MAIN THEEMS

GRIEF: Charlie's Dad is with him in spirit throughout this story. He is there in these inspirational boots Charlie runs in. Charlie also wears the boots Squizzy bought for him, but when Charlie really grows up he goes back to wearing the boots he could never bring himself to throw away. Charlie often recalls his father's advice, e.g. about the true test of character and to find himself a girl who can dance. After his father's death, Charlie got so confused sometimes he didn't know who it was he was supposed to be. He really hasn't had time to grieve as he has been so busy growing up and trying to support his mother, he hasn't really been able to talk about his father's death despite the many well-wishers who would help him, only Nostrils comes close to doing so.

FRIENDSHIP: There are several critical moments in Charlie's friendship with Nostrils when Charlie's behaviour is put under the spotlight. Their friendship began with a lie, and is brought to crisis point when Charlie leaves Nostrils to be beaten up by Barlow.

CHANCE: There are a number of crucial moments when things hang in the balance for Charlie, e.g. When Nostrils slips running away from Barlow, and when Squizzy nearly shoots Charlie, at this point Charlie decides its time to quit.

CHARACTER PROFILE

CHARLIE FEEHAN: The central character, Charlie Feehan, is a risk taking young man who finds himself growing up just a little too fast when his father dies. ‘When the undertakers came to wheel my father's lifeless body out to the hearse, it was as if they took my childhood with them’. It is a challenge just to find enough food to put on the table and to keep the house warm, and so Charlie helps out by rabbi ting in Yarra Park and collecting firewood scraps from the Fitzroy wood yard. At night he runs to keep warm. He has very little interest in school, so when he gets the opportunity to try out for a job with Squizzy Taylor he puts his running skill to good use. Family always comes first for Charlie, and the reader loves the way he supports his mother and young brother, even if it means lying to them about working for Squizzy. Charlie has to grow up fast when he sees how Peacock takes advantage of his mother. ‘That night he turned sixteen years old’. Initially, he is ashamed when he first sees them together. This brings him closer to Squizzy for a while, who perhaps he sees as something of a father figure. For a while he becomes distant from his mother during the period of her illness.

MR. REDMOND: ‘In the streets of Richmond, you would not find two better neighbours than the Redmond’s’. Mr. Redmond can always be found looking at the sky ready to pass on a few well chosen comments about the weather. Beyond this, his great love was the Richmond Football Club. When Charlie struggles to be the man of his house Mr. Redmond is there to offer boxing training, although it doesn't turn out to be quite what Charlie expected so Mr. Redmond gave him advice on running and helped him train for a big race that was coming up.

SQUIZZY TAYLOR: Men like Squizzy are still in our history today. For a while Charlie is taken in. When he first meets Squizzy the gangster Charlie ‘found him easy to be around. Charlie admires him, and this opinion is improved when Squizzy fixes the race so Charlie wins. He ‘was one of them’. Squizzy can fix Charlie's absence from school, and fix up Mr Peacock, but as the rivalry with Fitzroy gang leader, Snowy Cutmore intensifies Squizzy's other side emerges. He is frequently drunk, short tempered and vindictive. ‘Suddenly, as quick as someone flicking a switch, Squizzy turned nasty’, and very nearly shoots Charlie in anger.
Charlie is released and is now able to run for himself, not for Squizzy.

BLURB

It’s the year of 1919 in Richmond where organised crime is off the chart and four young boys are trying out for the best job in town and that job is running messages for Squizzy Taylor, the most dangers gangster in all of Melbourne. Charlie was the best runner from the group of boys witch means Charlie gets the main job of being Sqizzy Taylor’s personnel runner and Charlie needed that job to support his family with his dad recently passing away. But things were getting too hard for Charlie so he took the money and ran, ran for his life.

REVIEW

Runner was written by Robert Newton, set in 1919, it's about a young boy, Charlie and his efforts of saving his family from being poor. Charlie does everything he can to help his family, with his father recently passing away things just get even harder for Charlie.

Against his mother’s wishes and in secret, Charlie turned to Squizzy Taylor, a gangsta. It was the chance to get his family back on there feet for good and he wasn't going to turn it down, it all seemed easy as Squizzy gave Charlie lots of gifts, he met new people and made new friends such as Norman and Alyce. The life of crime has given him what everyone wants, respect and money.

However when Charlie's personal life gets in the way, everything begins to go out of control and things change. Suddenly Charlie begins to get mistreated and people who he was once friends with now begin to turn into enemies. It was all too much for a teenage boy and he didn't know how to handle all the pressure and guilt. So he pulled out, never to turn back...

But where was he supposed to go now?

How would he support his family?