Rabbit-Proof Fence Essay

Throughout the early 20th century, the Australian public was led to believe that Aboriginal children were disadvantaged in their communities, and that there was a high risk of physical and sexual abuse. Aboriginal children were being removed in order to be exposed to ‘Anglo values’ and ‘work habits’ with a view to them being employed by colonial settlers, and to stop their parents, families and communities from passing on their culture, language and identity

Rabbit Proof Fence is a great film based on the real tale and experiences of three young Aboriginal girls, Molly, Gracie and Daisy, who were taken against their will from their families in Jigalong, Western Australia in 1931. The film puts a human face on the "Stolen Generation", an event which categorized links between the government and Aborigines in Australia for a lot of the 20th century.

The movie marks the beginning of mass social and political change that was intensified by World War II. With countless men at war, Australian women were able to enter and overtake male roles in the workforce. As a result, Feminism was strengthening. Along with the Women’s movement into the workforce, Robert Menzie’s 16-year service as the Prime Minister created the ‘Menzies Era’, where great Australian change has said to be recorded. In such a conservative era, political and social revolutions were difficult to adjust to,

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.

Rabbit-Proof Fence is the name of the film directed by Philip Noyce. This movie is about three girls, Molly, Daisy and Gracie, who are taken away from their families to a camp in Moore River where they bring up the Aboriginal kids as white kids. The girls then go on a nine week journey back home and this movie showcases the journey and the obstacles the girls had to face before coming back home. A particular scene from this movie, ‘Stolen’, is about the three girls enjoying their day when a white man comes and takes them away to the campgrounds away from their families. There are many techniques used in the scene ‘Stolen’.

‘Australia’ also showed how the government controlled how children of Aboriginal descent were brought up with language used such as “The mixed raced children must be dislocated from their primitive full blooded Aborigine, how else are we to breed the black out of them”. This presented again the reason as to why the Aboriginal children were taken away from their own cultures to be raised in something completely different.

This is where assimilation comes into play I believe. Aboriginal people were expected to give up their own culture and traditions and adopt the Western way of living, with the expectation that they would all assimilate (Stanley et al. 2002). This was further developed as a formal government policy in 1951 (Gerrer 2013). I believe what really triggered my outrage was what happened to the children when they were taken away. It was shown to us in class that most children were not put into better households, with a better support system. In fact they were made to be white peoples slaves, with some cases of sexual abuse and other terrible acts of sinfulness (Lousy Little Sixpence 1983). These Aboriginal families were told a lie that their children would be sent off to gain an education but instead were not aware in actually their innocent children where soon to become the slaves of a rich Caucasian families, with no where to escape (Lousy Little Sixpence 1983). I feel as if I’ve been fed false information about the history of the country I live in.

Composers of texts use a number of individual (and combinations of several) techniques to reprensent the concept of the physical journey and specifically that it is the journey, not the destination that matters. Noyce has used a number of filimic and literary techniques thoughout “Rabbit Proof Fence” to ddo this. The use of symbolism, lighting, characterisation and camera angles all enable Noyce to express the physical journey being explored. The cover of Kellehers’ novel ______ uses visual techniques such as colour, blending and dark patches to convey the type of journey being explored through his text. “Sweet Home Alabama” uses literary techniques such as symbolism, repetition and rhyme to express the journey being undertaken by

Education is fundamental to growth, the growth of the individual, and the growth of a nation. Anthropologically this can be seen from the earliest of developments of human societies where practices emerge to ensure the passing of accumulated knowledge from one generation to the next. In the centuries since the invasion and colonisation of Australia in 1788, colonist authorities and governments have dominated the making of policies regarding most major aspects of Australian life, including the lives of Indigenous Australians. The enactment of these policies and legislation, whether targeted at society as a whole or directly at education, has had significant and most often negative causal impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, resulting in not only poor educational outcomes, but the loss of cultural identity, the development of serious issues in health and wellbeing, and the restriction of growth of Aboriginal communities. Moreover, there has been an ongoing pattern of the adoption of ill-informed policies in Australia, resulting in these poor outcomes and cultural decimation. Aboriginal people have developed a wariness, a mistrust, and even an attitude of avoidance to engage with non-Indigenous officials and those who they associate as their representatives, i.e. personnel working within

Education provided was focused on transforming aboriginals to Christianity. The conditions of all the missions deteriorated rapidly after time, and people were moved away from their land, impacting on the loss of traditional lands. Through all this they managed to stay strong and grow in population, whilst proving to white authorities they will not give up, or be forced to lose their traditions, language and way of life.

Fences is a short history written by the African-American author August Wilson in 1985, that follows a tragic flow and explores significant social issues like racism, family conflicts, mental illness and gender inequality that took place in the post- World War II era, and still affecting us today. To support his ideas, the author takes us into the life of its characters in order to examine their societal and self-imposed limitations; also, the effective use of symbols, setting and themes create a broad perspective of this societal issues analyzing its origin, developing and culmination, in order to let the readers make their own conclusions.

Rabbit Proof Fence is a movie directed by Phillip Noyce based on the novel by Doris Pilkington Garimara. In the excerpt, ‘The Stealing of Children,’ it shows the offspring of the indigenous people being taken away from their parents as the white settlers thought they weren’t being treated properly. Events like these occurred from 1910-1970 in Australia’s history. Many aboriginal children didn’t want to be taken away and the fictional story, based on real events, of Rabbit Proof Fence has been created from the point of view of those people living at this time. The director has created many representations of Aboriginal people through the use of language features, visual elements and the audio components.

In this essay we will try to provide a brief overview of educational issues of Aboriginal communities in Australia and Victoria and the elements that influence the educational outcomes of young Aboriginal people, such as culture and contemporary challenges. In addition to this, the inclusion of Aboriginal content in the Victorian curriculum and classroom practices will be explored as well as contemporary government policies.

The film "Rabbit-Proof Fence" conveys the importance of home and country to indigenous peoples. The director Phillip Noyce refers to home in different ways. He has symbolised home by repeatedly showing images of the Spirit Bird and the Rabbit Proof Fence, since it is a connection to their home. The movie shows Molly's determination to get home and back to her family by escaping from Moore River and finding her way back home to her country, Jigalong.

The rabbit proof fence is the central motif. It runs from North to South of Western Australia and was built to keep rabbits away from farmland. It is very symbolic as when it was built it kept the Aboriginals in one place and therefore shows how they were restricted in their movement, unlike the freedom of the spirit bird. It symbolises the division between the Aboriginals and the Europeans. The girls are pictured as frightened rabbits trapped on the wrong side of the fence, the same feeling as