Stark (novel) - Themes

Themes

The novel is largely a satire of business, government and social attitudes toward environmentalism during the late 1980s. It describes a world in which big business and the ultra-rich are uncaring. It also skewers environmental activists, as being unwilling to take decisive action or willing to take actions that are self-destructive and ineffectual.

The book often deals with serious themes and then delivers comic relief. These comic diversions usually come to an abrupt end, often due to the hapless sudden death of a gag character. The comedy draws on Elton's typical fodder. The book contains crude and cringe humour, with characters who often experience flatulence and drunkenness, and running afoul of the law. The narrative also pokes fun at religion, place names and foreigners. The capricious and sometimes unjust nature of male-female relationships is a constant theme. Corporate culture and military culture are ridiculed. As in much of Elton's comic work, the central character is an unsuccessful, self-loathing, 'farty' skinny Englishman who has trouble relating to women. The book's prominent themes include:

• Air pollution
• The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
• Displacement of Indigenous Australians from their land
• Far right politics
• Finance
• Global warming
• Nuclear power
• Racism
• Recreational drug use
• Unrequited love
• Uranium mining
• White supremacy