Religion and the occult
Religion and the occult play a significant role in The Boy Behind the Curtain. After his father's horrific motorcycle injury, author Tim Winton was hurting. He didn't want to see his father hurting and started to realize the importance of believing in a higher power. As a result, he turned to the Church of Christ (also known as Mormonism). He spent quite a bit of time in church talking with other people, studying, and praying. He found that his experiences in church helped him become a better person and also helped his writing career. But Winton compared his experiences with religion to the occult; he said that the Mormon church, to him, was a metaphor for the occult.
Police
Growing up, author Tim Winton's father was a policeman for his town in Australia. He loved his job and was good at it too, but one day got into a horrible accident. In a split second, Tim's father lost his ability to function as he once did and lost his job, which is the thing that defined him. And his father's identity had an impact on young Tim Winton, who witnessed his father as a police officer and then his father as an invalid, incapable of living life normally.
Healing through language
Throughout his life, author Tim Winton has been through a number of sad and unfortunate events. For instance, his father's involvement in a major accident radically changed how Winton viewed the world and how he lived his life. Not only that, but Winton also goes through several other difficult spells in his life and witnesses other violent and unfortunate things in his life. To heal, Winton turned to religion, but he also started to write. He wrote very frequently, including novels, short stories, and other short works. He found that, through writing, he could heal from his pain and his hurt. And that's just what he did: Winton has become one of the world's most celebrated writers.
