Ian Bone is a prominent Australian writer, and in the book Sleep Tonight, he majorly addresses the issue of cultural vehemence and its negative impact on young people. The protagonist of this novel is Alex, a troubled young man who learns hard lessons while growing up. Bone uses the character, Alex, to show how young people struggle to make a living in urban areas. The reader follows the live Alex and witnesses how he sleeps lumpy in the city. The life of Alex is paradoxical, and the author helps readers to learn his personal development. Violence is a major theme in the novel because it is witnessed throughout the book. For instance, Alex is considered an outcast in society, and schoolmates largely bully him. The senior students use harsh techniques when bullying the junior students, and Alex is the one who suffers most. Bone develops Alex as a strong character who make tough decisions to decide the destiny of his future. Despite passing through hard situations, he is ready and willing to move on.
Not all people in society are harsh, and this fact is proved by Bone when he introduces Marta's character to the scene. Marta is a non-violent person who is ready to protect Alex from violent people. Marta's virtues also act as a sign of weakness because the senior students try to bully her, but she always stands firm to protect her rights. Satirically, as the novel progresses, Marta's life in the city deviates from her good virtues, and she starts living like her seniors.
The main antagonist of this novel is the Jockey, and he is the person who subjects Alex to misery. Everyone fears the Jockey in school because he is violent and harmful. The character, the Jockey is used as a symbol by the author to represent the idolization of vehement people in society. People in the community fear violent people because they think that they are powerful min gods. However, violent people should not be feared or given any respect because that makes them think they are gods, which is not the case.
