ABSTRACT
REFRITA INDRASTARA. Racial Discrimination towards the Aborigines in Australia Seen Through the Conflict in Alice Nannup’s When The Pelican Laughed. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2013.
This thesis focuses on When The Pelican Laughed, a novel written by Alice Nannup with the help from Lauren Marsh and Stephen einnane. This novel addresses the issue of racism towards the Aborigines by the Thite people in Australia. When The Pelican Laughed tells the conflicts of the Aborigines that have to deal with racism.
There are two objectives of the study. First, the writer focuses on the conflicts that happen in the novel. Second, the writer focuses on how the conflicts in Alice Nannup’s When The Pelican Laughed reveal racial discrimination towards the Aborigines that is practiced by the Thites in Australia. In analyzing the novel, the writer applies socio-cultural historical approach. This approach helps the writer to understand the social condition and the history of Aborigines in Australia at the time in the novel.
The method that was applied in this thesis is library research since all the data that is needed are taken from written sources. This thesis uses Alice Nannup’s When The Pelican Laughed as the primary source. The secondary sources are taken from some books that contain history of Aborigines in Australia and other information about the novel. There are also some sources that are taken from the internet.
ABSTRAK
REFRITA INDRASTARA. Racial discrimination toward the Aborigines in Australia Seen Through the Conflict in Alice Nannup’s When The Pelican Laughed. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2013.
Skripsi ini fokus pada novel berjudul When The Pelican Laughed yang ditulis oles Alice Nannup dengan bantuan dari Lauren Marsh dan Stephen einnane. Novel ini mengangkat topik permasalahan mengenai rasisme terhadap masyarakat Aborigin yang dilakukan oleh orang-orang berkulit putih di Australia. When The Pelican Laughed membahas konflik-konflik masyarakat Aborigin yang menghadapi rasisme.
Ada dua pokok bahasan dalam penelitian ini. Pertama, penulis berfokus pada konflik yang terjadi di dalam novel. Yang kedua, penulis berfokus pada bagamaina konflik-konflik di When The Pelican Laughed mengungkap diskriminasi ras yang dipraktikkan oleh orang-orang kulit putih terhadap masyarakat Aborigin di Australia. Dalam menganalisis novel ini, penulis memakai pendekatan sosial, kebudayaan, dan sejarah. Pendekatan ini membantu penulis mengetahui kondisi sosial dan sejarah masyarakat Aborigin di Australia pada waktu yang sama dengan di dalam novel.
Metode yang dipakai skripsi ini adalah metode penelitian pustaka karena semua data yang dibutuhkan diperoleh dari sumber-sumber tertulis. Sebagai sumber utama, skripsi ini menggunakan novel karangan Alice Nannup yang berjudul When The Pelican Laughed. Sumber-sumber sekunder diperoleh dari beberapa buku yang berisikan sejarah masyarakat Aborigin di Australia serta informasi lainya yang terkait dengan novel ini. Terdapat pula beberapa sumber yang diambil dari internet.
ii
RACIAL DISCRIMINATION TOWARDS THE ABORIGINES
IN AUSTRALIA SEEN THROUGH THE CONFLICT IN ALICE
NANNUP’S
WHEN THE PELICAN LAUGHED
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the
Degree of
Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By :
REFRITA INDRASWARA
Student Number :094214020
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF
LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
vii
Wish you can forgive your yesterdays.
Wish you can love your tomorrows.
viii
ix
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, my deepest gratitude goes to Allah Subhana wata’ala. I would
like to thank you for the blesses, cares, and the guides that shown to me that I can
finish my thesis.
I would like to thank to my advisor, P. Sarwoto, S.S., M.A., Ph.D., for
giving me advice, guidance and help in writing this thesis. I express my great
gratitude to him for spending many times in reading and correcting my thesis. I
also thank to my co-Advisor, Maria Ananta Tri S., S.S., M. Ed., for giving me
suggestion and also helping me to improve and finish my thesis. I also thank my
lecturers in the English Letters Department for the education and guidance given
to me during my study in the English Letters Department. Without their
understanding and their help, I would not be able to finish this thesis.
My greatest gratitude goes to my parents, Kosasih Apriyadi and Nona
Indrawati, for the supports, encouragement, and prayers. You are the best and
wonderful parents in the world. I thank my older sister, Recita Indraswary, for the
supports and guidance to finish this thesis. I also thank Mahendra
Rushermansyah, for his love, patience, supports, and encourages, so that I am
finally able to finish my thesis.
Last but not least, I would like to thank Mbak Ninik and other secretariat
staffs who help me a lot during my study in the English Letters Department. Also
thank to everyone whose name are not mentioned here.
x
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSTUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH .. vi
MOTTO PAGE ……… vii
C. Review of Racial Discrimination toward the Aborigines in Australia .. 15
D. Theoretical Framework ………... 17
5. Conflict between the Aborigines and the Chief Protector of Aboriginal,Mr. Neville……….. 27
6. Conflict between Alice and the owner of a hotel ………. 28
7. Conflict between Alice and an Aboriginal affairs man, Mr. Hawke ……… 29
8. Conflict between Alice and some boys ………... 30
xi
B. Racial Discrimination Reflected through the Conflicts ……….. 31
1. Legal discrimination ………. 32
2. Institutional discrimination ………... 38
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ……….. 46
BIBLIOGRAPHY ……… 49
xii ABSTRACT
REFRITA INDRASWARA. Racial Discrimination towards the Aborigines in Australia Seen Through the Conflict in Alice Nannup’s When The Pelican Laughed. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2013.
This thesis focuses on When The Pelican Laughed, a novel written by Alice Nannup with the help from Lauren Marsh and Stephen Kinnane. This novel addresses the issue of racism towards the Aborigines by the White people in Australia. When The Pelican Laughed tells the conflicts of the Aborigines that have to deal with racism.
There are two objectives of the study. First, the writer focuses on the conflicts that happen in the novel. Second, the writer focuses on how the conflicts
in Alice Nannup’s When The Pelican Laughed reveal racial discrimination towards the Aborigines that is practiced by the Whites in Australia. In analyzing the novel, the writer applies socio-cultural historical approach. This approach helps the writer to understand the social condition and the history of Aborigines in Australia at the time in the novel.
The method that was applied in this thesis is library research since all the
data that is needed are taken from written sources. This thesis uses Alice Nannup’s
When The Pelican Laughed as the primary source. The secondary sources are taken from some books that contain history of Aborigines in Australia and other information about the novel. There are also some sources that are taken from the internet.
xiii ABSTRAK
REFRITA INDRASWARA. Racial discrimination toward the Aborigines in Australia Seen Through the Conflict in Alice Nannup’s When The Pelican Laughed. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2013.
Skripsi ini fokus pada novel berjudul When The Pelican Laughed yang ditulis oles Alice Nannup dengan bantuan dari Lauren Marsh dan Stephen Kinnane. Novel ini mengangkat topik permasalahan mengenai rasisme terhadap masyarakat Aborigin yang dilakukan oleh orang-orang berkulit putih di Australia. When The Pelican Laughed membahas konflik-konflik masyarakat Aborigin yang menghadapi rasisme.
Ada dua pokok bahasan dalam penelitian ini. Pertama, penulis berfokus pada konflik-konflik yang terjadi di dalam novel. Yang kedua, penulis berfokus pada bagamaina konflik-konflik di When The Pelican Laughed mengungkap diskriminasi ras yang dipraktikkan oleh orang-orang kulit putih terhadap masyarakat Aborigin di Australia. Dalam menganalisis novel ini, penulis memakai pendekatan sosial, kebudayaan, dan sejarah. Pendekatan ini membantu penulis mengetahui kondisi sosial dan sejarah masyarakat Aborigin di Australia pada waktu yang sama dengan di dalam novel.
Metode yang dipakai skripsi ini adalah metode penelitian pustaka karena semua data yang dibutuhkan diperoleh dari sumber-sumber tertulis. Sebagai sumber utama, skripsi ini menggunakan novel karangan Alice Nannup yang berjudul When The Pelican Laughed. Sumber-sumber sekunder diperoleh dari beberapa buku yang berisikan sejarah masyarakat Aborigin di Australia serta informasi lainya yang terkait dengan novel ini. Terdapat pula beberapa sumber yang diambil dari internet.
1
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This chapter contains four points of the thesis. The first point is the
background of the study which contains a description of the topic. The second
point is problem formulation which contains some questions of the study that later
will be answered in chapter IV. The third point is the objectives of this study
which states clearly based on the order of the problem formulation.
A.Background of the Study
Discrimination involves an action of judging, predicting, and
interpreting that decides who is superior and who is inferior. Ralph Cohen in
The Art of Discrimination says that discrimination is involved in critical
process, interpretation, judgment, and prediction, in making, transmitting, and
supporting critical acts (Cohen:464).
Historically, racial discrimination toward the Aborigines in Australia
started in the 18th century. The European people that come to Australia tried to
apply the white standard on the Aborigines and controlled Aborigines‟ life. The
whites also largely ignored the rights of the Aborigines as the native population
Upon the arrival the British colonist declared Australia „terra nullius’- an un-owned wasteland which could be legitimately colonized. The British formally and informally stated that Aborigines were biologically inferior to white colonist and they were a dying race doomed to extinction (Haralambos,Michael and friends, 1996:652).
The British came to Australia as colonizer, and the Aborigines is the
one being colonized. After the British came to Australia, the policy for the
Aborigines started and the Aborigines live under the control of missionaries
and other Europeans. The Aborigines became economically and culturally
marginalized and were exposed to white people diseases. Many lands of the
Aborigines were forcibly taken by the white people and also the Aborigines
were treated unequally and considered uncivilized, bad, and inferior. A lot of
histories proved that the act of white people toward the Aborigines in Australia
showed the unequal treatment.
There were some rules in society for the Aborigines, about a separate
section for white people and black people in the society, such as in clubs, pubs,
restaurants, theaters, public swimming pool, public transport, and even separate
wards in hospital. Aboriginal people were prohibited from particular jobs,
including working in a post office and expected to work for much less money,
and prohibited in some areas (Winch, Joan and Ken Hayward, 2007:6). Based
on this condition, the topic was chosen to see how Alice Nannup‟s When The
Pelican laughed, an autobiography novel of an Aborigine, reflects the
Autobiography is one of the literary genres narrated by the author
itself based on the author‟s experience. According to S.H. Steinberg in
Cassell‟s Encyclopedia of World Literature volume 1: History and General
Articles, an autobiography is a literary work that “expresses the profound need
for asserting meaning in individual existence” (Steinberg, 1973:74).
In addition, Robert C. Pooley‟s Exploring Life Through Literature, an
autobiography will interpret facts subjectively who then gives “an emotional or
biased version of the truth” (Pooley, 1951:263). In other words, it can be said
that an autobiography literature seeing the facts from the point of view,
emotion, opinion, and perspective of the author.
In When The Pelican Laughed, Alice Nannup describes her life story,
in which she experiences how the White people treat her unequally. When
Alice is twelve, she is taken away from her family and enters the boarding
house to learn how to become a slave of white people. In that boarding house,
she grows up became a teenager that is sent to one white people‟s house to
other white people‟s house. In there, she is not treated as a child, but she is
treated as a servant, she works for the whites, and they treat her unequally.
When finally she can survive from all of those bad treatments, she finally has a
family. She has children, and the story repeated, her children are treated
The white people that the Aboriginal children can come to school, but
the truth is they were taken to a camp and most of what they do in the camp is
working:
Moore River did nothing for me by the way of schooling; I had to learn through experience and picking up little bits here and there on my own. Really, all I ever did there was work. I had chores to do before school and chores to do after. I tell you, they never allowed me to be idle (1992:69).
Moore River is the name of the camp where the main character in
When The Pelican Laughed was sent. In the camp, the Aborigines were
working, and then one by one they were sent to working as a servant in white
people‟s house.
To see how literary work reveals racial discrimination towards the
Aborigines in Australia, Alice Nannup‟s When The Pelican Laughed is the
good one. The main issues of Alice Nannup‟s When The Pelican Laughed is
how the white people tried to enforce European‟s behaviors to the Aborigines
by controlling Aborigines people. The topic of this research is how racial
discrimination towards the Aborigines is revealed through the conflict that
involves the main character. This research analyzes the racial discrimination
that was experienced by the Aborigines towards the main character, Alice
B. Problem Formulation
1. What are the conflicts in Alice Nannup‟s When The Pelican Laughed?
2. How is racial discrimination in Alice Nannup‟s When The Pelican
Laughed revealed through the conflicts?
C. Objectives of the Research
The research‟s aim is to find out how the novel reveals racial
discrimination toward the Aborigines in Australia. Specifically, this research
has two main objectives.
The first objective is to see the conflict in Alice Nannup‟s When
The Pelican Laughed. After knowing the conflict of this novel, the last
objective of this research is to analyze how racial discrimination is revealed
6
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
This chapter contains some reviews on related study of this thesis and
some reviews on related theory that used in this undergraduate thesis. This chapter
contains some reviews about the topic that being analyzed by the writer too.
A. Review of Related Study
Opinion, analysis, and comment are the examples of reviews for
literary work. This chapter contains related studies of Alice Nannup‟s When
The Pelican Laughed. There is an undergraduate thesis that also discusses Alice
Nannup‟s, entitled The Indigenous Struggle of Aborigines in Western Australia
in the 19th Century as Reflected in Alice Nannup’s life in When The Pelican
Laughed written by Risang Baskara. Baskara‟s thesis deals with the struggles
of the Aborigines because of the unequal treatment by the white people:
Baskara‟s thesis discusses the struggle of the Aborigines which is
faced by Alice when she works for the white people. The struggle is described
by the Aborigines‟ attitude toward the discrimination. The thesis focuses in the
struggles and the attitudes of Alice toward the discrimination that is done by
the white people.
Another review is stated by Anna Brewster in her book, Literary
Formations Post-colonialism, Nationalism, Globalism:
Coercive attempts at resocialising and individualizing Aboriginal people encounter strong resistance in the affirmation of home,
Nannup‟s family–specially her mother-and the Aboriginal way of life. She talks with pride about her mother‟s and her own bush cooking (traditional and white). She also talks about the effectiveness of traditional health cures, and power of spirituality (1995:45).
The review discusses Nannup‟s attachment to her family‟s way of life
and her resistance to white culture. The resistance is shown when she talks
about how the effectiveness of traditional cures made by Alice mother when
she was sick. Anna Brewster describes how proud is Alice for being an
Aboriginal people which has the different way of cooking from the white
people‟s way of cooking.
There is a review about Alice Nannup‟s When The Pelican Laughed
by Catherine Maughan (www.goodreads.com, 2012), mentioning how the
reader of When The Pelican Laughed will know more about Western Australian
Maughan mentions too that the reader will surely know the injustices
and prejudices toward Aborigines through Alice‟s life story that:
Through Alice's life we learn a lot about Western Australian history and the laws that were used to totally control Aboriginal lives. The compelling part of this book is that Alice talks about her life, and the reader is left in no doubt about how her life has been impacted by the injustices and prejudices towards Aboriginal people (Maughan, Catherine, 2012).
This review will support the writer in collecting the information about
the topic and the conflict that appears in the novel. The support provide
because Maughan mentioning that the reader will totally know about the
Western Australian history and the injustices and prejudice towards Aborigines.
There is another study about Alice Nannup‟s, entitled Aboriginal
Women’s Narratives: Reclaiming Identities by Nadja Zierott (2005:101).
Zierott states that the motive of Alice as Aborigine woman to write her
biography is not only to tell the injustices but to reclaim the stolen terrain, such
as land, field, and freedom:
For woman like Nannup, it is a basic concern to narrated their lives and revive the past, not only to let others know about injustices, but to reclaim stolen terrain (2005:101).
These reviews discuss the unequal treatment toward the Aborigines by
the white people in Australia that reflected in Alice Nannup‟s When The
Pelican Laughed, but there are some differences too. In Baskara‟s review, he
deals with the struggles of the Aborigines in the 19th Century that is revealed
the work reveal racial discrimination toward the Aborigines by the white
people.
The other review, by Anna Brewster, discusses about Aboriginal
women who attach to their family‟s way and about their resistance to white
culture. Meanwhile, this thesis discusses on racial discrimination toward the
Aborigines in Australia. In the review by Nadja Zierott, the focus is on the
identity of Aboriginal woman that slowly but surely fades away, meanwhile
this undergraduate thesis focus is in racial discrimination toward Aborigines by
the white people.
These reviews will be developed and will help and support the writer
to analyze racial discrimination in When The Pelican Laughed. This thesis
analyzes Alice Nannup‟s When The Pelican Laughed, which focuses on racial
discrimination toward Aboriginal people in Australia. Racial discrimination
will be analyzed through the conflict.
B.Review of Related Theories
To make the analysis more powerful, some theories are needed. Those
theories are the theory about conflict, theories of racial discrimination, and
1. Theories of Conflict
In William Harmon‟s book, A Handbook to Literature (1986:114),
he states that conflict is “the struggle that grows out of the interplay of two
opposing forces. Conflict provides interest, suspense, and tension”. The
quote explains that conflict is the situation that rises when two opposite
opinions crash or face the disagreement and create tension between the two
opposites.
In the same book, Harmon says that conflict rises between a person
with another person, nature, and against society (1986:114). In Nannup‟s
When The Pelican Laughed, the conflict is between Alice and the White
people society, where the White people treat her unequally. Therefore, the
writer can see the conflict in Nannup‟s When The Pelican Laughed through
the act of White people towards the Aborigines.
According to Bill Preston‟s A Sense of Wonder (2003:178), conflict
is a struggle between two opposing people or forces and can be divided into
two, internal and external conflict. An internal conflict takes place in the
mind of a character, it is a struggle between him/herself. An external conflict
can be between characters or between a character and nature (2003:178).
In addition, in Robert Stanton book, An Introduction to Fiction,
1. Internal conflict
This kind of conflict occurs in the character himself or herself
without outside force. The conflict is between two desires within
a character, meaning that he or she arguing with him/herself
about what he or she should do or should not do. It takes place
in a character mind (1965:16).
2. External conflict
This kind of conflict happens when a character argues or has
some problems with other character. It can be between a
character and nature or others characters (1965:16).
In the same book, Stanton states that conflict is important element
of plot in literary work. In conflict, there will be a central conflict, which is
the core of the story‟s structure, the generating center out of which the plot
grows (1965:16).
In other book, Thomas R. Arp and Greg Johnson‟s book, state that
conflict happens where there is a clash of opinion, ideas, or desire between
one person and other person or group of people, nature, society, or
2. Theories of Racial Discrimination
Historically, violence and unequal treatment already happened in
19th century when European comes to the Australian:
By the middle of the 19th century, violence againts the aborigines, the introduction of European diseases, and spiritual demoralized challenged the whole structure of Aboriginalsociety (Read,Peter, 2012).
Theory of racial discrimination is found in The New Encyclopedia
Britannica:
Racial in the sense relevant to racism, refers to a human group that defines itself or is defined by others as culturally different by virtue of innate and immutable physical characteristics. Thus, under racism a race is defined socially but on the basis physical characteristics. Such physical characteristics have no inherent significance, but only such significance as is socially attributed to them in a given society. Furthermore, the term racial discrimination denotes all forms of differential behavior based on race. The most notable form of racial discrimination is, of course, physical segregation by race, but there are many others, such as rules of etiquette defining forms of address between
racial “superiors” and “inferiors”. (1983:360).
From the quote above, racial is related to racism which people
defines themselves or is defined by others because the differential of
physical characteristic. The physical characteristic is just socially attributed
given by the society. Furthermore, racial discrimination is all forms of
differential behavior based on race. That treatment has no significance
Based on Sociology by Donald Light, Suzanne Keller, and Craig
Calhoun, discrimination is actual behavior. Discrimination refers to the act
of disqualifying or mistreating people on the basis of their society
(1989:352).
Another book, Sociology by Richard T. Schaefer, states that
“Discrimination is the process of denying opportunities and equal right to
individuals and groups because of prejudice or for other arbitrary reasons”
(1986:230). The quotation explain that discrimination is refusal of
opportunities and right to some people, or some groups because the
judgment of society.
According to Ellis Cashmore‟s Encyclopedia of Race and Ethnic
Studies, racial discrimination is known as racialism. Racialism is “the active
behavioral expression of racism and is aimed at denying members of certain
groups equal access to scarce and valued resources” (2004:345).
In the same page of the book, Ellis Cashmore states that racism
contains negative beliefs about groups. As it is stated, “It operates on a
group basis: it works on the perceived attributes and deficiencies of groups,
not individualized characteristics” (2004:345).
Cashmore states too that racial discrimination is addressed to a
group in the society where their voices are denied because of the differences
Members of groups are denied opportunities or reward for reasons unrelated to their capabilities, industry, and general merit: they are judged solely on their membership of an identifiable group, which is erroneously thought to have racial basis (2004:345).
John K. Roth in International Encyclopedia of Ethics states that
there are two types of discrimination, legal discrimination and institutional
discrimination. He explains the definition of legal discrimination that is an
“unequal treatment that sustained by law” (1995:231-232). The quotation
explains that legal discrimination is unequal treatment based on the law.
According to Stokely Carmichael and Charles V. Hamilton‟s Black
Power (1967) in International Encyclopedia of Ethics:
Institutional discrimination is a subtle form of unequal treatment based on race that is trenched in social custom (that is, social institutions). Institutional discrimination may include segregated housing patterns, redlining by financial institutions, and the practice of minority group members being forced continually into low-paying jobs (1995:232).
The quotation above explains that institutional discrimination is unequal
treatment based on race that happens in the society. The examples of
institutional discrimination are the separation of chair, bathroom, church,
school, room, cinemas, and many others between Aborigines and white
people, and the wage for Aborigines is lower than the white people in the
same kind of job.
In addition, according to Richard T. Schaefer and Robert P. Lamm
in their book, Sociology, second edition, Institutional discrimination refers
Discrimination is practiced not only by individuals in one-to-one encounters but also by institutions in their daily operations. Institutional discrimination refers to the denial of opportunities and equal rights to individuals and groups which results from the normal operation of a society (1986:230).
C.Review of Racial Discrimination toward the Aborigines in Australia
The story of Aborigines dealing with racism is a well-known story. It
is a real life event that Aborigines have to deal for many years. Many of
Aborigines struggle in their condition to oppose racial discrimination.
Michael Haralambos and friend, in their book, Sociology themes and
perspective Australian edition, states that Aborigines in Australian have been
subjected to racism for many years since the British came and declared
Australia as and inhabitants land as their subject (1996:652). From the same
source as above, it states:
A policy of protectionism arose which sought to shelter Aboriginal people from outside influences by establishing Aboriginal reserves under the control of missionaries and other Europeans. Many Aborigines were forcibly taken there, ostensibly for their own protection. In these institutions Aborigines were denied many basic rights and freedoms (1996:652).
The quotation above explains a policy of protection is made by the
white people who already take control Australia and make some shelter for the
Aborigines, pretending for the goodness of Aborigines. The real reason is the
white people want Aboriginal people lose their own culture and become much
According to Bamber Gascoigne in his website,
http://www.historyworld.net, one of the shelters is Moore River Native
Settlement. The settlement was opened by the Government of Western
Australian in 1918.Socially, Moore River Settlement practiced strict dormitory
system. The Aborigines cannot leave the settlement without permission from
missionaries.
The Aboriginal children were often removed from their families and
brought up by foster parents or in orphanages. In 1905, “Aborigines Act” was
enacted. The act legalised the removal of Aboriginal children from their
families (Winch, Joan and Ken Hayward, 2007:6). In the same year with
Moore River Native Settlement was opened, in 1918, the new policy that
forbids the Aborigines consume alcohol arose:
In 1918, the Northern Territory Aboriginal Ordinance Act "ensured that Aboriginal people could not drink or possess or supply alcohol or methylated spirits (Korff, Jens, 2000).
Michael Haralambos and friend‟s Sociology themes and perspective
Australian edition (1996:652) writes that there is a segregation policy in the
society. Aborigines have separate hospital wards, or they cannot use swimming
pools, nor have separate areas in cinema and bars if they were allowed in at all
From the same source, it is known that many Aboriginal employees
are often paid only a fraction of the white people‟s wage for the equivalent job
in the same place (1996:652). In addition, Craig McGregor‟s Profile of
Australia states that the Aboriginal employees are often paid in flour, tobacco,
and clothing, and not much money (1966:307-308).
Society and laws has treated the Aborigines as inferior beings. They
are stereotyped as lazy, stupid, irrational, dirty, and drunken. They are not
allowed to take vote. They are not allowed to move freely, all their actions are
monitored by the white people. A little mistake will make a hard and cruel
punishment.
D.Theoretical Framework
The aim of this study is to find the racial discrimination among the
Aborigines in Australia through the conflict in Alice Nannup‟s When The
Pelican Laughed. In this analysis thesis, the writer provides some theories in
order to answer the problem formulation. There are theory of conflict and
theory of racial discrimination.
On answering the first problem formulation, the theories of conflict
are applied. The theories provide any understanding about how to analyze the
conflicts and also how the conflicts are presented in Alice Nannup‟s When The
Pelican Laughed. The author of When The Pelican Laughed, Alice Nannup
with Lauren Marsh and Stephen Kinnane use conflict to reveal the idea of
In order to reveal the idea of discrimination, the understanding of
conflict that is presented in Alice Nannup‟s When The Pelican Laughed are
needed. Each conflict that is presented in Alice Nannup‟s When The Pelican
19
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
A.Object of the study
When The Pelican Laughed is a novel that was written by Alice
Nannup. This book was written by Alice Nannup in conjunction with Lauren
Marsh and Stephen Kinnane. Lauren is studying English and Comparative
Literature and Stephen is studying for a degree in Communication studies.
Both are at Murdoch University. The novel was published by Fremantle Arts
Centre Press in 1992. The story of When The Pelican Laughed is divided into
four parts.
The first part is about the childhood stories of Alice Nannup. In this
part, the story line is when Alice is still a girl and when she is taken away from
her family. After Alice is taken away, she lives with a white couple, Mr. and
Mrs. Campbell. They make Alice work as their servant. After that, Alice is put
in Moore River Native Settlement, where Alice loses her right and freedom.
In the second parts, it does not only tell about Alice Nannup in teenage
time but also tells about the Aborigines under the colonialism. In this part, the
story line is when Alice lives in Moore River Native Settlement, a compound.
In Moore River Alice does not really get an education. What Alice does the
whole time in the compound is working like a servant, and then Alice is sent to
The third part tells about the marriage life of Alice Nannup. This part
tells the hard life of Nannup who raises 10 children. The last part of the novel
tells about the life of old Nannup after a full and eventful life, including many
battles with authority and raising ten children. Alice Nannup finally returned
home after sixty four years later and found out that her family had died long
ago.
When The Pelican Laughed is the result of researching material on
Stephen Kinnane‟s grandmother, Jessie Argyle, who had met and formed a
friendship with Alice in the 1920s. The Aboriginal women, at that time, were
under the care of the Chief Protector of the Aborigines. Stephen Kinnane and
Lauren Marsh transcribed and edited the life-story of Alice Nannup in
conjunction with Alice. Editorial intrusion in the text is however sanctioned by
Alice Nannup.
B.Approach of the study
This research uses socio-cultural historical approach in the analysis
because the writer wants to analyze the novel that is related to the history of
racial discrimination of Aborigines in Australia. Socio-cultural historical
approach is used in answering the second problem formulation. According to
Mary Rohrberger and Samuel H. Woods:
The quotation above explains that the approach concerns about the history of
the story and the reflection of the society inside the literature.
Socio-cultural historical approach explains that to understand literary
work more, the reader needs to know about what happens in the time of the
literary work take place and also the biography of the author.
This approach helps the writer in doing research of the historical
background of the story happens. It is applied to understand the social and
historical context of the novel. The Aborigines‟ experience in racial
discrimination is a part of the social condition and history at that time.
C.Method of the study
The research is library research. It means that all the data are taken
away from any written source such as books and also Encyclopedia to collect
the information in order to analyze and answer the problems.
The research used two kinds of source, the primary and the secondary
source. The primary source is When The Pelican Laughed that is written by
Alice Nannup. Meanwhile the secondary source takes from some books, such
as The New Encyclopædia Britannica volume III in order to understand the
The other books are The New Encyclopædia Britannica volume 15
and Cohen‟s book, The Art of Discrimination to understand more about racial
discrimination, Sociology themes and perspectives Australian edition by
Michael Haralambos and friends, and also from website such as
www.central.wa.edu.au, www.goodreads.com, www.historyworld.net, and
www.daa.nsw.gov.au.
The first step was reading the primary source, When The Pelican
Laughed deeply. The second step was deciding the topic that will be analyzed.
The third step was making problem formulations to the writer analyze the
topic. The problems lead to scope-limitation of the topic.
The next step was finding references about theory, approach, and critic
that relevant to the topic to support this thesis from library and internet.
Thenthe theory and approach were applied to analyze the topic. The third step
was writing analysis. The analysis answers the problems formulation by
applying theory on conflict, theory of racial discrimination. After completing
23
CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
This chapter is divided into two parts. Each part answers each question
that is stated in problem formulation in Chapter I. The first part will discus the
conflict in the novel and this part will be the base to answer the second problem,
that is how conflicts in Alice Nannup‟s When The Pelican Laughed reveal racial
discrimination.
A.Conflict in Alice Nannup’s When The Pelican Laughed.
This part will discuss the conflict in the novel. The discussion focuses
on the conflict between Alice, an Aborigine, and the white people.
In Alice Nannup‟s When The Pelican Laughed, Alice is the main
character of the novel. Alice is an Aboriginal girl who is born from Aboriginal
mother and a white father, and Alice‟s grandfather is an Indian. Alice mentions
that she is an Aboriginal, English, and Indian, a real international person (p.20).
When Alice is young, she is taken away from her family. Then she
lives from one white„s house to another, working as a servant. After that, Alice
faces many problems in her life. Alice faces some conflicts with Miss Ryan,
Lady Dugdale, a worker man, a white MC, a man who owns a hotel, Mr.
Hawke, and with an unnamed man. There is also a conflict between the
All the conflict that are analyzed in this thesis are external conflict.
As what has been stated in Robert Stanton book, An Introduction to Fiction,
“External conflict is a kind of conflict happens when a character argues or
has some problems with other character, between a character and nature or
others characters” (1965:16).
1. Conflict between Alice and her boss’ niece, Miss Ryan.
The first conflict between Aboriginal and a white person is seen in
the conversation of Alice and Miss Ryan, a white lady:
Miss Ryan wanted to wash her hair. She carted this water through the house and spilt it on the floor. Just right after I had finished polishing it mind you. I heard her sing out to me,
„Alice, bring a cloth and wipe up this water.‟ „What water?‟ I asked.
„In the passage.‟
„But,‟ I said, „I‟ve just finished polishing in there.‟ „Look, there‟s water there –wipe it up!‟
„Well, how did it get there?‟
„Oh,‟ she said, „It just spilt. I want to Wash my hair.‟ „You wipe it up,‟ I said to her.
„No, that‟s your job. You wipe it up.‟(p.102).
The conflict happens when Alice just finished polishing the floor,
Miss Ryan spills some water to the floor. Then Miss Ryan tells Alice to take
some cloth and wipe the water, but Alice refuses because Alice thinks that
Miss Ryan is the one who spills the water, so she is the one who should
wipe the water. Miss Ryan insists that Alice is the one who should wipe the
water. The conflict continues when Miss Ryan hits Alice with hair brush and
2. Conflict between Alice and a lady police, Lady Dugdale.
After Alice throws the hair brush to Miss Ryan, Miss Ryan goes to
a lady police and reports about Alice. The lady police, Lady Dugdale, comes
later:
Lady Dugdale told me, „You mustn‟t ever do this to your mistress.‟
I was really upset. I said to her, „What about me, look at me. She
broke Mrs. Larsen‟s brush on me.‟
„You know, you people, you let your temper run away with you,‟ she said.
„Yeah, well I work hard here. I‟ve got more jobs to do than one. I‟ve got right to get cross,‟ I told her.
„Yes, well, look, I‟ll take Alice out there and I‟ll give her a good trashing,‟ she said.
I was really frightened then, and angry too. I said to her, „Lady,
you better not, you better not Miss, because if I get that whip off
of you, you‟ll get it too. You touch me and I‟ll get Mr. Larsen.
You better talk to Mr. larsen first.‟
„Will you apologise to Miss Ryan?‟ she said.
„You make her apologise first. I didn‟t start the trouble.‟
(p.103).
The conflict is between Alice and lady police, Lady Dugdale. Lady
Dugdale insists that Alice is the one who is wrong and will get the
punishment. Alice does not agree with it because Alice works hard in there
and works lot of work and Alice speaks for herself that after working hard,
she has the right to refuse it. Alice says that if the lady police wants to
punish her, lady police has to report first to Mr. Larsen, the boss. In the end,
the lady police asks Alice to apologize to Miss Ryan, but then again Alice
refuses it and tells that the one who should apologize first is Miss Ryan
because Miss Ryan is the one who starts the trouble. Miss Ryan agrees and
3. Conflict between Alice and a white male worker.
The conflict happens when Alice just arrives in Wyalkatchem at
night. Alice waits for her boss, Mr. Cashmore, to pick her up in the waiting
room. Then the white worker men approach her:
…one of the blokes saw me there in the waiting room. He
„Well,‟ he said. „You no stop here. You get from here, cos if you don‟t…I‟ll kill you!‟
When this bloke threatened me I got the shakes, I was really
frightened. I just looked up at him and said, „But where am I going to go?‟ He got a bit closer to me and he said, „That your problem, just get, go on, get out of here!‟ (p.125-126).
The quotation explains the conflict between Alice and a man who
insults her. It happens when Alice comes to the town at night by train. When
she arrives, her boss does not arrive yet to pick her up, but then she sees that
her boss just pass the station and leave her behind. Alice then waits in the
waiting room till some worker men come to her and one of the man tells her
to leave. Alice does not want it. She tells that there is no place she can go,
but then the man tells that he does not care and threatens to kill Alice if she
is not leaves. Alice is afraid and takes off from the station.
4. Conflict between Alice and an MC of Canadian Barn Dance.
Another conflict happens when Alice, her husband and her children
move from Wiluna to Mullewa in 1934. The conflict is between Alice and a
Because this was a dance for white people only I wasn‟t allowed into the hall, so I just stayed out on the ramp and looked in. After this particular dance was over the MC came out to me
and said, „Can I help you?‟
„Oh no, I‟m just watching the dancing,‟ I said.
„Well, now that it‟s finished,‟ he said, „I want you to leave, because you‟re not allowed to be here you know.‟
I felt very hurt – I‟d been quiet so as not to disturb anyone.
„But I‟m only just watching, I‟m not doing any harm,‟ I said. „Yes I know that, butstill, you‟re not allowed.‟ (p.160).
The MC forbids Alice to come to the dance and tells her to leave,
but Alice refuses it because she actually does not enter the dance room and
she is just watching from outside. Alice tells the MC too that she will be
quiet and not disturb anyone so no one can know her. Still the MC forbids
her to stay and ask Alice to leave.
5. Conflict between the Aborigines and the Chief Protector of Aboriginal,
Mr. Neville.
Another external conflict is between Aboriginal people and Mr.
Neville, the Chief Protector of the Aborigines, in Geraldton town. Mr.
Neville builds some reserve that has housing on it, so the Aborigines who
live in Geraldton have to move out and live in the reserve. It is because the
city council wants to build a new suburb for white people. When Mr.
Neville is in town and tells about the reserve for the Aborigines, lots of the
Aborigines resist the forced exile. They do not take any notice of Mr.
Neville. Although lots of Aborigines against it and do not want to leave,
nearly everyone is moved to another place (p.167). In the end, Alice is
6. Conflict between Alice and the owner of a hotel.
The conflict happens in the middle of hot day when Alice and her
two children go to town. Because her children do not wear any sandals, they
have to cool their feet in the shadow of trees or building. They decide to
shelter under the verandah of the hotel, and then the owner of the hotel
approaches them:
Suddenly he turned to me and said, „Excuse me, madam, but
you know you‟re not allowed under these premises.‟
I looked at him to see if he was serious, „Who said?‟ I really couldn‟t believe what I was hearing.
„I‟m asking you to move because you‟re not allowed under
these premises.‟
„Who said?‟ I asked him again.
„Look, if you don‟t move I‟ll get somebody to move you.‟ „You get whoever you like to move me. I want to know the
reason why. And if you think I want any of your rotten beer,
well, you know what you can do with that.‟ I was that mad with him.
„I‟ll stay until you push me off here,‟ I said. „You wouldn‟t
deprive your kids of shade when their feet were burning on a hot
bitumen road like this.‟
owner of the hotel, thinks that the Aborigines like Alice cannot enter a hotel
because the hotel provides alcohol. Alice refuses to leave because what she
wants is to cool down her children‟s feet under the verandah and she does
not want the beer that is available in the hotel. Alice states there is no law
The proprietor insists Alice to leave or he will get someone to make her
move from where she stands. Alice tells the proprietor that he can get
anyone, but she will not move because her children‟s feet are burning on the
hot road. In the end the proprietor goes away and observes Alice from a
distance.
7. Conflict between Alice and an Aboriginal Affairs man, Mr. Hawke.
When Alice moves to Wells Street, one day, she gets a conflict with
Mr. Hawke. Mr. Hawke is an Aboriginal Affairs man in town:
One day I‟d just picked up my parcel and I was going along
past the Town Hall when this Aboriginal Affairs man came up to
me and said, „Excuse me, Mrs. Nannup, I‟d just like to speak to
you.‟
„Alright,‟ I said. „What‟s the matter?‟
„I‟ve had a report about you not spending your money properly,‟ he said.
Well, I just stopped dead in my tracks. „Where‟d you get that from!‟ I said.
„We just got it, and if you don‟t spend you money properly, we‟ll have to take your endowment away from you.‟
„Who said that, I‟ll skin that person,‟ I said. „They should mind their own business. You want to see something?‟ and I put
my hand down under the pram and pulled this COD parcel out.
„This is where my money goes. I don‟t know whoever told you I was squandering my money, but in here are articles I‟ve got for
my kids. This money belongs to the kids, and I spend it on the
kids.‟(p.188).
Mr. Hawke, an Aboriginal Affairs man tries to find Alice‟s fault. He
stops Alice when she passes the Town Hall from picking up her parcel. He
accuses Alice for not properly spending the money. Alice disagrees and
denies by showing the COD (Cash on Delivery: an Australian Post service
is addressed to her children. Because of that Alice explains to Mr. Hawke
that her money belongs to her children and goes for her children too.
8. Conflict between Alice and some boys.
The last conflict happens in the street. There are three little brothers
sitting in the car waiting for their parent which go shopping. The oldest
white boy tells his little brothers to take a look at the „niggers‟. At this point,
the „niggers‟ that are being pointed are Alice and her two children who just
walk across the street. Alice approaches the car and tells the children that
she does not feel ashamed of herself as Aborigines. (p.192).
The two opposing force are Alice and the boys. The boys called
Alice and her children „nigger‟, an appropriate name for the Aborigines.
Meanwhile Alice tells to the boys that being and Aborigines is not
something to be ashamed.
9. Conflict between Aboriginal girls and white boys.
The conflict happens when they are walking together. They are they always slung off at our color you see.
This one bloke, he looked over and said, „Pfoo, look at all the dark clouds. It sure is going to rain.‟
Bertha and Carrie were across the street and into those fellas, and I tell you what – they bolted, off they fled. Then Jessie
„But ohh, they‟re not going to call me names, not going to
insult me,‟ said Carrie and Bertha (p.117-118).
The quotation above explains about friends of Alice, Carrie and
Bertha, who are angry because a man mocks them as a cloud rain. They are
called that because of the color of their skins, black. Carrie and Bertha try to
approach the man but then Jessie forbids them. Then the conflict arises
between Jessie who wants Carrie and Bertha to be patient and Carrie and
Bertha who do not agree and they do not like being treated like what the
man do. Jessie insists not to approach the man so they will not get into
trouble and just accept the situation, meanwhile Carrie and Bertha want to
teach the man some manner. In the end, the man runs away from them.Here
is one of the racial discrimination toward the Aborigines, which the police
or the law will directly blame the Aborigines for what happen if there is a
problem between Aborigines and white people.
B.Racial discrimination Reflected through the Conflicts.
As what has stated in first chapter of the study, this study aims to
reveal racial discrimination toward the Aborigines by the white people. In
addition, in the previous subchapter of this analysis, the conflicts of the novel
have been discussed. The conflicts of the novel have a significant role in
revealing racial discrimination.
In the novel, Alice deals with some problems. Most of them are the
In this study, the writer tries to examine the essence of the conflict and
then relates them to racial discrimination. To achieve the goal of the study, the
writer uses socio-cultural historical approach. According to William Harmon
and Hugh Holman, in their book, A Handbook to Literature, “Historical
criticism is criticism that approaches work in terms of social, cultural, and
historical context in which it was produced” (2009:245).
Based on John K. Roth in International Encyclopedia of Ethics, the
following discussion is divided into two subchapter, legal discrimination and
institutional discrimination. Legal discrimination is an “unequal treatment that
sustained by law”, whereas institutional discrimination is unequal treatment to
a person or some groups that is noted in social custom (1995:231-231).
1. Legal discrimination.
There are some conflicts that reveal racial discrimination toward
the Aborigines. This subchapter discusses legal discrimination that happens
to the Aborigines. The conflicts that reveal racial discrimination especially
legal discrimination are between Alice with a worker man, Mr. Neville, anda
man who own a hotel.
a. Conflict between Alice and a white male worker.
The racial discrimination that is revealed through the conflict is
legal discrimination. That is because the discrimination is based on the
The conflict is between Alice and a man in the train station at
night. The conflict is caused by the existence of Alice in the station at
night. The man extrudes Alice from the station, and at first Alice tries to
defend herself by telling that she has no place to go. The man finally
threatens Alice that he will kill her, so Alice get out. In the morning,
Alice is told that in that area, at night, no Aborigines are allowed to go
out (p.125-126).
The racial discrimination towards the Aborigines that is
described on above is sustained by the law. The law makes restrictions
for the Aborigines in owning land, where they can live, where they can
go, and even to whom they can marry. The law controls Aborigines‟ life
and makes the Aborigines lose their right and freedom.
In that time, the Aborigines were prohibited too from particular
jobs, including working in a post office and were expected to work for
much less money, and prohibited in some areas. The Aborigines require
permits to obtain a job (Winch, Joan and Ken Hayward, 2007:7). The
result from the law is unequal treatment toward the Aborigines.
b. Conflict between the Aborigines and the Chief Protector of
Aboriginal, Mr. Neville.
The conflict happens when Alice lives at Gerald town. The
reservation that have housing on it, so the Aborigines who lives in
Geraldton can move out and live in the reservation.
The decision is made because the city council wants to build a
new suburb for white people in Geraldton. When Mr. Neville is in town
and tells about the reserve for the Aborigines, lots of the Aborigines are
against it (p.167).
The conflict above reveals racial discrimination toward the
Aborigines which the Chief Protector of Aborigines decides to move the
Aborigines to the reservation just like that because the white people
wants to build a new housing for white people in the town.
The conflict describes the condition that happens to the
Aborigines:
A policy of protectionism arose which sought to shelter Aboriginal people from outside influences by establishing Aboriginal reserves under the control of missionaries and other Europeans. Many Aborigines were forcibly taken there, ostensible for their own protection. In these institutions Aborigines were denied many basic rights and freedoms (Haralambos, Michael and friends, 1996:652).
The Aborigines have no right and freedom, their life is
controlled by the chief. In the end, although lots of people refuse to
move, nearly all the people are moved to other place. This racial
discrimination is legal discrimination because there is a law which
restriction for the Aborigines on owning land, where they could live, and
c. Conflict between Alice and the owner of a hotel.
Alice has to face racial discrimination towards her again when
she and her two children go to town. Because her children do not wear
any sandals, they have to cool their feet in the shadow of trees or
building. They decide to shelter under the verandah of the hotel, and then
the owner of the hotel approaches them:
Suddenly he turned to me and said, „Excuse me, madam, but you know you‟re not allowed under these premises.‟
I looked at him to see if he was serious, „Who said?‟ I really couldn‟t believe what I was hearing.
„I‟m asking you to move because you‟re not allowed under these premises.‟
„Who said?‟ I asked him again.
„Look, if you don‟t move I‟ll get somebody to move you.‟ „You get whoever you like to move me. I want to know the
reason why. And if you think I want any of your rotten beer,
well, you know what you can do with that.‟ I was that mad with him. „I‟ll stay until you push me off here,‟ I said (p.181).
The conflict above reveals racial discrimination toward the
Aborigines. Alice and her children just want to stand under the premises
to cool down her children feet but the owner of the hotel tells her to
leave. Alice does not enter the hotel, she is just standing outside under the
premises, but then the owner of the hotel approaches her asking Alice and
her children to leave because they are not allowed to come to the hotel.
Here the white people treat the Aborigines unequally. Alice wants to cool
down her children‟s feet under the premises outside the hotel, but she is
asked to leave. The owner asks because from the owner opinion, Alice as
do not even enter the hotel. What the owner says is based on a law that
forbids Aborigines to drink alcohol. In 1918, The Northern Territory
Aboriginal Ordinance Act "ensured that Aboriginal people could not
drink or possess or supply alcohol or methylated spirits, could not come
within two chains of licensed premises.” (Korff, Jens, 2000). The owner
of the hotel concludes that Alice cannot come to the hotel because his
hotel provided alcohol.
Alice mentions that she does not want the beer in the hotel and
she just want to cool down her children‟s feet for a moment. The racial
discrimination above is legal discrimination because there is a law that
the Aborigines cannot drink any alcohol and cannot come near to the
place where provides any alcohol.
d. Conflict between Alice and an MC of Canadian Barn Dance
Alice always faces discrimination for her whole life. There is a
conflict between Alice and an MC of dance party. The MC forbids Alice
to come to the dance and tell her to leave, but Alice refuses because she
actually does not enter the dance room, she just watches from the outside.
Because this was a dance for white people only I wasn‟t
allowed into the hall, so I just stayed out on the ramp and looked in. After this particular dance was over the MC came
out to me and said, „Can I help you?‟
„Oh no, I‟m just watching the dancing,‟ I said.
„Well, now that it‟s finished,‟ he said, „I want you to leave, because you‟re not allowed tobe here you know.‟
I felt very hurt –I‟d been quiet so as not to disturb anyone.
The conflict above reveals how the white treats Alice unequally
just because she is an Aborigine. Alice is not allowed to enter the dance
room because the dance party just for the white people. Even though she
actually does not enter the room and just watch from the outside, still she
is not allowed to come near.
The conflict above shows too that there is a separation for the
Aborigines. The Aborigines is not allowed to come to the white‟s event.
The situation that Alice faces happens to other Aborigines. The
Aborigines often have separated hospital wards, or they could not use
swimming pools, or have separated areas in cinemas and bars if they are
allowed in at all (1996:652).
This racial discrimination is called as legal discrimination
because Alice says that the dance is just for the white people so she is not
allowed into the hall (1992:160). There is a statement to support the
analysis:
In 1905, Australia government had the power to declared prohibited areas for Aboriginal people. And in 1936, the commissioner of Native Affairs had total control over the lives of all Aboriginal people. All Aboriginal people still required permission to marry, permits to obtain a job, and permission to travel (Winch, Joan and Ken Hayward, 2007:6-7).
The statement above explains that there is a law about the
prohibition areas for the Aborigines. The Australian government has total
to do something, such as wants to marry, obtain a job, and go to
somewhere. The law makes restriction on the Aborigines‟ life.
2. Institutional discrimination
The conflicts that reveal racial discrimination especially
institutional discrimination are between Alice with miss Ryan, Lady
Dugdale, a white male worker, Mr. Hawke, and unnamed man.
a. Conflict between Alice and her boss’ niece, Miss Ryan.
Alice has to face discrimination when she is put in the white‟s
house to work as their servant. It is not just in one house but many other
white‟s house. Alice moves to many white‟s house and moves to many
different countries. What Alice faces happens to other Aboriginal girls
and women.
There is a time when Alice gets an argument with the owner‟
niece of the house, a white woman. The conflict happens because Miss
Ryan, the boss‟ niece, and Alice are arguing about who should wipe water
in the floor. Miss Ryan insists that Alice is the one who should wipe the
water in the floor because it is her work as a servant. Alice who just
wipes the floor and still has many work to do refuses it and asks Miss
Ryan to wipe it by herself because she is the one who spilt it. Here the
Miss Ryan sing out to me, „Look, there‟s water there – wipe it
up!‟
„Well, how did it get there?‟
„Oh,‟ she said, „It just spilt. I want to Wash my hair.‟ „You wipe it up,‟ I said to her.
„No, that‟s your job. You wipe it up.‟(p.102).
The racial discrimination is revealed by looking at the external
conflict which the white people insist that cleaning is the Aborigines‟ job.
Even though that is just a simple thing, like wiping the water on the floor.
The white people think that it is an Aborigines job to do cleaning job, or
any other job as a servant.
In addition, in the novel Alice states that there are some white
women working as servant like her in the same place, but they earn
money a lot more than Alice (p.138). Here, Alice who is an Aboriginal
worker is treated unequally. The wage for the white people is lot higher
than her even though they work the same work in the same place for the
same boss.
The racial discrimination that is faced by Alice above can be
named as institutional discrimination. The theory of institutional
discrimination says:
The quotation above explains that institutional discrimination is
unequal treatment that is practiced by the society because of custom. The
examples for institutional discrimination are segregated housing patterns,
denying or limiting by financial service, and low-paying job. From the
statement before, it supports the analysis that is Alice gets lower wage
than the white worker is institutional discrimination and the conflict
between Alice and Miss Ryan is the examples for a practice of minority
person being forced continually into low paying jobs.
In addition, Michael Haralambos and friends in Sociology
themes and perspective Australian edition state that“some of the
continuing inequality suffered by the Aborigines in areas like
employment, housing, education, health, and policy may be attributable
to racism in the form of individual prejudice” (1996:652). In addition,
Michael Haralambos and friends say:
Many Aboriginal people took up paid employment. Men often worked on the cattle stations and woman as domestic labourers. These Aboriginal employees were often paid only
a fraction of the white person‟s wage for the equivalent job,
despite being, in many case, more skilled than their European bosses and co-workers (1996:652).
The quotation above explains that the Aborigines suffer from the
unequal treatment in areas like employment, housing pattern, education,
health, and policy. Many Aboriginal people in Australia take up paid
employment but they are treated unequally. The Aborigines work the
same work as the white, but the Aborigines get lower payment than the
