Mudrooroo is the Aboriginal non-de-plume adopted by Colin Johnson. He is the first Aboriginal published novelist, and the fact that he is the first is in no small manner connected to the themes of his novel, Wild Cat Falling. For the themes of the novel center around an indifferent character who does not have a name (i.e., voice) in a society which imposes assimilation on Aboriginals. The isolation of the main character is not due to a man who is against the world, rather, he is a man who believes the world is against him. The plot is basically simple in that the story covers the adventures of the nameless hero as he is released from prison, fails to fit in with his peers upon release, steals a car, shoots a cop, and loses his freedom once more. The loss of freedom is no significant factor to a man who feels he is imprisoned in free society, one that tries to cut him off from his Aboriginal roots and heritage. The fact that he is nameless is a twofold attempt by the author to express his alienation from society (he is like Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man), but also because traditional Aborigines refer to one another through relationship or kinship words. We see this most clearly in the exchange between the hero and his mother:
‘Good day, Mum. Just got out of the bloody, stinking jail.’
‘I knew you were in, son,’ she says. ‘Making quite a name for yourself.’
‘How did you know?’ I ask. ‘I thought they didn’t publish the juvenile
‘He’s an acquaintance. I don’t have any friends.’
The struggle to find a voice, or an identity does not come easily for the main character. He does not fit in with his peers, be they beatniks or university students. He does not fit in with his family either, and he has a difficult time establishing intimacy with
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