Identity. It's a broad and difficult concept. As Australians, our identity is multifaceted and has different expressions. One aspect of my sense of Australian identity is masculinity and the idea of ​​the “Aussie Battler”. An Aussie Battler is a working class man, a person who is proud of the country in which he lives. An Aussie Battler is a patriarchal figure who works hard to support his family, often spending his free time with family or at the pub. . The Piper's Son, an Australian novel by Melina Marchetta, reflects my sense of Australian identity through its representation of Australian masculinity in the portrayal of Dominic Finch-Mackee as the archetypal "Aussie Battler". of Australian identity. In Son of the Piper, Dominic Finch-Mackee exemplifies an Australian fighter. Dominic works for the Australian Council of Trade Unions and represents the small or disadvantaged. Dominic joins his fellow workers to ensure they get things right, an ideal the working class firmly believes in. This is seen when Dominic protests alongside the pier workers in the 1998 waterfront protest, over the unfair dismissal of all their employees. workforce as a threat to trade unionism. Dominic shows the patriarchal figure while the people of the community say "If Dom goes, we will go too". Dominic is not paid more than the rest of the people in the community, but his father figure unites the rest of the community in fighting for their people: the working class. Dominic has a large, close-knit family that he supported, before the death of his brother and best friend, Joe. At some point the family lived together in an unworkable situation and their furniture... middle of paper... leads to violence and sexual assault in men if drinking gets out of control. In First Dance, Roy and his group of friends hang out outside the local surf club, drinking beer in a controlled environment until Chrissie and Toni show up, too drunk to control themselves. This causes the men to take advantage of Toni and as a result, they rape her and kill her due to the sexual assault. This action reflects alcoholism and sexual aggression in Australian adolescents. My sense of Australian identity is that it is multifaceted and that there are multiple incarnations of Australian identity. This is reflected in my reading of Australian masculinity in The Piper's Son, where the Australian identity is depicted as the archetypal "Aussie Battler" and in First Dance, where alcohol, sexual violence and a "pack mentality" are elements of Australian adolescent masculinity..