"The story "Going Home" by Archie Weller is about a young mixed Aboriginal and white descent boy, William Woodward, and his struggles to find his place in society. Being of mixed descent, Woodward is confronted with many difficult conflicts of culture. The coming-of-age-story about Woodward is set in late 1980's Australia and is told through the third person omniscient. In this paper, I will analyse the way Weller portrays the two different cultures, the "black" and the "white" as well as the "grey" area that is in the middle of the spectrum. I will also show how Weller uses diction, imagery, and symbols to compare and contrast the different cultures.
             In this story, the white culture and the black culture are complete opposites. Weller demonstrates the white culture as being sophisticated and proper human beings. This is shown by the way that Weller mentions Woodward's name as William Woodward when he is around the "white" people and in contrast to his name when he is mentioned around the "black" people, which is Billy. Weller uses many colours in "Going Home", but he mainly uses black and white to emphasize the differences between the two cultures. For example, "Black hands grab the ball. Black feet kick the ball. Black hopes go soaring with the ball to the pasty white sky." (716). In this quote everything that is black is Woodward and the "pasty white sky" (716) that the ball is soaring to are the other players on the football field. This contrast can be mentioned because Woodward is a black minority on the football field; most of his team mates and opponents are "white".
             Weller describes the black culture in the story as well. He describes the black culture as one that is not very sophisticated and as one of the lowest cultures to be in. The dialogue that the "black" characters use in comparison to Willi...