Australia, the Drover

Drover, by Hugh Jackman

What is a drover? In case if you ask. In "Australia", Hugh Jackman's drover is a freelance cowboy who makes his living steering thousands of heads of cattle across hundreds of miles of outback. The Drover is a rough-hewn Australian and cattle herder who lives by his own rules. Stand at a height of six-foot-two, the Drover is considered as a good looking man, has a rugged and tough look. As a skillful drover, he is great in horse riding and cattle chasing.


The Drover has been hired to transport Lady Ashley from the port of Darwin to the cattle station. As they travel in a typical pre-war outback wagon overloaded with luggage and people, we can discover his few main characteristics. First, he is an independent contractor who works directly for no man or woman. He always emphasises that "I am the boss" and does not like any orders from Sarah. This can be seen when Sarah orders him not to let Nullah, an aboriginal kid, takes the midnight shift to take care of the cattle. However, Drover does not listen to her.


Second, the Drover is such a hunky, brawling and independent example of his breed that he is simply called as the Drover. However, it except when he is addressed as Mr.Drover by the milk-pale aristocratic English lady Sarah Ashley, played by Nicole Kidman with a widening of eyes and puffing of lips to express exasperation. Drover also enjoys his freedom as much as he dislikes Sarah's imperious and prissy ways.


Besides, he respects the aboriginal and does not look down on the black fella. Drover was previously married to an aboriginal woman who died and whose brother is now working with him. As for this reason, he is largely shunned by mainstream white society. When Drover and his mates come to the town to meet Sarah, they are seen as "booms" and not allowed to have a drink in the bar. The white fella said Drover is also a black because he works with them, eats with them and sleeps with them. They have soon pissed Drover off and came into a fight. Sarah accidentally witnesses the fight and leaves a bad image for Drover as a violent and rude man.


The Drover is also a responsible person. He does not leave Sarah to run the Faraway Downs all by herself. He is not interested in helping the snooty English woman, but he also does not want to leave her to defend herself against cattle baron King Carney (Bryan Brown) or her own station manager Neil Fletcher (David Wenham), who seems aligned with Carney.


Furthermore, Drover is also a caring and loving person. Sarah and him eventually fall in love and it is obvious that Drover loves Sarah a lot. When the Japanese army bomb the place where Sarah works, the Drover is so worry that he immediately rushes to the scene in order to save Sarah. However, although he gets the news of Sarah is "dead", he does not give up but goes to save Nullah who is trapped in an island. He knows that Sarah treats Nullah as her own child and does not want that he is in danger.

In brief, the Drover is a realist and does things his own way. He stands up for what he believes is right, even if it is to his own demise. However, underneath the character he is full of heart.