The Rabbit Proof Fence Analysis

Although released over 17 years ago, Rob Sitch’s comedy The Castle remains an incredibly popular film that portrays an ‘Aussie Battler’ family, the Kerrigans, in suburbia. Film writer Ian Craven states that the Kerrigans possess “the qualities of a simple good-heartedness family, with human decency and dignity”, all of which can be easily recognized by the audience throughout the film. The Castle takes a satirical look at Australian suburbia in order to manipulate traditional stereotypes, gender constructions, themes, identities, ideologies and cinematic techniques as a means of altering the positioning of the audience.

Furthermore, Downey’s apt use of pathos, or emotional appeals, draws readers in and triggers an emotional response in them, keeping them engaged for the duration of the essay. To expand, he uses blunt phrases like, “permanent loss” (445) and “distant, angry aliens, lacking emotional bonds” (446) to create a severe impact on readers. Also, stirring examples of “descent into alcohol, drugs, and prostitution” (445) and “children committing suicide” (446) illustrate for readers the acute level of damage and suffering that Aboriginal victims experienced. Downey’s use of evocative and graphic imagery in his recounts of “residential schools” (446) and the physical, “emotional and sexual abuse” (447) that specific victims endured elucidates the turmoil and anguish felt by victims of the ‘Sixties Scoop’ in general. As such, this technique fully immerses readers in his essay. Downey creates both a sense of compassion and guilt in his readers through his mention of children who were “enslaved,

The Novel Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey revolves around a young boy named Charlie Bucktin living in the small Australian town of Corrigan in the 1960’s. Charlie is exposed to the confronting issues of racial prejudice, injustice and moral duality. He is challenged to question right from wrong, has to come to the realization that law doesn’t always uphold justice and we as readers are positioned to understand that people are capable of holding two conflicting values and remain in confortable harmony. The ideas are portrayed through Silvey’s use of narrative conventions that are used to either challenge or reinforce our values, attitudes and beliefs on the issues explored.

Lives are lead with anxiety over certain issues and with apprehension towards certain events. This play, Fences written by the playwright August Wilson deals with the progression of a family through the struggles of oppression and the inability to obtain the American Dream. The characters in the play develop throughout the story and can be viewed or interpreted in many different ways, but one man remains constant during the play and that is Troy. Due to certain events that transpired as he was growing up, Troy is shaped into a very stubborn yet proud man. To be a man who was black and proud ran the risk of getting destroyed, both physically and mentally. The world of the 1950s and 60s was rapidly changing and

The language features of ‘The Stealing of Children’ give many representations of the indigenous people. One of these devices is repetition. Once the aboriginals were trapped by Constable Riggs, Maude repeatedly shouted the word, ‘No!’. While he took the children, she continued to state that they were hers and she didn’t like him taking them. Her repetitiveness gave the impression that she didn’t want to lose her kids and that she loved them. This also gave the impression that Maude had no authority against Riggs. Another language element featured in the film is evocative vocabulary. It was used among the shouts of the indigenous people and the police man. When the Grandmother came to the car with a large stick, which she may have used to try and break the car windows,

Deadly Unna? (1998), is a book based on a true story that tells the tale of non-Indigenous boy Gary ‘Blacky’ Black and his friendship with Dumby Red. Set in Port Victoria in South Australia, Blacky’s evolving relationships with the Indigenous kids in the community inspires him to question the underlying racism that exists in society. In this essay, the author’s methods for conveying the theme of belonging to the reader will be evaluated. Subsequently, Gwynne’s generation of racial segregation in the community, followed by the contrasting types of racism demonstrated by the characters, will be analysed.

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.

In contemporary times the Indigenous are stereotypically represented as being violent and aggressive. Sen is creating a stereotypical image of young Indigenous boys as criminals and dominative. An extreme close up of Vaughn behind jail bars show the separation between Vaughn and society. The stereotype of Indigenous Australians as criminals is shown in a negative light and acts as a false stereotype. The jail bars act as a physical and metaphorical barrier and the use of non diegetic music sets a mood of extreme sadness. Domestic violence is also suggested in the car ride. The women with the child is seen as submissive and this violence acts as usual practise. However, Vaughn does not appear to this stereotype of all males being dominative. Sen’s use of camera angles highlights the stereotypical nature of indigenous people and

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.

In the opening of the film, the three girls are learning how to hunt for lizards by their mother. It highlights the traditional Aboriginal culture in contrast with the Western culture (shown later in the film). When the children arrive back home, they are carefully observed by a police officer from afar. They are seen chatting to a man who is working on one of three rabbit proof fences. These fences were 3,253 kilometres in length and spans across Western Australia. It is here that we learn Molly’s father is white and has left their mother to work on another section of the rabbit proof fence. Suddenly, a white constable, under the command of the Chief Protector of Aborigines, A.O Neville, arrives and forces the three girls in an automobile with their family chasing after the car

It is a natural part of human nature to long for the feeling of belonging, even if it means following a corrupt and unjust social regime. Craig Silvey weaves this idea into the novel Jasper Jones, in which the “half-caste” deuteragonist and protagonist Charlie Bucktin discover the death of the shire president’s daughter, Laura Wishart, and work together to find the culprit as to avoid the inevitable scapegoating of Jasper for this crime. Silvey’s implementation of the historical setting of the 1960’s introduces the themes of fear, racism within a social regime and scapegoating; these ideas relate to the racism present in Australia at the time, due to the reign of the White Australia Policy and the effect of the Vietnam War. By integrating these key ideas into the story of Jasper’s experiences with scapegoating, Silvey reflects on real-life examples of racism present in Australia during the 1960’s, as well as other developing nations, and how the need to impress others is the major drive for the wider

In the texts Redfern Now and The Rabbits, similar ideas about cultural relationships and power positions are conveyed through many different textual contexts and conventions. Whilst some of the ideas explored in these texts are comparable, many contrast the different ways that euro centricity and “white” dominance function within societies, especially with regard to Indigenous Australians. Through the clever use of camera angles and symbols in Redfern Now, and symbolism and written text codes within The Rabbits, the ideas of disempowerment and power relationships between Indigenous Australians and European settlers is examined. In the television drama Redfern Now, the creators explore the undermining racism within modern-day society. The values

Aboriginal women is sexualized, assaulted, and mistreated in today’s society, and the novel portrays this inequity. Lisa’s friend, Erica, was in Terrace, when Lisa witnesses her being harassed by a group of white men. The men were teaching Erica how to “fuck a white man,” when Lisa intervenes. The men call the girls “a squaw, “cunt”, and “bitch” (Robinson 250). The

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

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.