Robert Drewe’s collection of short stories from The Rip are used as a way of exploring how people can respond to change as well as advocating the idea that different types of responses will result in consequences that will affect our lives in different ways.

Leon K is unable to cope with the changes in his life, instead of acknowledging them he chooses to ignore them. Leon’s main way of escape is through the daily use of his pool. He prefers to swim backstroke, this evokes the idea that Leon willingly leaves what is behind him unattended to so that his sole focus can be on the “silent aerial activity”. Leon “trust[s] that the fingertips of his right hand rather than the back of his skull w[ill] strike the wall first” this demonstrates the …show more content…
The birds have the freedom that Leon wishes for but cannot reach, his preference of swimming naked makes him feel “momentarily free of his current restraints”, both the birds and Leon being naked help him envision the life that he wishes he had whilst ignoring the current situation of his actual life. Leon quickly grows to “resent” his solicitor, Gareth Wyntuhl, due to the fact that he has the ability to “clarify matters [for] him” as well as “eating into his swimming time”, both of which prevent Leon from ignoring the changes in his life. The appearance of the snake also prevents Leon from ignoring his situation due to its presence resulting in him not being able to use his pool. The elimination of his …show more content…
Having the inability to change his outlook on life, Drewe uses Leon to show readers that choosing to intentionally ignore an unwanted situation is not how we should handle change. Drewe draws on Leon’s avoidance by making his repetitious routine and inability to accept change a negative trait by having it result in Leon’s death. Leon’s death is used to endorse the idea that we cannot ignore change and any unwanted situations that may appear because it is the easiest way to attend to it, we need to be able to confront and cope with what happens in order to avoid any negative consequences that could result from an unwilling acceptance of change.

Unlike Leon K, Tyler Foss exhibits behaviour that demonstrates his ability to willingly adapt to a presented situation despite being unwilling to change. Tyler, ‘the advance guard…[and] the veteran Hollywood location scout”, focuses strongly and attempts to maintain his “outlaw rocker, with a lone wolf air” image. Tylers’ job is never undertaken without his usual “denim, leather and T-shirts…and at all times [his] custom-made cowboy boots”. When he comes to the “uncertain terrain” of the Queensland Coast, Tyler finds that “regrettably, cowboy boots were out” . Despite Tyler’s lack of change in