My Place by Sally Morgan and Rabbit-Proof Fence by Phillip Noyce successfully portray the isolation, identity and discrimination of Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders. Although being set in different time periods, both texts explore the effects of the stolen generation on Indigenous Australians and how they fit within society. Sally Morgan characterises herself as an outcast within school symbolising the isolation of Indigenous Australians within society. In contrast with Morgan, Noyce conveys the isolation of Indigenous Australians in a more literal sense by his selection of camera shots. Both texts also cleverly encapsulate aboriginal Identity of the main characters through various methods. Morgan throughout her biography …show more content…
Sally throughout her schooling felt out of place and different from her classmates. Her feelings of exclusion and isolation within her school is symbolic of the exclusion and segregation of Aboriginals in society. Although being set between the 1950s and 1960s the effects of the stolen generation is still apparent as seen in Sally’s primary school experience. Different from My Place, Noyce conveys the isolation of Indigenous Australians during the time of the stolen generation. Within his camera shots there are multiple occasions in which Noyce uses bars as a symbol of the segregation and isolation of Aboriginals. From the beginning of Sally’s education she felt “terribly out of place” (pg. 217). Although only being young from her first day she “felt different from the other children in my [her] class” (pg.28). Sally’s feelings of being isolated and an outcast within her class symbolises the feelings of the Indigenous race within society during this period. While everybody else in her class was “spick-and-span” Sally was “the grubby offender” which is a representation of how Aboriginals were viewed from the white perspectives (pg.28). Like Morgan, Noyce uses bars to represent not only the literal isolation of Molly, Daisy and Gracie but also the divide that lies between the white race and Indigenous race. When the
In the novel ‘Walking the Boundaries’ Australian author Jackie French introduces the reader to Martin and his family and the history of their family farm. The reason why Martin is visiting his great grandfather Ted is because the old man has challenged him to walk the boundaries of the property and if he does this successfully, then the farm will be his. Martin wants to get the property and all the money that would come with selling it. In the beginning Martin thought the walk around the boundaries would be easy but he ends up facing some unexpected events and as a result learns about his family history while walking the boundaries. French expresses the change in Martin’s personality through her knowledge of Australia’s indigenous past, her use of sensory language and through the development of her main characters. In the book ‘Walking the Boundaries’ Martin discovers how the bush works and how it is everybody’s obligation to take care of the land for future generations.
Stenders continues to create an idealised representation of the Australian identity through his representation of conflict with authority. Conflict of authority is traditionally identified as an aspect of Australian identity when an authority figures is seen to be using power unfairly and in corrupt ways. Stenders is clearly drawing on the historical context of Australia as a penal settlement where mistreated convicts developed a hatred for authority figures that unnecessarily treated them with cruelty. Stenders uses the characters of the Cribbages, the caretakers of the caravan park to embody the notion of the corrupt misuse of power. This is evident in Stenders’ portrayal of them as intimidating and unreasonable in their response to Nancy keeping Red Dog in the park. Stenders positions us to participate in the disregard for authority through his negative representation suggested by their mug and arrogant facial expressions and abrasive tone in, “I don't care if he is the Queen’s bloody corgi.” We are further compelled to align our perspective of them with Nancy’s through the high angle point of view shot focalised through Nancy’s eyes which makes them appear small and powerless.
Many writers explore the notion that cultural differences may inflict feelings of disconnection for their central characters. This is shown in the two texts ‘Neighbours’ and ‘Migrant Woman on a Melbourne Tram’, as both protagonists struggle to cope with their newly exposed environment. Despite this, we learn that it can be resolved through the acceptance of one another, yet others may remain to dissociate themselves from society.
It is crucial that we study Australian Narratives as it creates insights into events we may have not explored. This is evident in the novel "Crow Country" written by Kate Constable. It teaches us about Aboriginal beliefs and spirituality, Australia's History and respect, as we experience what it feels like to live in rural Australia, creating an understanding about Aboriginal people. Therefore, through a close read and study of "Crow Country", readers are able to learn new and important things about our past and present, showing that it is crucial to study Australian Narratives.
How each character’s relationship relates to native Australians grows for better or worse throughout the novel. The novel also shows how Grenville has incorporated each personal lifestyle and how it co-exists with the other. The novel incorporates past and modern views about each society and brings to attention controversial issues about Australia’s convict past and how Aborigines are being ostracized for their way of life and skin pigmentation.
Rabbit Proof Fence has been published both as a book and as a movie. Being a reader or a viewer entirely changes our point of view on the story. As a reader, we get descriptive insight on the situations and emotions of the characters. We are then able to re-create these visually using our imagination and have endless freedom doing so. As a viewer, our creativity is somewhat restricted. We do not imagine the characters’ physical appearance, the locations or the overall situations in the same way as in a book. These elements are already given to us. Throughout this essay I will be exploring how the music and the filming creates a contrast between reading the book with elaborate descriptions.
The notion of the contemporary indigenous identity and the impact of these notions are both explored in texts that have been studied. Ivan Sen’s 2002 film ‘Beneath Clouds’ focuses on the stereotypical behaviours of Indigenous Australians highlighting Lina and Vaughn’s journey. This also signifies the status and place of the Australian identity today. Through the use of visual techniques and stereotypes the ideas that the Indigenous are uneducated, involved in crime and the stereotypical portrayal of white people are all explored. Similarly the notion of urban and rural life is represented in Kennith Slessor’s ‘William Street’ and ‘Country Towns’.
Summary: An overview of the ways in which the film "Rabbit-Proof Fence" conveys the importance of home, family, and country to indigenous peoples.
There is a famous Australian film called “The Rabbit Proof Fence” released in 2002 and is based on the book “Follow the Rabbit Proof Fence” written by Doris Pilkington Garimara to tell the story of the Stolen Generations from the Aboriginal point of view. It is based on the true story of the events of the author’s mother’s life and raises awareness of the plight of the Stolen Generations. The film follows three young “half-caste” girls. Molly Craig, 14, her sister Daisy, 8 and their cousin, Gracie, 10, were living peacefully in Jigalong, Western Australia.
Good Afternoon teachers and students, The following texts express how an individuals understanding of belonging can quickly be changed by the people and place around them. “Jasper Jones a novel written by Craig Silvey”, it is a short story of a boy named Charles Butkins and the events that occurred because he helped Jasper Jones mask the death of Laura Wishart. “Australia by Ania Walwicz”, is attacking the people of Australia in the form of a poem, because of their point of views and attitudes in life. She also hates Australia itself because the people are not welcoming, this is the main point of this poem.
Australia’s identity has always been a complicated one. Starting with Aboriginal genocide, 1800’s cowboys and villains, two world wars and a bunch of poems describing them, it makes it difficult to conclude on what being an ‘Aussie’ really is. Thankfully, the two thought-provoking poems Nobody Calls Me a Wog Anymore by Komninos Zervos, and My Country by Dorothea Mackellar both use their discerning selection of themes to reflect modern attitudes in some extent. Along with their themes, Nobody Calls Me a Wog Anymore and My Country both use their story to capture the attributes modern Australians possess to some degree.
Discuss the symbolism and motifs in the ‘Rabbit Proof Fence’. What do they represent and how do they contribute to the story?
The film Rabbit-Proof Fence by Philip Noyce takes place in 1931 in a small town named Jigalong in Western Australia. Along the town is a rabbit-proof fence that runs for miles through the Australian Outback. The film focuses on three aboriginal girls, 14-year-old Molly, her younger 8-year-old sister Daisy, and their 10-year-old cousin Gracie. The officers removed the girls from their family and forced them to assimilate into white society. The chief A. O. Neville legally removed the aboriginal girls from their family because they were half-castes which means they are half one white parent and one Aboriginal parent. In this case, the girls had an aboriginal mother and a white father who was a worker near their area, but the father in not take part in the girl’s life. The Chief wanted to take away all the half-castes from the Aboriginal homes so they could eventually breed the aboriginals out of existence as well as give the half-caste a better life in their modern society. These camps held lots of indigenous children and trained the children to become laborers and servants for the white families. Soon after arriving at the Moore River camp, the three girls escaped after the first night and made a 1,500-mile journey home. Molly, Gracie, and Daisy left as soon as it began to rain so their tracks could be covered. Although at the camp, the workers soon noticed the girls had escaped and sent the Aboriginal tracker to go find them and return them back to Moore River camp. The girls later found the rabbit-proof fence and followed it north to find Jigalong. On their way back to home, they met an aboriginal man who told the girls that Gracie’s mother was in Wiluna and she could take a train to meet her. Soon after Gracie parted ways, the tracker captured Gracie and they returned back to Moore River. Daisy and Molly continued to follow the fence and finally arrived home to meet their mother. Although, the family had to leave to go hide in the desert in order for the family to stay together. After the movie ends, there is a short clip of the real Molly and Daisy in 2002. The captions said that Gracie did not survive her way back to Moore River Camp and she was never seen again. Molly also stated that the government took
The recent Australian film, Rabbit Proof Fence, similarly condemns the social, political and cultural mores of colonial and post-colonial Australia in relation to its past treatment of indigenous Australians. Like To Kill a Mockingbird, it too, is set in the 1930’s and reflects similar attitudes and values whites have to black people. The film is a true story based on the book by Doris Pilkington Garimara, the daughter of one of the half-caste children in the film who, together with two other Aboriginal girls, was forcibly removed from her family in Jigalong, Western Australia. These children form part of what is now known as the “Stolen Generation”. They, like many others who lived in the first part of the 20th century, were the victims of the official government assimilationist policy which decreed that half-caste children should be taken from their families and their land in order to be made “white”. The policy was definitely aimed at “breeding out” Aboriginality, because only half and quarter caste children were taken.
The movie, Rabbit Proof Fence, directed by Phillip Noyce, tells the story about three young aboriginals girls’ name, Molly, Daisy, and Gracie, who were taken away from their families and homes to be brought up in white society. The girls are related; two sisters and a cousin. The story reveals the struggles the girls encounters while trying to run away from Moore River, which is a settlement camp where half-caste native (children with both white and Native parents) children are educated on how to live with white population. The girls are taught to become servants, and they are prohibited from using any other language but English. The settlement camp where these girls are held is far away from their home, which separates them from their