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1969, 230). That it is too dark to be fully red indicates how, while Alex is nearly always
prudent, honest, magnanimous, and tends towards the devout, her fiery personality still lies
under the strong influence of masks which her dark brother can exploit, and is therefore itself
darkened. Sinclaire’s name refers obviously to his lack of lightness, and Alex’s, which means
‘defender of men’ (Morris, 31), indicates that she is not only engaged in the revelation of her
own self but also in a defence of Sinclaire against the forces of darkness which have overcome
him.
As the dark brother, Sinclaire is the agent provocateur in Alex’s life, though she usually
manages to make the best of each of the uncomfortable situations he puts her in. First, when
they were young, she had to hide the fact that they were always running off together. She
handled her pregnancy with extreme dignity and courage while he slunk off with the share of
the family inheritance which was denied her as punishment for her transgression. Then, having
lured her to Indonesia, he makes sure that she gets off on the wrong foot. When they are
observed bathing nude together, Sinclaire, infamous for his sexual caprices, declares gleefully,
‘By next Friday your name will be mud in the coffee-party set’ (MD, 7).
Sinclaire sets out to infect Alex with his condescending attitudes. He continually
reminds her of her social class, and tells her that the other Australians in Jakarta are ‘second-
rate’ (MD, 44). His boss, the embassy spymaster, is ‘the Iron Man’ to all but Sinclaire, who
prefers to call him ‘the Strangler’ in another early example of the spiritual decapitation
metaphor (MD, 9). Betty James, wife of the military attaché, a ‘forthright woman of middle
age’ who the others call ‘the General’ (MD, 9), is derided by Sinclaire for her hysteria over
melted ice-cream (MD, 44). Sinclaire disdains his professional rival Thornton, who is proud of
having made it from humble beginnings to his post with the Foreign Service, and who speaks
better French than Sinclaire, though it is Sinclaire who still manages to be the one invited to
the Ambassador’s home on Sundays for tennis.
His contempt for non-whites is even greater. While the newly arrived Alex is reduced to
tears by the streetboys who taunt her, Sinclaire just jeers sarcastically back at them (MD, 17),
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