Cirrus@Austlit

Xavier Herbert wrote under the name Herbert Astor up until 1933 and McDougall is interested in his captivity narrative The Ape-Men of Mobongu which is one of only two known stories that he wrote for children. McDougall posits that Herbert's representation (or lack there of) regarding Australia's indigenous population is a projection of 'his own unconsious horror of darkness and blind fear of the primitive' (6). Furthermore, he claims this limits Herbert's ability to 'control or transcend animal impulses, lack of civilisation and lack of humanity' and instead, the novel functions as a 'primitivist metaphor' which supports the perceived superiority of white people over indigenous people, the explorer-hero over the idigene (6-7).