The novella "Fly Away Peter" by David Malouf expresses the two specific themes, the brutality of war being the literal theme and the continuity of life being the philosophical theme. Malouf expresses these meanings effectively to the reader through his use of stylistic elements such as symbolism, poetic description, repetition and structural elements such as characters experiences. The use of symbolism throughout this story helps Malouf express the themes of the continuity of life and …showed first 75 words of 1068 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1068 total…and structural elements effectively in Fly Away Peter, a philosophical book, to express the themes of the continuity of life and the brutality of war. Symbolism by the use of the rats and birds, poetic descriptions of the water and the waves, repetition of the birds and the "real enemy" and characters experiences during the war are just examples of these structural and stylistic elements that shape our meanings of this novella, "Fly Away Peter".