Kangaroo Summary

Published in 1923, Kangaroo is D. H. Lawrence’s semi-autobiographical novel based on his experiences in Australia between May and August 1922. Lawrence and his wife Frieda stayed in Thirroul, a seaside town near Sydney, and his impressions of the land, people, and politics fed directly into the novel.

The novel is less about a tightly constructed plot and more about ideas—questions of authority, loyalty, masculinity, marriage, and the search for a spiritual or political community. The story follows Richard Lovat Somers (a thinly veiled self-portrait of Lawrence) and his wife Harriet as they settle temporarily in Australia, confront the social and political landscape, and interact with a charismatic political leader nicknamed “Kangaroo.”

Part I: Arrival in Australia

Richard Lovat Somers, a middle-aged English writer, and his German-born wife Harriet arrive in Australia seeking a new life, away from the disillusionment they felt in post-war Europe. Somers carries with him a deep weariness: disenchanted with the violence of World War I, frustrated by English society, and alienated from modern politics.

At first, Australia feels strange and overwhelming. Somers describes the land as vast, raw, sun-burnt, and indifferent, not yet tamed by human civilization. Unlike the “old soil” of Europe, steeped in history, Australia strikes him as unfinished, almost too new for culture to take root. Harriet, though more practical and socially adaptable, shares some of his unease.

They settle temporarily in a house near Sydney, where they try to make sense of the Australian way of life. They meet neighbors, encounter the casual friendliness of locals, and are struck by the democratic spirit—everyone seems to be “mates” on equal footing. But Somers quickly notices a hollowness beneath this cheerful equality: to him, Australians lack depth, tradition, and the intensity of European life.

Part II: Encounters with Australia

Somers and Harriet gradually explore Australian society. They attend social gatherings, meet politicians, intellectuals, and everyday workers. Somers becomes sensitive to the peculiar Australian psychology—open, pragmatic, yet somehow vacant.

Harriet enjoys the sociability, but Somers feels restless. His deep need is not for companionship but for meaning, for something larger than himself to which he might dedicate his loyalty. He reflects constantly on the war, his alienation from England, and his hunger for a new principle of life.

In long passages, Somers meditates on human authority: Why do people follow leaders? Why do they submit to power? What kind of community is possible in the modern world? These meditations foreshadow his meeting with the central figure of the novel—Kangaroo.

Part III: Meeting Kangaroo

Somers is introduced to Benjamin Cooley, a former lawyer, returned soldier, and charismatic political leader nicknamed Kangaroo. He is the head of a right-wing paramilitary movement called the Diggers, modeled partly on real Australian groups of the time, such as the New Guard.

Kangaroo is a striking figure—physically large, jovial, warm-hearted, yet commanding. He exudes paternal authority and genuine kindness, which immediately draw Somers. His nickname, “Kangaroo,” symbolizes both his Australianness and his bounding, magnanimous spirit.

Somers is invited into Kangaroo’s circle, where he meets members of the Diggers: ex-soldiers and nationalists who feel the need for order, unity, and strength in Australia’s future. Kangaroo speaks of love, loyalty, and brotherhood, imagining himself as a benevolent father-figure who will guide his followers toward a harmonious, disciplined society.

At first, Somers is fascinated. He responds instinctively to Kangaroo’s warmth and vision. The novel spends long chapters on their dialogues, where Kangaroo speaks of his dream of a new social order, and Somers listens, questions, and wrestles inwardly.

Part IV: Jack Callcott and the Other Side

Another important figure in the novel is Jack Callcott, a returned soldier, sturdy and practical, representing a harder, more brutal aspect of Australian life. Callcott is linked to left-wing labor politics and offers a stark contrast to Kangaroo’s idealistic paternalism.

Through Callcott, Somers glimpses the toughness of the Australian working class: plain-spoken, suspicious of intellectuals, and sometimes violent. Callcott represents a raw, physical Australia, rooted in mateship and labor solidarity.

Somers feels caught between Kangaroo’s vision of benevolent right-wing authority and Callcott’s rough democracy of workers. Both offer belonging, but neither satisfies him completely.

Part V: Somers’s Inner Conflict

The heart of the novel lies not in external events but in Somers’s inner debates. He longs for a principle of authority, a leader to whom he might surrender in loyalty and trust. Yet he also fears submission, jealously guarding his independence as a writer and thinker.

Kangaroo, with his warmth and vision of brotherly love, tempts Somers deeply. At times, Somers feels he could commit himself to Kangaroo’s cause, becoming part of the Diggers. But soon his distrust surfaces. He senses in Kangaroo’s paternalism a dangerous simplification, a desire to absorb individuals into a collective.

Somers repeatedly reflects on his experience in Europe: the war, the breakdown of ideals, the collapse of nations. He is haunted by memories of comradeship and destruction, which fuel both his longing for authority and his terror of it.

His marriage to Harriet plays a crucial role here. Harriet is skeptical of Kangaroo and hostile to any form of political involvement. She insists that Somers belongs first and foremost to her, not to politics or movements. Their marriage becomes a battleground between his desire for external authority and her insistence on personal loyalty.

Part VI: Kangaroo’s Philosophy

Kangaroo continues to court Somers with long, philosophical conversations. He explains his vision of politics as grounded not in force but in love. To him, the Diggers are not merely a military group but a brotherhood of affection, bound by loyalty to a fatherly leader.

Yet Somers sees the contradiction: even love can be authoritarian if it demands total submission. He worries that Kangaroo’s dream, though noble in intent, could lead to dictatorship and the crushing of individuality.

Lawrence uses these conversations to explore larger themes: the relationship between authority and love, the search for belonging in the modern world, and the dangers of political idealism.

Part VII: Violence and Disillusionment

The novel moves toward tension as Somers witnesses the undercurrents of violence in Australian politics. Clashes between right-wing groups like the Diggers and left-wing labor movements seem imminent. Jack Callcott embodies the rough brutality that could erupt into civil strife.

Somers recoils from this violence. He cannot reconcile his longing for community with the ugliness of political struggle. Harriet’s warnings grow sharper: she insists that politics is a trap, and that their true loyalty must be to each other.

Gradually, Somers turns away from Kangaroo. Though still fond of him, he cannot submit. He sees that Kangaroo’s paternal love, however genuine, demands too great a sacrifice of personal freedom.

Part VIII: The Death of Kangaroo

In a dramatic twist, Kangaroo is killed in a violent clash between political factions. His death is sudden, brutal, and symbolic—the destruction of a dream of benevolent authority.

For Somers, the news is shocking but also clarifying. He mourns Kangaroo’s warmth and generosity, but he also feels relief. Kangaroo’s death releases him from the temptation of political submission.

Part IX: Departure from Australia

After Kangaroo’s death, Somers and Harriet decide to leave Australia. The land has been both alluring and alienating. They experienced its openness and vitality but also its rawness and lack of cultural depth.

Somers departs with mixed feelings: admiration for Kangaroo, pity for Callcott, gratitude for Harriet’s steadfastness, and an abiding sense of exile. He has not found a new homeland or authority to replace the old. Instead, he remains a wanderer, loyal only to his art and his marriage.

Themes of the Novel

1. Authority and Submission – The central theme is the human need for authority and the danger of surrendering individuality to it.
2. Love and Politics – Kangaroo equates politics with love, but Somers questions whether love can ever be the foundation of authority.
3. Exile and Belonging – Somers is an exile from England, searching for a community, yet finding only alienation.
4. Australia as Symbol – The Australian landscape represents newness, raw vitality, and unfinished culture—both attractive and unsettling.
5. Marriage as Anchor – Harriet represents loyalty to personal relationships over political ones. Their marriage is the ultimate bond that prevents Somers from being absorbed into movements.
6. Violence and Brotherhood – The novel shows the thin line between comradeship and brutality, especially in post-war societies.

Kangaroo is less a conventional novel than a philosophical exploration wrapped in narrative. Its central drama lies not in events but in Somers’s inner struggle: the temptation of political authority versus the insistence on individual freedom and marital loyalty.

Through Kangaroo and Callcott, Lawrence presents two faces of Australia—the warm paternal idealist and the rough working-class realist. Through Somers, he dramatizes his own restless quest for meaning in a world shattered by war.

The novel ends unresolved: Somers has not found a home, but he has reaffirmed his independence. For Lawrence, Australia was a land of vitality and strangeness, but not a place where his spirit could rest.