Mutant Message Down Under

Mutant Message Down Under is a book written by Marlo Morgan. Its a story of western woman who walkabouts with the lost tribe in the Australian outback. Four-month journey gives her insight into the life of this tribe and strikes her with their perception of reality and attitude to many things that surround them.

The narration is told by the author. Marlo Morgan is a 50 years old doctor who comes to Australia to work there for four years as a doctor in the project helping aborigines. Invited to Australia to receive an honor Marlo is greatly surprised with the way this honor is expressed. Instead of prizes and presents, the tribe which consists of about 60 people kidnaps her and makes the member of the tribe to show their life and way of thinking from inside and here the thrilling journey stArts. All Marlos possessions are burnt in the fire as they make absolutely no use in the bush. For a moment my heArt was numb; I took a very deep sigh. I dont know why I didnt shout a protest and immediately run to retrieve everything. But I didnt. (p.25). The tribe chooses her as an envoy to bring their knowledge and secrets to the rest of the world. These people call themselves the real people and live in a much removed area away from the influence of civilization and the rest of the urban world. They called all the rest of the world who didnt follow their way of life mutants who have lost their roots and origins. They called civilized way of life destructive and wanted to help modern people by sharing their experience and beliefs. They live in total peace and harmony with nature and count on their faith in everything. Carry ing nothing but several skins to protect them from cold at night, these people carried no food knowing about the generosity of nature and the ways to feed themselves. For Marlo this journey is a completely new experience and it differs so much from everything she used to know about life. The attitude to beauty and own appearance was a thing that surprised her a lot. It was like walking around inside a capsule with eyeholes. I was always looking out, looking at others, observing how they were relating to what I was doing or what I was saying ... Without a mirror to frighten me back into reality, I could experience feeling beautiful. Obviously I wasnt, but I felt beautiful. The people accepted me as I was. They made me feel included, and unique and wonderful.(p.100). In the end of the journey Marlo comes back to civilization to share her new experience and to fulfill the will of the tribe. But this is not Marlo who stArted the journey four month ago any more. Its a completely another person new and transformed, changed completely by new knowledge. Reading a book we can get the pArt of this knowledge and probably this is the reason of its popularity. Among other observations, Morgan claims to have witnessed miracles of healing and stunning mental telepathy between tribal members. These lost secrets are usual for the members of the tribe but look like the miracles for me. The ceremonies and rituals described in the book gave me a very interesting insight into the world of aborigines and their culture.

The book and the author are very controversial. Marlo states that the book described real events that have happened to her in Australia. But big opposition which consists of scientists, readers and specialists proves it to be a fraud. Even Australian aborigines demanded for several times to declare it to be a fiction and just the mere figment of authors imagination. A lot of surveys couldnt find the tribe mentioned in the book and specialists who study the life of the aborigines of that region find mistakes in the describing their way of life, habits, and beliefs. For example she describes ornaments, musical instruments, cooking utensils, ceremonies, landscape, social relations, clothing and much else which simply do not exist anywhere in the traditional cultures of the Australian continent. Marlo Morgan justifies her unwillingness to uncover the place of the story and the real names by the huger purposes to protect the characters of the narration from the interference of the civilization. Shes even agreed to rank her work to fiction books to protect the privacy of the tribe.

But I t hink that despite this conflict there is a message which is more important than the authenticity of the events described. The outlook described in the book and way of thinking depicted there can become a real eye-opener for many people. The message speaks about human values in general and even if the entire story is just imaginary the problems spotlighted there are real. The book describes a life in harmony with nature and yourself, not burdened with internal and external conflicts and confrontations. The respect and careful attitude to the nature and the world around them these people extend to other people and themselves. The idea of simplicity is repeated during the entire book and is seen as one of the main means to gain the lost tranquility and peace. To perceive the people the way they are, to enjoy the simplest things in life these are the things which can help us to feel the harmony with ourselves first of all and than with the surroundings. We all suffer becaus e we are separated from the whole. Weve lost our roots and only coming back to our true essences (oneness) can make us happy again states the author through the months of her characters. In the book the tribal members use phrases like if its in the highest good of everyone everywhere after a wish or a prayer. Weve almost lost the ability to look around deepened into the routine of everyday life and dont take time to look into ourselves also. These lost skills make modern people unhappy and make them seek happiness in the false or even dangerous things. The people of the tribe state that Mutants no longer have the good digestive system of the Real People. (p.132).

And thought the author states that I now have knowledge and understanding that is beyond anything I could have imagined for myself the truths mentioned in the book are not new of course and the echoes of them we can find in many religions of the world. But I think that reminding people one more time about th ere values is not a wasted time and effort since eternal human values have not changed through the centuries of human existence but they can be forgotten or just put one byplay. Not everything must be perceived directly and its understandable that the author doesnt call us to leave our homes and to move to the forests and deserts to find the truth of life and the answers of the questions. Coming back to nature can happen from any place and in any time. The main thing to my mind is to see the natural origins inside of ourselves and remember the inArtificial behavior, thoughts and feelings without pretending and trying to make a good impression. The absolute beauty can be found anywhere and the authors message to my mind is to make us open our eyes and see this beauty around. The style of writing is very simple an d unsophisticated. But if to consider that the story is told not by the professional writer, but by the doctor willing to share with us her incredible experience the imperfection of the style can be forgiven. Good thing about the style is that due to its simplicity the book is very easily read and the main massage isnt lost in the exquisite wording.

In general I liked the book and think despite all the controversies around it its an interesting and developing reading. But there is a thing in the book I didnt like. That is the attitude of the author to the members of the tribe. Her supercilious and haughty attitude to the representations of another race and another type of living make it doubtful sometimes that she herself has internalized the truths she tries to present in the book. The sympathy to the members of the tribe is broken sometimes by the condescending tone of the author. Badly hidden sense of superiority expressed in the phrases like phrases such as half-ca st, half-breed, native, dark skinned natives and cannibals made me feel that Morgan didnt feel that sympathetic to the tribe as she would wish to show.

For me there is not doubt that the book is interesting and can be very cognitive in many fields. It gives interesting facts from the life of aborigines and describes their life from-inside. And what is significant for me the author goes deeper than just a usual depicting of their way of life, customs and traditions, but also penetrates the original system of beliefs of these people. Morgan makes it interesting and easily read but makes think about the eternal problems of humanity and even more it gives the clue from the labyrinth of the human misfortunes and misery. Like all the teaching, the book can only give a hint and to show the way, but the choice if to follow it or not is ours.

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Author:: Aaron SchwArtz
Keywords:: Mutant Message Down Under
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