Doris Pilkington's Rabbit-Proof Fence Essay

Introduction

Doris Pilkington's Rabbit-Proof Fence is a true account of the escape of three young girls from a settlement school. The story is set in 1931 Western Australia. At the wake of 1931 many white pirates, raiders and English settlers had moved to Western Australia. Consequently, there was a rise in the population of half-English children in the area (Attwood, 1996). Unfortunately, the government policy by then was to take half-caste children from their mothers and forcefully place them in settlement schools (Attwood, 1996). Auber Neville, the Chief Prosecutor of the Aborigines, features in the book. According to A. O. Neville the relocation was necessary to save the half-caste from themselves. He believed that native Aborigines were destructive. Therefore, isolating the half-caste children was mandatory. His conviction that the half-castes were the first step in eradicating the native race from Australia set the background for the account.

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Molly, Gracie, and Daisy are at the heart of the story as they escape from Moore River Settlement school days after being forcefully enrolled. They had been separated from their families, but their escape started their quest back home. Molly, the eldest of the girls, was a natural leader and a skilled survivor. Although no one had successfully escaped the school, she mustered enough courage to execute a well-orchestrated escape plan. They all ran a risk of being captured and punished, but their desire to go back to their families was overwhelming. A 1500mile journey lay in front of the girls while Constable Riggs and Modoo, an Aboriginal Australian tracker, were hot on their heels to recapture them. Molly planned to find the rabbit-proof fence that separated Eastern and Western Australia and follow it back home.

For the girls, the journey back home was not easy. They spent nights out in the cold, went days without food and accumulated injuries from the long trek. Molly constantly covered their tracks to evade their captors. Along the way, the three girls met people who helped them with food, a place to rest and good advice. However, some of the people they met had ill intentions and poor advice. Unfortunately, one poor advice led to the recapture of one of the girls as she attempted to board a train. Despite the many hurdles the girls faced, they didn't lose hope. Their hope later bore fruit.

Numerous themes are explored in the Rabbit-Proof Fence. The family is a critical theme explored by Doris Pilkington. The movie begins by introducing the families of the Aborigines in their Jigalong settlement area. The children go hunting with their mothers and cousins. Such activities strengthen the ties between family members, and this is evident in the unity the three girls display following their capture. At the settlement school, the Aborigines were required to drop their language, erase their culture and forget their families. However, the girls' desire to be reunited with their families inspired their escape. During their journey back home, the three girls foster their family bonds. Molly takes up the role of a mother, attending to all the needs of her younger sister and cousin. Gracie's journey back home is cut short when she is recaptured after a false promise that she will reunite with her mother if she takes a train to Wiluna.

Leadership is also a central theme in the movie. Although young, Molly leads her sister and cousin out of the settlement school. She quickly takes charge of instructing them where to go, what to eat and where to sleep. When her small sister can no longer walk, she carries her while still leading the journey. One of the older girls at the settlement school also takes up the leadership role by instructing the rest of the children when to wake up and how to clean up their dormitory. She also orients Molly, Gracie, and Daisy on how the school works. Auber Neville also displays exemplary leadership skills as he coordinates a search operation for the three escapees. He instructs both the tracker and the constable and his plans are nearly successful. Moreover, he runs a whole operation aimed at completely eradicating the Aborigines' culture and race.

The theme of survival is extensively explored in the movie. The account takes place in the harsh climate of Western Australia where the Aborigines thrive (Berry, 1994). Neville and Diggs consider the desert an impediment to their search operations. The vast terrain highlighted in the movie alludes to the difficulty of surviving in that area (Mattingley & Hampton, 1988). Contrary to the English settlers, the native Aborigines are familiar with the terrain and have advanced survival skills (Berry, 1994). The opening scenes show Molly's family tracing the steps of their hunt before landing the kill. Moodoo, the tracker, is an expert at tracing footsteps and finding hiding spots. He is so good at his job that he is given the duty of finding escapees at the settlement school. Moreover, Molly is also skilled at covering her tracks and surviving out in the wild.

Racism

Racism is at the center of the entire movie. Racism is the justification of the oppression of one group by another (Dovidio & Gaertner, 1986). Currently, Australia prohibits any form of racism and religious discrimination (Mellor, 2003). Unfortunately, this was not the case less than a century ago. The Aborigines faced a lot of racial discrimination following the settlement of the English (Reynolds, 1990). The English justified their discrimination with biology (Middleton, 1997). They considered the social inequality inevitable, natural and permanent. According to Auber Neville, the Aborigines were a self-destructive race that subscribed to primitive ways of living (Attwood, 1996). As the Chief Prosecutor of the Aborigines, he convinced the government that he could enhance the natives by only focussing on half-castes. According to his proposal, the third generation of aborigine children sired by English men would not possess traits of the natives. His proposal birthed a massive operation of separating half-castes from their families and sending them to settlement schools for western education.

In Moore River Settlement School, the half-caste were exposed to racism and religious discrimination. The children were not allowed to use their native language to talk to each other or address the teachers (Bartlett, 2003). An attempt to do so was met with dire consequences. On the first day in the settlement school, Daisy, the youngest of the three girls, is given a stern warning not to speak in her native language. Moreover, the children are confined to the school. Selected half-caste children were separated from their families, forcefully enrolled in the settlement schools and denied the freedom to leave (Bartlett, 2003). When Molly and her siblings arrive at the school, they are informed that any attempt to escape will be futile. The school has a record of preventing all escape attempts. In the movie, one of the escapees is caught and physically punished for her actions.

The education of the Aborigines was met with a lot of discrimination. Only the half-caste could enjoy a good education (Reynolds, 1990). Auber Neville believed only the selected few who displayed a certain level of intelligence among the half-caste were worth educating. The rest would be left to their trivial way of life. The settlement schools were facilities for striping the half-caste off their identity (Middleton, 1997). The half-castes in the settlement schools are forced to abandon their cultural beliefs completely (Attwood, 1996). The children are left under the care of nuns who teach them a completely new religion. They adopt Christianity and sing songs to Auber Neville. Before having their meals, they are forced to say a prayer. Their stay in the school was structured around Christianity despite their hatred for the religion.

Physical abuses are some of the consequences of racism. The Native Americans were persecuted at the hands of the European settlers, and the invasion of Australia by the English had similar consequences (Middleton, 1997). At the beginning of the movie, we are introduced to the tension between the Aborigines and the English settlers. The native mothers were hiding their children at the sight of the settlers. The half-caste children are forcefully separated from their families and taken captive against their will. Children who attempt to escape the settlement school are flogged and detained in a metal box as punishment. Moreover, the half-caste are subjected to sexual abuse. When the three girls took refuge in the servant's quarters of a half-caste maid, an English man sneaks into the room ready to sexually abuse the maid. The maid convinces the children to stay in the room only to protect herself against the man.

From the movie, it's clear that racial discrimination can result in unequal service delivery. The Aborigines get a poor education compared to the selected half-caste. Most of the basic service structures in Australia at that time were designed to discriminate against the Aborigines. Only the English settlers could only enjoy proper medical care (Ray, 2016). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people still face a lot of discrimination in healthcare services (Ray, 2016). Many natives complain of being denied medical services. The English settlers look down upon the Aborigines. They believe that the natives are self-destructive even when it comes to their health. When natives seek pain relief medication, they are met with suspicious eyes. Most are suspected of being addicts and drug abusers. It's common for a native to be denied care on the first contact with healthcare providers.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander HealthcareWhite privilege is not a foreign concept in Australian healthcare. However, many people deny its existence especially the advantaged white population. Sweeping the problem under the rug doesn't solve it. Cultural tolerance is crucial to avoid any form of discrimination (Henry, et al., 2004). The disadvantaged Aborigines majorly stimulated the change in the Australian system (Thomson, 1984). The Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS) were initiated in 1970 following the rampant racial discrimination against Aborigines as they sought primary health care (Thomson, 1984). The services were planned and governed by the Aboriginal communities. The objective of the services was to promote health and provide educational resources to health professionals.

Setting up a culturally appropriate health care system goes a long way in improving the nursing care of the Aborigines in Australia. Poor communication between Aboriginal people as clients and non-natives as care providers breeds poor service provision (Thomson, 1984). Bridging the relation between the Aborigines and their care-givers involves promoting culturally respectful care (Durey, 2010). Disease is considered as a culturally shaped phenomenon (Henry, et al., 2004). Therefore healthcare should be culturally sensitive, responsive, competent, congruent and proficient. In Australia, eradicating racial discrimination against the Aborigines requires radical changes in the health care system.

My Feelings at the End of the Movie

As I finished watching the Rabbit Proof Fence, I had mixed reactions. The ending evoked a feeling of relief. I was relieved that the efforts of the girls were not futile. Despite the recapture of Gracie, Molly and Daisy carried on their journey and were reunited with their family. Although Constable Riggs was almost preventing the reunion, the girls made it to their mothers. My relief was a consequence of watching all the hurdles the girls had to overcome to reach home. From the long trek to the hunger, it was a relief to see it all come to an end. I was also relieved the girls m...