The Rabbit-Proof Fence By Phillip Noyce

Since the European settlement of Australia, the Indigenous people have been represented in a myriad of ways. The Rabbits (1998), an allegorical picture book by John Marsden (writer) and Shaun Tan (illustrator) and Rabbit Proof Fence (2002), a film directed by Phillip Noyce, are just two examples of this. Techniques such as music, changing camera angles and symbolism are utilised in Rabbit Proof Fence to represent the Aboriginal people as strong-willed and spiritual and in The Rabbits, exaggeration, different colour themes and perspective are used to portray the Aborigines as technologically inferior and overwhelmed against the Europeans. In both texts, the Indigenous people are represented as

The Rabbits, a picture book written by John Marsden and illustrated by Shaun Tan, is an allegory for the British arriving in Australia and the subsequent colonisation. From the perspective of the indigenous population, Marsden explores the impact of white settlement on the traditional aboriginal way of life. This is achieved through the symbolism, colours and language.

Behind every literary piece is hidden meanings and figures the author strategically hides between the lines of their works. In the play Fences by August Wilson, many symbols and themes hide between the lines in order to make this an amazing drama. One main symbol in this play is the fence being built throughout the storyline. The fence within the story represents the walls that arise between characters, the security Rose wants for her family, and the mending of relationships after Troy’s death.

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.

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 this film, it also shows how important their loved ones are to them. Like when the three girls get taken away, they used their hands to bang against the window, showing their sadness of separation, and their connection of their love and wanting to be close with their family at every time possible, because every time they were together was a moment each treasured. Their grandmother felt the pain they were feeling, of desperation, frustration and powerlessness, and that is shown to us when she hits herself with a rock on her head to make her bleed. Also the howling sounds she makes shows the pain she feels and makes us feel her pain, too.

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

‘Rabbit Proof Fence’ was the story of a 3 young Aboriginal girls who were taken from their homes because they were ‘half castes’ and then their long walk home following the rabbit proof fence. The idea of the government taking children from their homes and placing them into the care of white people in the hope of them losing their cultural beliefs was stronger. This idea of them being changed was evident with quotes such as “This is your new home. We don't use that jabber here. You speak English” providing the idea of whites being dominant through their values.

Children grow up naturally emulating the adults around them, for most it is their mother and father, this is natural and typically a positive thing. There are times, however, when the people that children emulate are not the best examples society has to offer. In the play Fences Cory looks up to his dad when it comes to sports. However, by the end of the play the reader starts to notice that Troy is not the man to look up to. The plot in Fences by August Wilson is centered around an African American family that looks at the world a little differently by that I mean when Troy was young people believed blacks shouldn’t be able to do the things whites can. People were rude and outspoken about how they felt when it came to sharing public things with blacks. Now Troy’s sons are living in a world that has evolved and is not as racist, the boys can go out and achieve their dreams, even if they are African American it may be difficult but is still achievable. Because of the change in the way of life there has been a conflict between the two boys and their father. Troy may realize that things are different now, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is hard for him to let go of the past. Because Troy was unable to play baseball based on his race, he believes Cory shouldn’t be able to go on and play college football. This raises a big question, is Troy being unfair or is he trying to look out for his son? The main theme throughout the play Fences is

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.

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.

When planning the escape, Molly knew that the fence ran from the north to the south. Therefore, she was sure it would lead them back home. In this context, the Rabbit fence symbolizes a map that would show them the way home. Throughout the movie the girls’ use the fence as a guide for their journey home. The existence of the fence is of great importance to the girls’ escape mission.

This section starts off days before Catherine's disappearance where she is contemplating having a baby with her husband and writing a paper on Julianna Ohlin a former resident who was murdered by her husband.The novel shifts from Catherine to a mysterious description about this man named Dex who had just moved into a new neighbourhood and is trying to keep quiet and fly under the radar and hopes no one will see or disturb his “rabbits” that live in his basement.The following pages reveal that these “rabbits” were Donny Zimmerman a teenage boy who had gone missing a month before and Catherine who Dex had recently snached on her way home from work.After Donny’s death Catherine feels very alone and does not have a lot of hope that she will be

The movie Rabbit Proof Fence directed by Hollywood based Australian director Phillip Noyce and released in 2002. The Screenplay of the movie is written by Christine Olsen on adaptation of Doris Pilkington’s book. Film is fiction based on fact, tells the real life story of three Aboriginal girls, Molly, Gracie, Daisy, who made 1500 miles nine weeks on food journey from Moore River Settlement to Jigalong. They fallowed the rabbit proof fence in order to return home to their mothers.

The reason I had chosen The Rabbit Proof Fence was not only that I had watched the film previously, but I had also worked to break that film down, and had already studied the text in great detail. I did, however,