Place and setting plays a significant role at the beginning of the novel. Darwin is initially depicted as a place of oppression, isolation and apathy. “The narrow bed jammed against one wall,the shelves crammed floor-to-ceiling with books and sheet music, the washbasin, the single armchair.”(p4) Paul describes Keller’s room in such a way, almost metaphorically suggesting the room to be similar to a prison cell. This provokes the reader to further analyse Keller’s situation. The description of the room and its similarity to a gaol cell, indicates that he is being punished or living out a sentence for something he has done in the past.

“A city of booze,blow and blasphemy” (p9) Peter Goldsworthy uses such language to portray a certain perception of Darwin. This quote suggests that Paul’s father’s impression of Darwin is a city consumed by alcohol, and additionally consumed by its incarcerated inhabitants. Inhabitants with poor standards of education and with nothing intelligent to say. Paul’s father feels as though the people of Darwin do not appreciate or acknowledge his son’s talents and are therefore stupid.
“The arsehole of the earth” (p9) This contributes to the mood of the book as it displays Paul’s father’s feelings of hatred and embarrassment towards the unfortunate city he lives in. He explains how disgusted he is by Darwin and how to him, it resembles a hole, a black abyss, an empty pit with nothing and no one of interest.

Although Paul’s parents reaction to Darwin and its climate is more of a negative one, Paul seems to embrace his new environment. “ I loved the town of booze and blow at first sight. And above all its smell; those hot, steamy perfumes that wrapped about me as we stepped off the plane.” This is an important aspect of the book as it shows a different side of Darwin. The humid, exotic jungle like side to Darwin, which is foreign to Paul.

Darwin’s tropical climate with its humidity, and its stark contrast between dry and wet seasons, seems alien to Paul when he arrives there after living in a number of country towns. Even retrospectively he conveys his sense of Darwin’s exotic strangeness, its ‘cartoon world’ of ‘larger than life’ tropical plants and abundant insects (p.11). ‘Butterflies of brilliant colours- bright rainbow colours, chemistry set colours, coffee table book colours-filled the air”.......“Cartoon descriptions? how else to describe a cartoon world?” The climate, landscape and overall atmosphere of Darwin is so different and outside of Paul’s norm it is almost as if it is not real.
The importance of place in the beginning of the novel is to set the foundations for the book. The isolation that Darwin offers allows Paul’s curiosity to run wild “ I spent most of the first day outside, ducking back beneath the house during downpours. I was keeping out of range of the unpacking, yes-out of sight, out of mind-but also exploring.” (p10) This sense of discovery is necessary for Paul as it enables him to mature and come in contact with his sexual and emotional side.