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the effect of the marihuana in the couscous affecting Drummond, but ‘the merciless Assyrian
king who is Griffiths continues to sit in the darkness in front of me, his eyes flashing anger and
death and pillage’, and wearing the ‘high cone-shaped cap’ of a wizard.
Paul Sharrad notes the parallel with the episode of Odysseus and Circe, writing that
through the growth in self-awareness Koch’s protagonists can achieve ‘a breaking of the
enchantment of the imperial Circe’ (Sharrad, 1985, 65). Sharrad equates the illusions born of
colonialist prejudices with those of the enchantress who turned Odysseus’ men into swine.
Koch has given Circe free rein with the gunas to make Sukarno into a god, then a man, a
caterpillar and finally a demon; Wally into a cannibalistic, pederastic walrus; the intellectual,
Buddha-like Billy Kwan into variously a rabbit, cat or lizard, and then into an unreasoning
madman; plus, Koch names the ever-horny but sheepishly shy Condon to sound like ‘condom’;
and Curtis, who is always hiring the services of whores, like ‘coitus’—and all for neglecting
the truth of their souls. The movement in this age of darkness is typically from the light of
sattva to the dark of tamas, and is typified by the rajas which makes the individuals desire the
stupefaction of Circe’s wine. And yet, as Sharrad suggests, those who can release themselves
from the stereotypes and attitudes inherited from the Empire and nurtured in Australia might
neutralise Circe’s potion, regain their humanity, and, Koch and d’Alpuget add, with the
discipline, concentration and self-awareness of a Hindu ascetic, perhaps something even more
than that.
10.4.2. The Masks of Evil
An Easterner is less likely than a Westerner to separate evil characters from good ones.
‘Evil’ itself is, in the Hindu sense, simply adharma, the absence of righteous cosmic order.
Evil has its proponents, however. Foremost of these are the demons, who are engaged in an
endless struggle for cosmic supremacy with the gods, whose interest lies in maintaining
dharma, the righteous order of the universe. Mankind’s role in the struggle is critical. Men
must maintain their link with the gods through sacrifice and their righteous thought and action,
else the demons might gain the upper hand and overthrow the cosmic order. As such, while
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