Away by Michael Gow

Characters
Tom
Tom could really be classed as the main character, all of the other characters discoveries come
back to Tom and his illness. Tom is an intelligent teenage boy. He is the son of Harry and Vic.
together they are of a lower social status and are immigrants that have been in Australia for 8
years. Throughout the play we realise that Tom has a terminal illness, his parents don't know that
he knows about the illness and they pretend that he is going to be fine.
Meg
Meg is the daughter of Gwen and Jim. She shows a strong character and is very opinionated. She
argues with Gwen a lot and finds Gwens views harsh, hypocritical and nasty. She encourages
Gwen to relax and enjoy herself. She does not realise that everything Gwen does is to make sure
their life is good.
Gwen
Gwen is an all controlling mother and wife. Everything is planned and there should be no deviation
from this plan. for example christmas gifts are not a surprise, everyone gets something they need.
After all of Gwen's possessions are destroyed in the storm she believes that her holiday is over and
that it will not be worth being away. Her moment of discovery comes when Vic tells her about Toms
illness and she realises the important things in life are not possessions.
Jim
Jim is the husband of Gwen, he seems aware of his wifes nasty narcissistic views. He is
sympathetic towards Meg and wishes that Meg and Gwen can get along.
Vic
Vic is the wife of Harry and the mother of Tom. She has organised the holiday for her family and
believes that it is important for the family to have a good time on the holiday for Toms sake. She is
hiding the truth of toms condition from him, but is awkward in how she approaches subjects
including the future.
Harry
Harry is Toms father and is helping Vic to hide the truth of toms illness from him. We see his view
of the situation in act 4 when he tells Jim about Toms illness. They are not looking forward to the
future, they are enjoying the time that they have right now.
Coral
Coral is emotionally damaged from the loss of her son in the Vietnam war. Throughout the play we
see her process of discovery and recovery especially with her interactions with Tom. At the start of
the play she has a creepy stare and cannot talk to anyone, later we see her interaction and she

scares people, she is very direct and confronting. By the end of the play she is recovered she has
discovered how to live again, this is seen in the amateur night play when she repeats the lines i can
walk, i can walk.
Roy
Roy is the husband of Coral, he is the principal of the school that Meg and Tom attend. in the play
Roy is unsympathetic towards coral and he struggles to support her in her journey. Roy reveals that
he too feels the loss of their son, but he thinks it is time to move on and live life. Coral blames him
for sending their son over to the war and supporting conscription.

Plot Summary
Act 1
We see the school play of a mid-summer nights dream, with tom playing is Puck, the mischievous
fairy. At the end of the play Roy makes a short speech thanking all the people involved in the play.
The second scene takes us backstage to see Tom and Meg interacting, we then meet all the
families as they come in one by one. We see Gwens attitude and personality and Corals blank
stare. At the end of this act Coral has a soliloquy in which she repeats some lines from the play
and reveals how she has interpreted them.
Act 2
Act 2 is set in each familys home, we see their preparations and family dynamics.
Especially the clashes between Gwen and Meg, and Roy and Coral. We see Gwens attitudes and
her all controlling personality. We finally understand what has happened to Coral, she has lost her
son in war and cannot recover, we see her arguing with roy about gong on the holiday and getting
better.
Act 3
Act 3 is where we see each family in there holiday. Gwens all controlling nature is shown through
their christmas celebrations and gifts. Coral is not acting like a normal person, she is attacking
people with conversation and she is scaring some, she also forms an attachment to Rick, a young
man on his honey moon. Tom, Harry and Vic are happy at the beach with very little possessions
just enjoying each others company. At the end of this scene we see the storm come to the caravan
park and destroy all of Gwens valued possessions. Roy has sent Rick back to his wife and Coral
has stormed out again blaming him for sending their son away.
Act 4
In Act 4 we see the families have come together, accidentally, and are interacting with each other.
The characters make most of their discoveries in this act. We find out that Tom is sick and that he
will not live very long. Harry and Vic tell Jim and Gwen, explaining that Tom must not find out.
However in the next scene we see Tom and Meg, Tom is making sexual advances on Meg. Tom
explains to Meg that he is going to die and that everyone has been trying to hide the truth from him.
In the last scene in Act 4 Tom and Coral put on a play at an amateur night. In the play Tom reveals

that he knows he is going to Die and that he accepts it and Coral learns to walk and has
recovered from her emotional breakdown.
Act 5
Act 5 is very different in structure, we see the reconciliation between Gwen and Jim, and Coral and
Roy with music playing. After this we see Children back at school preparing for the next school
play, they begin to read and Tom has a monologue, in this he recognises human mortality and
closes the play.