The Secret of Hanging Rock
Encyclopedia
The Secret of Hanging Rock is a previously unpublished chapter of Joan Lindsay
's 1967 book Picnic at Hanging Rock and contains the "solution" to the mystery in that book. It was originally written as the final chapter, though it was removed before publication and not released until 1987, three years after Lindsay's death.
The missing material amounts to about twelve pages; the rest of The Secret at Hanging Rock is discussion by other authors, including John Taylor and Yvonne Rousseau .
It has been argued by critics that much of the power of the original book stems from the suggestion that it was a true story, and the fact that the mystery in the book was never resolved, and therefore it was a good decision by the author to remove this material.
, they feel as if they are being pulled from the inside out and get dizzy. After they leave it behind, they lie down and fall asleep.
A woman suddenly appears climbing the rock in her underwear shouting, "Through," but then faints. This woman is not referenced by name and is apparently a stranger to the girls, yet the narration suggests she is Miss McCraw. Miranda loosens the woman's corset
to help revive her. Afterwards, the girls remove their own corsets and throw them off the cliff. The recovered woman points out the corsets appear to be static in mid-air as if stuck in time and that there are no shadows. She and the girls continue together.
After the women experience dizziness, the group encounter a strange phenomenon
described as a hole in space. It influences their state of mind. They see a snake crawling down a crack in the rock. The woman suggests they follow the snake and takes lead. She transforms into a small crab-like creature and disappears into the crack. Marion follows her, and then Miranda, but when Irma's turn comes, a balanced boulder [the "hanging rock"] slowly tilts and blocks the way. The chapter ends with Irma "tearing and beating at the gritty face on the boulder with her bare hands".
. This is compatible with Lindsay's fascination with clocks and time throughout Picnic at Hanging Rock. It also ties in with the tension between Aboriginal and British
Australia that is clear throughout the book. The girls somehow succumbed to a magical, yet natural Australia, and were forever lost to their schoolmates possibly within a remnant of lost aboriginal 'dream time'.
Joan Lindsay
Joan Lindsay, Lady Lindsay was an Australian author, best known for her "ambiguous and intriguing" novel Picnic at Hanging Rock.-Life:...
's 1967 book Picnic at Hanging Rock and contains the "solution" to the mystery in that book. It was originally written as the final chapter, though it was removed before publication and not released until 1987, three years after Lindsay's death.
The missing material amounts to about twelve pages; the rest of The Secret at Hanging Rock is discussion by other authors, including John Taylor and Yvonne Rousseau .
It has been argued by critics that much of the power of the original book stems from the suggestion that it was a true story, and the fact that the mystery in the book was never resolved, and therefore it was a good decision by the author to remove this material.
Plot summary
The chapter starts with Edith fleeing back to the picnic area. Miranda, Irma and Marion push forward. Irma looks down and compares the people on the plain below to ants. When the girls walk past the monolithMonolith
A monolith is a geological feature such as a mountain, consisting of a single massive stone or rock, or a single piece of rock placed as, or within, a monument...
, they feel as if they are being pulled from the inside out and get dizzy. After they leave it behind, they lie down and fall asleep.
A woman suddenly appears climbing the rock in her underwear shouting, "Through," but then faints. This woman is not referenced by name and is apparently a stranger to the girls, yet the narration suggests she is Miss McCraw. Miranda loosens the woman's corset
Corset
A corset is a garment worn to hold and shape the torso into a desired shape for aesthetic or medical purposes...
to help revive her. Afterwards, the girls remove their own corsets and throw them off the cliff. The recovered woman points out the corsets appear to be static in mid-air as if stuck in time and that there are no shadows. She and the girls continue together.
After the women experience dizziness, the group encounter a strange phenomenon
Phenomenon
A phenomenon , plural phenomena, is any observable occurrence. Phenomena are often, but not always, understood as 'appearances' or 'experiences'...
described as a hole in space. It influences their state of mind. They see a snake crawling down a crack in the rock. The woman suggests they follow the snake and takes lead. She transforms into a small crab-like creature and disappears into the crack. Marion follows her, and then Miranda, but when Irma's turn comes, a balanced boulder [the "hanging rock"] slowly tilts and blocks the way. The chapter ends with Irma "tearing and beating at the gritty face on the boulder with her bare hands".
Symbolism and meaning
Many readers interpret this to mean that the girls have fallen into a time warpTime travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
. This is compatible with Lindsay's fascination with clocks and time throughout Picnic at Hanging Rock. It also ties in with the tension between Aboriginal and British
Australia that is clear throughout the book. The girls somehow succumbed to a magical, yet natural Australia, and were forever lost to their schoolmates possibly within a remnant of lost aboriginal 'dream time'.