Ambiguities of the Future: Theological Hints in the Novels of Patrick White

Abstract

This essay explores the presence of and relationship between different visions of the future in the novels of Patrick White. In works such as Voss, A Fringe of Leaves, Riders of the Chariot and The Vivisector we can detect traces of what Moltmann calls “calculable” and “desirable” visions of the future. White's treatment of the themes of the body and the land speak of a future that is made possible from within the framework of existing possibilities. Yet throughout his writing White also hints at a future that can only be received, often in moments of intense, and sometimes spiritual illumination. This dual vision comes to expression in the figure of the outsider, the judgement of art and, crucially, in White's repeated use of crucifixion imagery. In this way White, though in many ways a quintessentially Australian novelist, helps us to reflect theologically on aspects of the human situation and the tensions inherent within it.