Discoveries can be exploratory; challenging human limits and boundaries, but also rewarding as it inspires courage and heroism. This notion of discovery aids in unveiling the composers’ concerns and lead to rediscovery in the novel, ‘The Namesake’ by Jhumpa Lahiri, the play ‘Rainbow’s End’ by Jane Harrison, the film ‘Muriel’s Wedding’ by P.J. Hogan and the poem “And Death Shall Have No Dominion” by Dylan Thomas through the various textual devices.
Firstly, Jhumpa Lahiri explores the concept of discovery being exploratory and provocative in the novel ‘the Namesake’ through Gogol’s journey of self-discovery. Gogol’s annaprasanam, his rice ceremony, foreshadows his rejection towards his culture, as he metaphorically ‘touched nothing’. Gogol’s
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Harrison employs dramatic device of a dream sequence ‘Gladys is presenting a bouquet of flowers to the Queen, to highlight Glady’s initial aspirations for racial acceptance. The subsequent contrast ‘Light come back to reality and Gladys is holding a bunch of weeds’ conveys to the audience the poor treatment indigenous people have suffered. This ill treatment is further illustrated through Nan Dear’s question ‘what Hessian?’ ‘The hessian they lined the road with, the hessian that I couldn’t get through and couldn’t even peak over.’ The repetitive use of ‘hessian’ and couldn’t combined with the first person pronoun “I” allows the responder to realise the personal stress associated with Glady’s social epiphany. Dolly’s enquiry “Why did they do that? And Glady’s sarcastic reply ‘Stop the likes of her seeing our humpies’ use juxtaposition to emphasise the recognition of racial demarcation that separate ‘Aboriginal’ and ‘white’ communities as a whole. The overlapping dialogue with Gladys continually interjecting that characterises radio voice over reflects a newly discovered strength as she fights for better conditions, ‘as if we chose to live on a floodplain’ and contrast with her initial fatalistic attitude, ‘it’ll be all right’. Moreover the imperative language in ‘we want decent houses’ highlights an empowerment and courage in bringing equal right for her people. Thus, Harrison portrayed discovery can result in courage and heroism, which helped Gladys to fight for indigenous
Eden Robinson and Constance Lindsay Skinner depict the harrowing treatment of Indigenous people through intimate unveiling of memories and dialogue, allowing readers to connect and sympathize with the characters. It also shows the intergenerational damage of residential schools and injustices experienced, and continue to be experienced, by the Aboriginal population. Birthright and Monkey Beach show that past abuse and injustices can lead to a continually viscous cycle of violence and trauma.
...sed in the first scene; the white family appear more superior over the aboriginal family, music, such as the Celtic music used in early scenes to foreground the idea of white settlement and the reluctantcy to incorporate any values or ways of life that the original inhabitants had. Her powerful dialogue seen in ‘this land is mine’ scene, which significantly empowers to audience to question whether the white settlers have failed to incorporate any of the ways of life and values of the Indigenous people. Finally, Perkins’ fine editing skills allows audiences to physically see the contrasts of the two families and their beliefs, values and ways of life. From the film, audiences can learn, and also forces them to question whether they have failed to learn from the original habitants of the land they live in today.
Jhumpa Lahiri in The Namesake illustrates the assimilation of Gogol as a second generation American immigrant, where Gogol faces the assimilation of becoming an American. Throughout the novel, Gogol has been struggling with his name. From kindergarten to college, Gogol has questioned the reason why he was called Nikhil when he was a child, to the reason why he was called Gogol when he was in college. Having a Russian name, Gogol often encounters questions from people around him, asking the reason of his name. Gogol was not given an Indian name from his Indian family or an American name from the fact that he was born in America, to emphasize that how hard an individual try to assimilate into a different culture, he is still bonded to his roots as the person he ethnically is.
In Australia the Aboriginals face discrimination daily. The film opened with four young Aboriginal girls singing on a makeshift stage facing their community. When the camera panned to show the smiling faces in the crowd it gave a feel of unity and love. Later it showed two sisters who were trying to hitch a ride into the city from the main road. Yet every vehicle passed them by; once they saw who they were, frustrated the older sister. Gale stated it was because they ‘were black’. When in the town playing their song on the stage in a bar, the youngest sister turned up and took
Before we look at whether James Moloney effectively uses characterisation to convey Aboriginal issues we must look at the issues themselves. In Dougy, the issue of black and white prejudice is strongly present in the plot. The stereotyping of Aborigines and white Europeans play an important role in the events and the outcome of the story, as is individuality and the breaking of the stereotypes. The book also touches on the old Aboriginal superstitions that are still believed in by some today, though one of such superstitions plays an important role in creating the mood of the resolution. These issues impact most heavily on the character Gracey.
In Jasper Jones, racial power has been reflected through the representation of certain groups and individuals of the 1960s and the conflicts that occurred. At the time in which the text was set being the 1960s, racial prejudice was evident in Australia, especially in rural areas that maintained a parochial and xenophobic society. Aboriginal people were not recognised as citizens of Australia and in some cases, not even as people. They were mistreated and typically seen as uneducated drunkards and criminals. Offspring of white colonists and Aboriginal people were regarded as ‘half-caste’ and were also not acknowledged as Australians. In the same context, there was a growing hatred and resentment towards Vietnamese immigrants due to the impac...
Harrison’s Play ‘Rainbow’s End’ follows three brave Aboriginal women from different generations who fight for their right to be appreciated as the owners of the land and how each of them
...zation leads to Gogol’s discovery of his true identity. Although he has always felt that he had to find a new, more American and ordinary identity, he has come to terms that he will always be the Gogol that is close to his family. While Gogol is coming to this understanding, Ashima has finally broken free from relying on her family, and has become “without borders” (176). No longer the isolated, unsure Bengali she was when arriving in Cambridge, Ashima has been liberated from dependent and powerless to self empowering. The passing of her husband has forced her to go through her life as a more self-reliant person, while at the same time she is able to maintain her daily Indian customs. This break-through is the final point of Ashima’s evolution into personal freedom and independency.
Discoveries can be both confronting and meaningful. This can be seen through the depiction of discrimination, the act of putting another group or person down due to their differences, within the texts, an example of which can be seen in ‘Rainbow’s End’ by Jane Harrison. On page 127, Gladys returns home after travelling to the nearby city of Shepparton, in hopes of glimpsing the arriving British monarchs. She states how her trip was to no avail, as her view was blocked by large hessian fences that were erected by the government to hide t...
Throughout both texts, Perkins and Yousafzai aim to highlight the unheard voice, who need to be given empowerment to be heard. The disempowered voice of Aboriginals is highlighted through the carriage scene in One
Rainbows End a play composed by Jane Harrison delves into the way the indigenous people were
The lines, “As I said, it might help if we … we can imagine it’s opposite” use perspective to put the non-indigenous Australians into the shoes of indigenous Australians, to help them explore and understand the possibilities of not belonging.
Throughout the text, the white colonists are very racist towards the Aboriginals. Even cattle, horses and white women are placed hierarchically higher in society than the black people. In response to this, Astley constructs all narrations to be written through the eyes of the Laffey family, who are respectful towards Aboriginals, hence not racist, and despise societal ideologies. By making the narration of the text show a biased point of view, readers are provoked to think and feel the same way, foregrounding racism shown in the ideologies of early Australian society, and showing that Aboriginals are real people and should receive the same treatment to that given to white people. “They looked human, they had all your features.” (pg 27) There was, however, one section in the text whose narrative point of view was not given by a character in the Laffey family. This instead was given by a voice of an Aboriginal woman, when the Aboriginal children were being taken away from their families. By giving voice to the Aboriginal society, the reader is able to get a glimpse of their point of view on the matter, which once again shows that society was racist, and Aboriginals were treated harshly.
Sometimes religion can be a necessity for comfort. Over time, we may already possess our very own identities and then develop different ones after a tragedy. In order to easily move on from a plight, some sort of comfort or security is needed, whether its time, family, friends, a sport, or religion. In the novel, The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, one can clearly see the viewpoint of how Gogol’s life over time has evolved from American to Bengali. With the comfort of his Bengali life he’s able to push through the tragedy of his father’s death. However, apart from when Gogol needs his family and culture for comfort, he is simply a true American.
Clarke utilizes strong diction such as “gouge” (II) and “pierce” (III) to accentuate the magnitude of pain George underwent. The forth line, “tack me down so I cant stand” (IV) demonstrates the immobility of the black community; George personifies the challenges of the Black community. Clarke embeds pain and sexual innuendo, “her fingernails ploughin my back” (VIII) to connect notions of nationalism in this case personified by ‘her’ our ‘motherland’ that exploits the subjugated class to live a life of modernized slavery after the abolition of slavery in 1833 (Winks). Clarke seems to be mocking the literary practice of sexualizing nationalism, through gendering and personification. For example, the reference to ‘her’ implies that the Canada is female, the ‘mother land’. Also, it may be a reference to the monarch, Queen Elizabeth II to manufacture a patriotic allure. The association between the feminization of nationalism and justify the inhumanity of colonization and exploitation. Clarke reveals the remnants of slavery that extends into the 20th century, before to the civil rights movement in the