¶ … British and Australian characters based on stereotypes. Discuss how the characters are different. Review the book and relevant literature on the book and the author.

Nevil Shute's characters epitomize the British and Australian stereotypes but are also characters of depth with moral values.

Town Like Alice, (Alice) written in 1950 is often categorized as one of Nevil Shute's "anti-war" novels and is part of a set of novels that was not produced sequentially.

During the 1950s, Shute's writing took a drastic turn and was an affirmation in support of the democratic spirit of the "plain and simple" people, a description that fit many of his characters. Shute had strong ideas about how society should be organized...

Jean Paget, who is an Englishwoman and Joe Harmon, an Australian POW. Shute wrote about what he called his "plain and simple" folks; people who recognize their possibilities and seize opportunities but also know and accept the realities of life. They compromise a progressive society where each person rises to the occasion and becomes the best they can be while accepting their own limitations.
In Alice, Jean who is working in Malaya at the start of WWII is taken prisoner by the Japanese and she and many other women and children are moved from prison camp to prison camp because the Japanese have no place for them. She depicts a strong woman who is stepped in English tradition. A bit stodgy and affected at first, but definitely a woman of substance.

Joe Harmon is the taciturn cattle rancher who ends up as a POW. The typical blustery Australian who typifies the "plain and simple" folk -- those who know what needs…