, Tom Henton is forced to sell Chut and his pretty doe companion, Blue Baby, to the drunken showman, Shorty Magee. Magee trains Blue Baby to jump through a fiery hoop on command, but one day the little doe, being slightly lame, cannot perform the stunt, which sends the showman into a drunken rage: “Jump’ roared Shorty. Twice she tried and failed, singeing her fur and Shorty swore and rained blows upon her. But with some frantic effort of her small strength Blue Baby had broken her dog chain. Blind with fear, she leapt down the long shed, gathering wild speed as she went—and straight into the concrete wall at the shed’s end. It smashed her to the ground in a twisted heap. She lived for three more days, trying to start up now and then from a fitful sleep.” (Orphan p. 66)
The brilliant crook Thomas Webber, enjoyed torturing animals and “would rather have stood laughing in glee, while other men were hurt in prize ring or a sport, while, were a crime to be committed, he would have wished to be afar with a loud alibi.” (Reefs, p. 35) The thuggish Herera clan, colluding with Webber in an elaborate ruse to cheat his insurer, kill the captain and crew of ‘The Christophe,’ who, in obedience to the non-violence teachings of their religious cult, The Followers, refuse to defend themselves, and sink the ship. (p.234-235) Webber gets his comeuppance when he tries to escape and is shot dead by his abused concubine, who on past occasions had sworn to kill him: “And the girl pulled the tiny shape of a gun from under her dress and pointed it at the man and the toy sound of a shot came over the water as the man convulsed at the feet of the girl.” (p. 238)
A born sociopath, the island overseer where Liliom and her grand father reside made a handsome living running drugs and kidnapping young girls for forced prostitution. A girl he kidnapped and is being delivered to a bordello, risks jumping overboard into an alligator-infested lagoon rather than to continue the journey. Aware the overseer would be coming for her, Liliom flees with her cats. The overseer is finally killed in a duel with the young man whom Liliom knew would one day come to marry her. (‘My Love Would Come’)
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