The Mateship Syndrome

by Thelma Forshaw

Friendship, or mateship in this instance, can be used by authors to explore various social issues as themes in their writing. Thelma Forshaw uses friendship to depict the masculine culture of alcohol abuse and violence, as well as their disregard for intelligent women.

In society, people are ranked by authority based on age, therefore the older you are, the more authority you have. The rule has been stable all throughout history, with the exception of the inclusion of women. This is evident in the way The Ace asserts his ‘dignified’ male authority over his sister, ‘Because she was his senior by eight years, he made up the difference by asserting his standards,’ when according to the rule (which was probably invented by men), he should be submissive in her presence. The undertones of sexism don’t end here; in regards to his sister being ‘bookish’ and ‘free-thinking’, and evolving to be a lot nicer she is now considered in his eyes, as ‘the way a woman ought to be’. Forshaw successfully illustrates how men thought that it was their ‘duty’ to decide how women should act, behave and look. Sexism at it’s finest. 

This sexist behaviour is not the only area of male culture that needs to be re-evaluted. The dependence on alcohol that men have, even today, 28 years on from the publishing of this story, is astonishing. Forshaw perfectly depicts how men depend on alcohol to maintain a meaningful friendship, ‘He had drunk down a schooner of beer before he felt able to speak to the man next to him.’ This is an accurate representation of stereotypical male friendships, often referred to as ‘mates and drinking partners’. 

This dependence on alcohol paves the way for violence among friends, who when sober could probably obtain and maintain good friends. Instead, the alcoholics who claim to be such good friends can end a night, with one too many drinks, one guy in hospital fighting for his life, and the other running from the cops because he beat his ‘mate’ to a pulp. This is a problematic culture, and  Forshaw explores to bring social awareness to the matter.