The Rabbit Proof Fence- Blog Post #2

'Help for you is torture for them. Happy for you is sad for them. Right for you is wrong for them. Forest for you is home for them. Savage for you is you for them. And half-caste for you is Aboriginals for them. They are a race, and so are you. They have their own believes, and so do you. They have their own rights and wrongs, and so do you. They have their own language, and so do you. They have they own freedom, and so do you. They are people, and so are you.'

The British invaders should feel disgusted about the things they did to the First Australians. Going to their land and taking it away wasn't enough, was it? Is that why you have to try and 'help' turn them into a monster like you are, it's wrong! To take one's race and force it to turn to another one that is against their believes is not right. What you have done was destroy the peaceful land that was there before you ever came to take it away. It's true that one of the explorers, Captain Cook did claim the land for the British but isn't there another way than to just shoot the Aboriginals as if they were heartless creatures, because it's not true that they don't have a heart. The First Australians have their own hearts but somehow you just went in there and took it away from them, there was no connection, no communication, just a 'bang' and you can start to hear the people mourn. Why did you it? You turned their lives into something terrible, and you still call it 'help'?

The Rabbit Proof Fence- Is Molly a Hero or Not?

In my perspective Molly is a hero because even though she knows that she's nothing against the British she still stays strong and bold. Molly was taken away from her family and was brought to a place where she's forced to learn the British way of life. Molly, being put into an environment she has never experienced before, was nervous but she's still Molly and she needs to get back home. Molly has seen how Mr. Neville judged the two groups, being white enough gets you to school but being dark skinned just leads you to a future that you will suffer in. Molly is sick of how the British are treating her race, half-caste, and plans to run away. One morning Molly finds that a sandstorm is approaching, and luckily she's the last one to leave her bed meaning she can run without being spotted, but it's not only that Molly also has two younger sisters to take care of and they might slow her down. Thinking it through, Molly decides that this is her only chance, she is aware that the tracker might track her down but she also knows that the sandstorm would cover her tracks. Will she make it home is another story, this is all she's got and she has to take the chance, wether if it's her first and last or not. She needs to get home. Molly is a hero because she's facing problems she's never faced before but she believes that she can do it, get home.

British VS First Australians

How did the ethnocentricity of the British and the First Australians cause conflict between the two groups?

The differences between the two group's cultures, beliefs, and thoughts resulted in misunderstandings, which progresses to war, the big conflict. The British wasn't open to the Aboriginals ways of life, they think that they are the better and 'civilized' one. Each of the groups tried to share what they thought was the 'right' thing but the British was too stuck up with their own ideas that they tried to change the Aboriginals in to what they think is 'proper' and 'right'. The British kidnapped Bennelong, leader of the Aboriginals, thinking that if they are able to change Bennelong then they would be able to change the Aboriginals, but they were wrong. When the British came back to Australia McIntrye, who was said to hunt Aboriginals for fun, was speared by Pemulwuy, who took the murder as a payback for the kidnapping of Bennelong. After this accident the relationship between the British and the First Australians slowly drifted apart and at last the Aboriginals could no longer stand how the British are treating them, which led to open war between the two groups. At the end the Aboriginals without the technology that the British had lost the war and the Governor Phillip took Bennelong to England with him as the ultimate trophy, and the evidence that friendship has been established between the two nations.