# Mr. M'Swat — My Brilliant Career character guide

> Mr. M'Swat in My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mr. M’Swat, M’Swat, the M’Swat

**First appearance:** 0036-xxxi-mr-m-swat-and-i-have-a-bust-up

## Snapshot

A miserly, God-fearing patriarch at Barney's Gap who measures life in sheep prices and suspects Sybylla's starlit wanderings of being a secret lover's tryst.

## Who they are

M'Swat rules his squalid selection with a pipe, a spittoon, and an endless ledger of comparisons to his neighbours, keeping his family in a contentment Sybylla can only envy and despise. He suspects her night walks of romance because a girl gazing at stars is as unthinkable to him as flight, and his vulgar, joyless grip on the household becomes the dead monotony that nearly breaks her. His bust-up with Sybylla forces her back to Possum Gully and marks the end of her first taste of independence.

## In the story

### [My Journey](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_brilliant_career_se/chapters/xxvii-my-journey)

Meets Sybylla at Yarnung station, carries her luggage, and escorts her to a bedroom at the public house.

### [XXVIII: To Life](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_brilliant_career_se/chapters/xxviii-to-life)

Drives Sybylla to his home; described as ignorant but straightforward, with a friendship with Sybylla's father.

### [XXIX: To Life (Continued)](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_brilliant_career_se/chapters/xxix-to-life-continued)

Spends Sunday reading stock prices with great satisfaction; his diary reflects a narrow, monotonous existence.

### [Mr. M’Swat and I Have a Bust-Up](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_brilliant_career_se/chapters/xxxi-mr-m-swat-and-i-have-a-bust-up)

Confronts Sybylla about her nightly walks, suggests she marry his son Peter, and is the target of Sybylla's furious rebuke.

### [Ta-Ta to Barney’s Gap](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_brilliant_career_se/chapters/xxxii-ta-ta-to-barney-s-gap)

Writes a letter to Sybylla’s parents, shows concern for her health, and bids her a kind farewell.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_brilliant_career_se/characters/mr_mswat
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_brilliant_career_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/my_brilliant_career_se/characters