Melina Marchetta's Go Back To Where You Came From

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Discoveries are made when a person is placed outside their comfort zone and can encompass various realisations about the person’s self and the people around them. Through his exploration of the refugee experience in light of Australia’s divided view on “boat people” Ivan O’Mahoney, in his 2011 TV documentary series Go Back to Where You Came From (henceforth Go Back...) presents an image of the revelations that accompany a journey in to the unknown parts of life. Similarly, Melina Marchetta’s description of a young girl’s HSC year as she comes of age and is placed in unfamiliar circumstances in Looking for Alibrandi highlights the abrupt nature of discoveries when in alien circumstances. Both composers describe the impact revelations have on our perceptions of the people around us and the …show more content…

Her employment of first person effectively immerses the reader into the text and allows them to feel the emotional and mental turmoil that protagonist Josie Alibrandi perpetually goes through in her journey to discover. The sudden addition of her biological father into her life, leaves Josie lost and confused. However, in the concluding chapter, she reveals, “...when Michael wasn’t in my life. It was the scariest thing in the world” where her reflective tone and the use of the superlative adjective “scariest” highlight her complete transformation in familial perceptions about her father and consequently about herself. This statement juxtaposes with her assertion “we don’t need him” when Michael, her father, is first introduced to her, elucidating the transformation in her views about her father caused by the sudden introduction of him in her life. Thus, both composers describe the abrupt nature of discoveries when we’re placed out of our comfort zone and the impact they have on our perceptions about the people around

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