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The camel is the narrator of the collection’s first story, “The Bones.” The camel was imported to Australia from Tenerife a number of years before the story begins, and he has been in Australia since then. He was the only camel in the ship to survive the passage, making his transport an especially traumatizing experience. The camel expresses interest in connecting with his human handlers, though he’s found that the only person to ever treat him like a living, feeling being was his original handler, Zeriph. Where Zeriph loved and cared for the camel (and the camel loved Zeriph in return), the people who have owned the camel since simply give him commands. The camel has a strong survival instinct, which is tested when Mister Mitchell purchases the camel and rides him like “a fancy horse.” In the camel’s opinion, Mister Mitchell seems a bit mad and therefore, possibly incapable of keeping himself and the camel alive in the bush. The camel becomes increasingly disturbed after Mister Mitchell digs up an Aboriginal person’s grave and, soon after, allows the writer Henry Lawson to join him in his travels. Part of this is because a huge goanna begins following the party after Mister Mitchell digs up the bones—though the camel also finds Lawson himself cold and somewhat disturbing. Mister Mitchell shoots the camel by accident when he shoots the goanna.
The Camel Quotes in Only the Animals
The Only the Animals quotes below are all either spoken by The Camel or refer to The Camel. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
The Bones: Soul of Camel
Quotes
I suffocated him, squashed his head between my leg and body, though there were no females around to compete over and we should instead have become friends. Zeriph never let me forget my stupidity, killing that bull. He felt sorry for the other handler, who grieved over his dead camel as if for a child.
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Zeriph had been proud of me, carrying the first piano into the core of our new country. [...]
But for what? I carried that thing of beauty all that way on my back, with the ropes cutting into my bones, so that somebody could tinkle on the keys for the midday drinks at the pub in Alice. That’s what broke Zeriph’s heart, that the piano’s music could mean nothing without the false prophetry of drink.
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The Camel Quotes in Only the Animals
The Only the Animals quotes below are all either spoken by The Camel or refer to The Camel. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
The Bones: Soul of Camel
Quotes
I suffocated him, squashed his head between my leg and body, though there were no females around to compete over and we should instead have become friends. Zeriph never let me forget my stupidity, killing that bull. He felt sorry for the other handler, who grieved over his dead camel as if for a child.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Zeriph had been proud of me, carrying the first piano into the core of our new country. [...]
But for what? I carried that thing of beauty all that way on my back, with the ropes cutting into my bones, so that somebody could tinkle on the keys for the midday drinks at the pub in Alice. That’s what broke Zeriph’s heart, that the piano’s music could mean nothing without the false prophetry of drink.
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