AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of
Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By:
FX. RISANG BASKARA
Student Number: 054214058
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
i
THE INDIGENOUS STRUGGLE OF ABORIGINES IN
WESTERN AUSTRALIA IN THE I9TH CENTURY AS
REFLECTED IN ALICE NANNUP’S LIFE IN WHEN THE
PELICAN LAUGHED
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of
Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By:
FX. RISANG BASKARA
Student Number: 054214058
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS
SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
ii
THE INDIGENOUS STRUGGLE OF ABORIGINES IN
WESTERN AUSTRALIA IN THE I9TH CENTURY AS
REFLECTED IN ALICE NANNUP’S LIFE IN WHEN THE
PELICAN LAUGHED
By
FX. Risang Baskara
Student Number: 054214058
Approved by:
Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M.Hum.
30
January
2010
iii
A Sarjana Sastra Undergradute Thesis
THE INDIGENOUS STRUGGLE OF ABORIGINES IN
WESTERN AUSTRALIA IN THE I9TH CENTURY AS
REFLECTED IN ALICE NANNUP’S LIFE IN WHEN THE
PELICAN LAUGHED
By
FX. Risang Baskara
Student Number: 054214058
Defended before the Board of Examiners
on 30 January 2010
and declared as acceptable
Board of Examiners
Name Signature
Chairman : Dr.Fr. B. Alip, M.Pd.,M.A. __________________
Secretary : Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum. __________________
Member : Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S., M.Hum. __________________
Member :
Dewi
Widyastuti,
S.Pd.,
M.Hum. __________________
Member : Adventina Putranti, S.S., M.Hum. __________________
Yogyakarta, 30 January 2010
Faculty of Letters
Sanata Dharma University
Dean
v
Take, Lord, and Receive
Take, Lord, and receive my entire liberty,
my memory, my understanding, and my whole will.
All that I am and all that I possess,
you have given me.
I surrender it all to you to be disposed of
according to your will.
Give me only your love and your grace
with these I will be rich enough
and will desire nothing more.
vi
This undergraduate thesis is dedicated to
My beloved mother
My generous father
vii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My deepest gratitude goes to Lord, Jesus Christ who always guides and
leads my way. Give thanks and praise the Lord! For His help and guidance, I can
finish my study.
I would like to express my big thanks to my family; to my mother Hermin
Widayati, my father Ignatius Handoko, and my little brother Gilang Adi Prasasti
who always pray, support and encourage me. I also would like to express my
thanks to Stefani Sera Marcellina, for her love and patience, so that I finally can
finish my undergraduate thesis.
I am really indebted to Dewi Widyastuti, S.Pd., M.Hum. I thank her for the
guidance, the novel, the books, also the time she has given to me. I really
appreciate her for the corrections and suggestions that made me more enthusiastic
in finishing this undergraduate thesis. I would also dedicate my gratitude to
Adventina Putranti, S.S., M.Hum. Her time, corrections and suggestions are very
precious for me.
I would like to dedicate my acknowledgements to my friends in English
Letters Sanata Dharma University: Greg, Ika, Nana, Della, Cindy, Ria, Chandra,
Dita, Naris, Citra, Nanda; to my Magis08 friends and FCJ Sister: Mas Bertus,
Lucky, Yandu, Tommy, Mbak Eny, Martha, Thomas, Mita, Winny, Tiara, Pras,
Sr. Irene, Sr. Inez, Sr. Beta, Sr. Rachel; my friends in LISDU: Mbak Eva, Chris,
Jody, Mas Richard, Mbak Novi, Tante Diana, Mbak Dian, Mbak Uchan, Mas
Andrey, Mas Sandy; to Mbak Nik and other secretariat staffs who helped me.
viii
MOTTO PAGE
………. iv
DEDICATION PAGE
………...
v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
………... vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
………..
vii
ABSTRACT
………..
viii
ABSTRAK
……….
ix
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION ……….. 1
A.
Background of the Study ……… 1
B.
Problem Formulation ………. 4
C.
Objectives of the Study ……….. 4
D.
Definition of Terms ………. 4
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW ……… 6
A.
Review on Related Studies ……….…. 6
B.
Review on Related Theories ……….. 7
1.
Theory of Character and Characterization…….. 7
2.
Theory of Postcolonialism and Indigenous
Struggle ………..
9
3.
Western Australia in 19
thCentury ………. 14
C.
Theoretical Framework ……… 17
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY ……….. 18
A.
Object of the Study
……….. 18
B.
Approach of the Study ………. 19
C.
Method of the Study ……….. 20
CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS ………..… 21
A.
Characterization of Major Character in
When the Pelican Laughed
……….…
21
B.
The Indigenous Struggle Reflected by the
Major Character in
When the Pelican Laughed
...…
36
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION ………... 52
BIBLIOGRAPHY
……….
56
x
Letters, Sanata Dharma University.
This study focuses on
When the Pelican Laughed,
a novel written by Alice
Nannup, Lauren Marsh and Stephen Kinnane. The novel raises the issue about the
life of Alice Nannup as an Aborigine in Australia during colonialism. The novel
tells about the life of major character, Alice Nannup, and her indigenous struggle
to resist the colonizer. The writer chooses the indigenous struggle of Aborigines
in western Australia in the 19th century as reflected in Alice Nannup’s life in
W
hen the Pelican Laughed
because the writer is interested to understand the
postcolonialism and the major character’s indigenous struggles to fight the
colonizer.
The objectives of the study are: first, to explain the characterization of major
character in
When the Pelican Laughed
; second, to find out the indigenous
struggle reflected by the characterization of the major character.
The method that was applied in the study is the library research since all the
data needed were gained from references available in the library. The writer
applied postcolonialism approach in conducting the analysis. This approach
enables the writer to find out the indigenous struggles in the novel.
xi
ABSTRAK
FX. Risang Baskara (2010).
The Indigenous Struggle of Aborigines in Western
Australia in the 19th Century As Reflected in Alice Nannup’s Life in When
The Pelican Laughed.
Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra,
Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Penelitian ini difokuskan sebuah novel berjudul
When the Pelican Laughed
,
yang ditulis oleh Alice Nannup, Lauren Marsh dan Stephen Kinnane. Novel ini
mengangkat masalah tentang kehidupan orang pribumi di Australia selama masa
kolonialisme. Novel ini menceritakan kehidupan karakter utamanya, Alice
Nannup, and perjuangannya untuk melawan penjajah. Penulis memilih perjuangan
pribumi dari suku Aborigin di Australia Barat pada abad ke-19 yang tercermin di
kehidupan Alice Nannup dalam
When the Pelican Laughed
karena penulis tertarik
untuk memahami pascakolonialisme dan perjuangan pribumi dari tokoh utama
melawan penjajah.
Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah: pertama, untuk menjelaskan penokohan
tokoh utama dalam novel; kedua, untuk menemukan perjuangan pribumi yang
tercermin pada karakterisasi tokoh utama.
Metode yang digunakan untuk penelitian ini adalah metode penelitian
pustaka, karena semua data yang dibutuhkan diperoleh dari referensi-referensi
yang tersedia di perpustakaan. Penulis juga menerapkan pendekatan
pascakolonialisme dalam menyusun analisis. Pendekatan ini memungkinkan
penulis untuk penemukan perjuangan pribumi yang ada di dalam novel.
1
A. Background of the Study
By the middle of the 19th century, violence against the Aborigines, the
introduction of European diseases, and spiritual demoralization challenged the
whole structure of Aboriginal traditional society, leading to its social and
economic marginalization (www.daa.nsw.gov.au/publications/StolenGenerations
.pdf). In the same site, it also explains that over the course of the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries, the Aboriginal story has involved the forced separation of
Aboriginal children from their parents, and forced service on Missions. It also
includes imprisonment on government reserves, and denial of the right to practice
the Aboriginal culture, learn its history, speak the language, and build an
empowered identity. These actions done by the colonizer led to a process of social
demoralization and cultural disintegration.
At the same time, the population of original indigenous aborigines is estimated
to have decreased from an estimated 15,000 to just 850
(http://www.daa.nsw.gov.au/publications/StolenGenerations.pdf). As a result,
people of mixed origin came to be regarded as ‘half-castes’ and intermarriage was
actively decreased. This did not obstruct the aborigine women with British men,
but since people of mixed descent were also prohibited from living or associating
with aboriginal natives, it did encourage marriage between persons within the
2
Furthermore, for persons of mixed descent, who primarily lived in the
southwest of the state, the Aborigines Act 1905 had a profound impact. It enabled
the removal of anyone deemed “Aboriginal native” to a Reserve and any child
under 16 deemed “Aboriginal native” to a State institution. According to the
website, http://www.daa.nsw.gov.au/publications/StolenGenerations.pdf, this
confusing extension of the definition of ‘Aboriginal native’ meant although the
children of ‘half-castes’ were excluded from the provisions of the Act, in practice
‘quarter-castes’ and ‘octoroons’ were subject to it anyway, regardless of their
lifestyle. In other words, also in the same site, the Act effectively abolished the
prior legal status and citizen rights of all person of indigenous descent and
underpinned policy directives that established what is now referred to as the
‘stolen generations’. This is the issue included in the topic that we will discuss in
this paper.
The literary work which is used to discuss the topic is When the Pelican
Laughed written by Alice Nannup with Lauren Marsh and Stephen Kinnane.
Although written under the form of autobiography, the life story of Alice Nannup
extends the generic boundaries. Autobiography is one of the literary genres that
present someone’s personal experience. According to S.H. Steinberg in Cassell’s
Encyclopedia of World Literature volume 1: Histories and General Articles, an
autobiography is a literary work that “expresses the profound need for asserting
meaning in individual existence” (Steinberg, 1973:74). In autobiography,
experiences and events that the author has seen and experienced, play a big role in
autobiography is always in the first person (‘I’). In addition, According to Robert
C. Pooley in Exploring Life Through Literature, an autobiographer 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 autobiographer will see
facts from his or her own point of view and then combine them with his emotional
and personal opinion. Therefore, an autobiography focuses more on the narrator’s
personal development or the first person (‘I’). The result is a counter memory, one
that highlights the human suffering and tragedy that has marked the establishment
of Western Australia as one state. In When the Pelican Laughed, Alice Nannup
documents the repressive effects of the 1905 Aborigines Act on the lives of
thousands of people. She describes how the recommendation of legalized child
abduction affected the everyday lives in experiences of numerous women, men
and children in this state. The major character of the story, Alice Nannup, explains
in poignant details the consequences of internment in the More River Settlement,
including life-long loss of contact with family, identity and independence. The
main issue of this novel is how the colonizer oppressed the minor race, which is
Aborigines especially those are in Western Australia.
The topic of this study is how the indigenous struggle of Aborigines in
Western Australia can be revealed through the life of the main character in the
story. Here, the writer would like to analyze the major character that struggle for
her own race before and during the colonialism. Therefore, the quality of the
major character to bring the postcolonialism ideas is also interesting problem to
4
B. Problem Formulation
1. How does the text present Alice Nannup, the major character, in When the
Pelican Laughed?
2. How does the characteristics of the major character, Alice Nannup, reflect
the indigenous struggle of aborigines in Western Australia?
C. Objectives of the Study
The objective of this paper is to obtain the characteristics of the main character
of this novel, Alice Nannup. Then by having those characteristics, the writer tries
to find out how Alice Nannup’s life in the story. In the last part, the writer tries to
identify Alice Nannup’s characteristic, the major character in the novel, as the
reflection of indigenous struggle of Aborigines in Western Australia in 19th
century.
D. Definition of Terms
In order to avoid misunderstanding on certain terms the writer would like to
define some terms mentioned in the title of the undergraduate thesis and in the
problem formulation. Abrams in his book, A Glossary of Literary Terms, defines
the character as follows.
Character is the person in dramatic or narrative work endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say in the dialogue and what they do from the action. (1981: 21)
In other words, a character can be analyzed by the action, the way she/he
also important to include the definition of characterization which is defined by
Guth ad Rico as follows.
The way in which the author portrays a character for the reader. Characterization can occur through author exposition about a character as well as through the character’s actions, speech and though. (1997: 1827)
In other words, characterization is the way the author exposed the characters
through what the characters do, think, and talk about in the novel.
Another term that needs to be clarified is indigenous struggle. According to
Roger Makaa and Chris Andersen in their book entitled Indigenous Experience:
Global Perspective, the indigenous struggle can be summarized as the struggle to
have national societies decolonized so that indigenous people are able to come in
from the periphery of national life, where they most often considered social
pariahs and tax burden, in order to become fully functional and productive citizens
6
CHAPTER II
THEORITICAL REVIEW
A. Review on Related Studies
There are some reviews in the foreword of When the Pelican Laughed about
the author. When the Pelican Laughed tells a story of Alice Nannup. Alice
Nannup was born in Pilbara station 1911, of an Aboriginal mother and European
father. Alice Nannup was taken at the age of twelve and sent south then trained in
domestic service. After her marriage in 1932, Alice raised ten children. Known as
‘Nan’, she lived in Geraldton surrounded by her friends and extensive families
until she passed away in November 1995. After a full and eventful life, including
many battles with the colonizer and raising ten children, she returned home
sixty-four years later ‘to make peace with my country’. Although it is a personal
account of Alice’s life story, When the Pelican Laughed compellingly illuminates
many aspects of the experience of Aboriginal people taken from their family
community (Nannup, 1992: 2).
There is an undergraduate thesis that also discussing postcolonialism, entitled
Postcolonial Characters in Maris and Borg’s Women of the Sun written by Yogi
Yanuaro, but this thesis deal with how postcolonialism ideas can be revealed
through the major characters in each story of Women of the Sun. By the middle of
the 19th century, violence against the Aborigines, the introduction of European
diseases, and spiritual demoralization challenged the whole structure of
(http://www.daa.nsw.gov.au/publications/StolenGenerations.pdf). Over the course
of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the Aboriginal story has involved the
forced separation of Aboriginal children from their parents, forced service on
Christian Missions (or Government Missions), imprisonment on government
reserves, and denial of the right to practice the Aboriginal culture, learn its
history, speak the language, and build an empowered identity. This led to a
process of social demoralization and cultural disintegration. This is the way the
author sees the major character in each story in Women of the Sun and their
struggle against colonialism in the time when she lives. Each major character has
her own characteristic to convey the idea of colonialism.
This undergraduate thesis develops other studies mentioned above. This study
analyzes how the indigenous struggle of Aborigines in Western Australia 19th is
reflected in Alice Nannup’ characteristic.
B. Review on Related Theories
1. Theory of Character and Characterization
The theory that will be used to analyze the problem in this thesis is the theory
of character and characterization since these theories will help the writer to find
out the characteristics of the main character. Moreover, character is one of the
intrinsic elements in the literary works. In fiction the characters are made by
author’s imagination. In his book, A Glossary of Literary Terms, M.H. Abrams
defines character as the definition below.
8
expressed in what they say (through dialogue), and what they do (through actions) (1981: 20).
From the definition above, the writer may conclude that the characters’ moral
and natural qualities are seen through their speech and action.
Therefore, based on Abrams’ theory, the characteristics of the major character,
Alice Nannup, in When the Pelican Laughed, can be drawn by her action and
what she has said in the novel. According to Stanton, the use the term “character”
refers to two different usages. It designates the individual who appears in the story
and the mixture of attitudes: desires, emotions, and moral principles that these
individuals have (1965: 17).
Major characters are usually the major figures in a story. They have many
realistic traits and are relatively fully developed by the author. For this reason,
they are often given the names hero or heroine. Because many major characters
are anything but heroic, it is probably best to use the more descriptive term,
protagonist. The protagonist is central to the action, moves against an antagonist
and usually exhibits the human attributes we expect of rounded characters. They
demonstrate their capacity to change or to grow (Roberts and Jacobs, 1987: 5).
Baldick (1990: 78) defines the term of characterization as “one of the
literature elements which represent a person of figure, especially in narrative and
dramatic works”. Holman and Harmon say other definition that characterization is
the creation of imaginary persons. (1986: 21).
According to M.J. Murphy (1972: 161-273), there are ways in which author
attempts to make his characters understandable and alive for the readers.
characterization. Direct Characterization tells the audience what the personality of
the character is. Example: "The patient boy and quiet girl were both mannered and
did not disobey their mother." Explanation: The author is directly telling the
audience the personality of these two children. The boy is "patient" and the girl is
"quiet." Indirect Characterization shows things that reveal the personality of a
character. There are five different methods of indirect characterization:
a. Speech: What does the character say? How does the character speak?
b. Thoughts: What is revealed through the character's private thoughts and
feelings?
c. Effect on others toward the character: What is revealed through the
character's effect on other people? How do other characters feel or behave in
reaction to the character?
d. Actions: What does the character do? How does the character behave?
e. Looks: What does the character look like? How does the character dress?
2. Theory of Postcolonialism and Indigenous Struggle
As stated by Ashcroft, Griffith, and Tiffin in their book entitled Key Concept
in Postcolonial Studies, postcolonialism deals with the effects of colonization on
culture and societies. From the late 1970s the term has been used by literary critics
to discuss the various cultural effects of colonization (Ashcroft,, Griffiths, and
Tiffin, 1998: 186).
The book of Elleke Boehmer, Colonial and Postcolonial Literature, gives the
definition of colonialism. Colonialism is related to the combination of colonial
10
and the attempt to rule the native people of an island. Colonial literature, which is
usually assumed to be literature reflecting a colonial culture, concerns with
colonial expansion and it is also based on the theories concerning the superiority
of European culture and the rightness of Empire (Boehmer, 1995: 2-3).
In order to understand colonialism and the relation between the colonizer and
colonized, Edward Said through Orientalism explains that the Orient (colonized)
is an integral part of European material civilization and culture. Thus a very large
mass of writers, poets, novelists, philosophers, political theorists, economists, and
imperial administrators, have accepted the basic distinction between East and
West as the starting point for elaborate theories, epics novels, social descriptions,
and political accounts concerning the Orient, its people, customs, minds, destiny,
and so on (Ashcroft, Griffiths, and Tiffin, 1995: 87-88). Edward Said talks about
Orientalism deploying a variety of strategies whose common factor is they
guarantee a position of superiority for the Westerners over the Orient.
The word postcolonial cannot be used in any single sense. It is a variety of
perspective by people who were not all oppressed in the same way or to the same
extent. For example the politics of decolonization in parts of Latin America or
Australia or South Africa where white settlers formed their own independent
nations is different from the dynamics of those societies where indigenous
population overthrew their European masters (Loomba, 1998: 7-8).
The term ‘postcolonial’ addresses all aspects of the colonial process from the
beginning of colonial contact until after-independence. The development of new
racial, linguistics or religious discriminations; the continuing unequal treatment of
indigenous people in settler/invader societies – all these testify to the fact that
postcolonialism is a continuing process of resistance and reconstruction.
Postcolonial theory involves discussion about experience of various kinds:
migration, slavery, suppression, resistance, representation, difference, race, gender
and place. Postcolonial studies are based in the ‘historical fact’ of European
colonialism and its diverse effects (Ashcroft, Griffiths, and Tiffin, 1995: 2). It is
appropriate to use this theory since When the Pelican Laughed is a story about the
effects of British colonialism to Aborigine people. The experience of migration,
slavery, suppression, resistance, representation, difference, race, gender and place
that the major character faced.
Ania Loomba in her book Colonialism/ Postcolonialism describes concepts
that many writings on postcolonialism emphasized; concepts like ‘hybridity’,
fragmentation, and diversity. They describe ‘the postcolonial condition’ or ‘the
postcolonial subject’ or ‘the postcolonial woman’ (1998: 15). Moreover,
‘postcolonial’ refers to specific groups of (oppressed or dissenting) people (or
individual within them) (1998:17); intellectuals and activists who fought against
colonial rule, and their successor who now engaged with its continuing legacy,
challenged and revised dominant definitions of race, culture, language, and class
in the process of making their voice heard (1998: 20).
According to Amilcar Cabral’s speeches in the book Colonial Discourse and
Post-Colonial Theory: A Reader, the study of the history of national liberation
12
expression of cultural personality of the dominated people, as a means of negating
the oppressor culture (William and Chrisman, 1994: 56). Cultural resistance may
take on new forms (political, economic, armed) in order to contest foreign
domination (William and Chrisman, 1994: 53). The value of culture as an element
of resistance to foreign domination lies in the fact that culture is the vigorous
manifestation on the ideological or idealist plane of the physical and historical
reality of the society that is dominated or to be dominated (William and Chrisman,
1994: 54). Thus, it is understood that imperialist domination, by denying the
historical development of the dominated people, necessarily also denies their
cultural development. It is also understood why imperialist domination, like all
other foreign domination, for its own security, requires cultural oppression and the
attempt at direct or indirect liquidation of the essential elements of the culture of
the dominated people (William and Chrisman, 1994: 55).
According to Patrick Williams and Laura Chrisman in the book Colonial
Discourse and Post-Colonial Theory: A Reader, in relation to the indigenous
struggle, the conceptualization of ‘race’, ethnicity and ethnic identity is a major
concern both within and alongside post-colonial theory. It is perhaps significant
that both whiteness, and ‘mixed-race’, or ‘mixed Saxonism’ and as
‘half-caste/hybrid’ respectively, were eugenic concepts which hold a strong theoretical
and cultural currency within dominat Western intellectual production, throughout
the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (William and Chrisman, 1994: 17).
In many respects, discussion of ethnicity is always also by implication of
primary and complex role in representations of ethnicity (Williams and
Chrisman, 1994: 17).
Roger Makaa and Chris Andersen in their book entitled Indigenous
Experience: Global Perspective says that if the indigenous experience has been
framed by colonization, indigenous people today devote much of their energy to
the struggle to shake off the legacies of the social context. As quoted in the
introduction of their book, Jose Martinez Cobo states that indigenous
communities, people, and nations “are determined to preserve develop and
transmit to future generations of their ancestral territories and their ethnic identity,
as the basis of their continued existence as people, in accordance with their own
cultural patterns, social institution and legal system” (Makaa and Andersen, 1996:
56).
Still in the same book, it is also explained that indigenous people are
determined not simply to survive but also to proper and to see their culture and
societies grow and flourish on their own terms (Makaa and Andersen, 1995: 56).
This political and social ideal is in tension with the ever-present alternative of
assimilation posed by the forces of colonization and globalization. The core of the
indigenous struggle is not simply freedom from oppression and poverty, but the
right to progress as people on their own terms. The indigenous struggle focuses on
land, political rights, economic parity, and the recognition and the preservation of
their cultural institutions. The indigenous struggle take many forms and the focal
point of each varies according to its circumstances.
14
has many faces and facets, as well as number of common characteristics. One of
the most common characteristics is the obligation of indigenous people to
continually explain themselves to outsiders. Before the indigenous people can
make any headway in their pursuit of justice and equality, indigenous people are
obliged to explain who they are and why their rights as distinctive people should
be acknowledge. In addition, indigenous people must explain the politicization of
their collective identity as people (Makaa and Andersen, 1996: 57).
Another characteristic of the indigenous struggle that faces indigenous people
is the tension between the advancement as a pan-indigenous national group and
advancement as separate regional, linguistic or ethnic group. The indigenous
experience can be summarized as the struggle to have national societies
decolonized so that indigenous people are able to come in from the periphery of
national life, where they most often considered social pariahs and tax burden, in
order to become fully functional and productive citizens without having to
assimilate (Makaa and Andersen, 1996: 57).
3. Western Australia in the 19th Century
The Western Australia situation in 19th century can be divided into two by the
passage of the 1905 Aboriginal Act, which, it has been alleged, resulted in
institutionalized racism and created what amounted to Aboriginal "concentration
camps" in which the Aboriginal people were to be confined until the race became
extinct. It began with the Fairburn Report which first drew attention to the
"Aboriginal Problem". This institutionalized racism reached its peak in the 1930s.
"biologically capable of having children, but not socially capable of raising them".
The major task confronting Aboriginal people throughout this period was how
their cultures could survive.
According to the site http://www.historyworld.net, for persons of mixed
decent, who primarily lived in the southwest of the State, the Act had a profound
impact. It enabled the removal of anyone deemed “Aboriginal native” to a
Reserve and any child under 16 deemed “Aboriginal native” to a State institution.
One of them was the Moore River Native Settlement. The Moore River Native
Settlement was the name of the now defunct Aboriginal settlement located
135 kilometres (84 mi) north of Perth and 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) west of
Mogumber in Western Australia, near the headwaters of the Moore River.
The settlement was opened by the Government of Western Australia in 1918.
It was originally intended to be a small, self-supporting farming settlement for
200 Aborigines, with schooling and health facilities available for the children and
employment opportunities for the adults. The settlement was supposed to
accommodate Aborigines mainly drawn the Murchison, Midlands and south-west
regions of Western Australia.
However, the ambition to turn the settlement into a farming community failed
because the land was unsuitable for cultivation, and during the 1920s its purpose
shifted towards fulfilling the broader functions of orphanage, creche, relief depot
and home for old persons, unmarried mothers, the unwell and children. The
inmate population became increasingly mixed as Aborigines came in from various
16
Pilbara. Many of the Aboriginal children were sent, generally against their will, as
part of the Stolen Generations (Clark, 1980: 76).
According to the site, http://www.historyworld.net, by the mid-1920s
conditions in the institution had become very poor and overcrowded, with many
health problems being reported amongst its inmates. From 1924, the settlement
had an average population of 300 and its buildings were becoming dilapidated. By
1933 the Aboriginal population at the institution had risen to over 500, leading to
greater deterioration in the conditions experienced by the inmates. Between 1918
and 1952, 346 deaths were recorded at Moore River Native Settlement, 42% of
which were children aged 1–5.
Socially, Moore River Native Settlement practiced strict segregation of the
sexes and separated children from their parents under the dormitory system.
Compound inmates were not allowed to leave without written permission.
Absconding was a common problem as many tried to re-unite themselves with
family members living outside the settlement. To counter this practice, a small
number of Aboriginal men were employed as trackers to apprehend absconders
(http://www.historyworld.net).
In the same site also explains that in 1951 the government handed control of
the settlement to the Mogumber Methodist Mission, which re-named it Mogumber
Native Mission. A greater emphasis was placed by the new owners on Christian
guidance and on the vocational training of youths than had existed when it was a
government institution. The facility remained running until 1974, when it was
Wheatbelt Aboriginal Corporation, and is known as Budjarra.
C. Theoretical Framework
In order to answer the first problem formulation, the theories of
characterization are applied. The theories provide any understanding about how to
discuss character and also how characters are presented in the novel.
The author of When the Pelican Laughed, Alice Nannup with Lauren Marsh
and Stephen Kinnane use the characters in the novel to reveal the idea of
postcolonialism, especially about indigenous struggles. In order to understand
how postcolonialism reflected through the characteristic of the major character,
the theory of postcolonialism stated by Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths, and Helen
Tiffin in Key Concepts in Post-Colonial Studies is applied. In what way
postcolonialism is formed through the major characters’ action, thoughts, and
speeches.
In order to reveal the idea of indigenous struggle in the story, the writer must
find out and understand the major characters’ actions that show the indigenous
struggle idea in the story. The action of the story grows out of the personality and
the situation that the characters face, what characters will do. Each major
18
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
When the Pelican Laughed was first conceived as an auto-biographical novel,
this novel was written by Alice Nannup with Stephen Kinnane and Lauren Marsh.
When the Pelican Laughed was first published by Fremantle Arts Centre Press in
1992. When the Pelican Laughed is dividedinto four parts. The first part is about
the childhood stories of Alice Nannup. In the second part, it tells about Alice
Nannup when she lived in her teenage time; here it also tells about Aborigine
under the colonialism. The third part tells us about the marriage life of Nan and
finally raised 10 children. The last part of this novel tells about the life of old Nan
after a full and eventful life, including many battles with authority and raising ten
children. She returned home after sixty four years later ‘to make peace with my
country’.
Alice Nannup or Nan decided to tell her story in When the Pelican Laughed
primarily to pass her stories on to her family. She was, however, genuinely
surprised and pleased at the wide interest in her story, and in the way her candour
had affected so many readers. Many people wrote to her and Nan called these her
‘fam mails’. She kept the letters in an album which she personally cherished, and
which provided her with an important window into what the wider community
wanted to learn; about the lives of Aboriginal women like Nan.
Stephen Kinnane. Lauren is studying English and Comparative Literature and
Stephen is studying for a degree in Communication studies, both at Murdoch
University.
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 women were, at this time, under the care of the Chief
Protector of Aborigines. Stephen Kinnane and Lauren Marsh spent much time
with Alice, eventually recording her life-story. They transcribed and edited this
work in conjunction with Alice Nannup. Editing as a powerful mechanism of
control is acknowledged by both Marsh and Kinnane. Editorial intrusion in the
text is however sanctioned by Alice Nannup.
B. Approach of the Study
The approach used in analyzing the work is postcolonialism. Postcolonialism
is about representation and resistance (Aschroft, 1995:85). As stated by Aschroft,
Griffiths, and Tiffin in their book entitled Key Concepts in Post-Colonial Studies,
postcolonial deals with the effects of colonization on culture and societies. From
the late 1970s the term has been used by literary critics to discuss the various
cultural effects of colonization (1998: 186). This approach is used in order to find
how the postcolonial is formed in political, cultural, racial, and gender struggle
done by the major character in When the Pelican Laughed. This approach is the
most appropriate one because this approach stresses on the struggle of colonized
20
understanding of what the major character’s action, thinking, and saying to show
postcolonialism.
C. Method of the Study
This study is library research. The author used When the Pelican Laughed as
the primary source and several books as secondary sources, such as Kennedy and
Gioia’s An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama; Roberts and Jacobs’ An
Introduction to Reading and Writing; and in order to understand the
postcolonialism, Loomba’s Colonialism/Postcolonialism; Ashcfrot, Griffiths, and
Tiffin’s Key Concepts in Postcolonialism are needed.
The first step was reading the primary source, When the Pelican Laughed.
While reading and rereading the novel, the writer tried to comprehend it, and then
formulate the problems into two questions. The problems led to scope-limitation
of the topic. The second step was finding more data related to the problems from
other books as the secondary sources, such as theory on character and
characterization stated by Roberts and Jacobs in Introduction to Reading and
Writing, and the theory of postcolonialism stated by Bill Ashcroft, Gareth
Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin in Key Concepts in Post-colonial Studies. The third
step is writing analysis to answer the problems formulation by applying theory on
52
In this chapter the two problem formulation will be answered. The first part
will analyze the characterization of major character in When the Pelican Laughed.
The second part will analyze how the life of the major character, Alice Nannup,
reflects the struggle of Aborigines in Western Australia.
A. Characterization of the Major Character of the Novel
In describing the characteristic of Alice Nannup as depicted in the novel,
When the Pelican Laughed, will be based on the theory of Robert Stanton in his
book An Introduction of a Literature about character. Stanton stated that character
that appears in the story is the mixture of interest desires, emotions and moral
principles. Therefore, the analyses of Alice’s characteristics will be based on the
actions, emotions, and Alice’s comments on anything that she faced.
1. Critical
Alice is a critical girl. Alice makes severe judgments of white people. This
can be seen from several events. The first event is when Alice worries about going
to South. Alice thinks seriously when Alice and other children have to go to South
with the Campbells. She knows that everything is arranged before she leaves the
North. In addition, she thinks that it is a cunning way to get her away from her
53
Alice will be back to be with her family when Alice turns eighteen. It is shown in
the sentences below.
There were three of us that went with the Campbells down South: two girls and a boy. The boy was from another station and he was brought over two or three days before we all left. Now that I’m older, I often think back to this time and I think everything was arranged before we ever left the North. It was a cunning way to get me, to trick my mother by telling her I was going off to be educated, then brought back to be with them when I turned eighteen (Nannup, 1992:45)
The next event that shows Alice’s criticism is when Alice is criticizing why
the Campbells does not allow Tommy to take Alice. Mr. and Mrs. Campbell come
over the hotel again to spend the night, and the next day they tell Alice that
Tommy wants to take Alice with him but Mr. And Mrs. Campbell cannot do it
because Mr. Neville does not allow him. At that time, Alice feels confused why
she is not allowed to be taken by Tommy. However, Alice finds out Mr. Neville is
the Chief Protector of Aborigines and he is the one that decides everything for
Alice. It is explained in the conversations below.
Mr. and Mrs. Campbell came over the hotel again to spend the night, and the next day Mrs. Campbell said to me, “Your father rang this morning. He wanted to take you children out but I had to say to him that he isn’t allowed to.”
‘But why?’ I said.
‘Because Mr. Neville forbids you to see him again.’
At that time I didn’t know who this Mr. Neville was, so I couldn’t understand why he was denying me seeing my father. But it wasn’t much further down to the track that I found out he was the Chief Protector of Aborigines and he had a lot of say over what I could couldn’t do. (Nannup, 1992:50)
In the second part of this story, we can also see this characteristic. This is
shown in several events. The first event is when Alice criticizes white people in
to her in Moore River. For example, the food given to the children is all so dirty.
At dinnertime, Alice and other kids in the Moore River used to have this kind of
soup. Alice and other kids there cannot eat it because it is like dishwater. She
remembers the beautiful meals she has at her home. Alice feels disappointed and
thinks that they do that to lower the native girls. We can see it in the quotation
below.
It was all so dirty. You’d think those nurses would have been more alert, could have done things properly. But they didn’t race. I suppose the were told, ‘Just anything will do those natives.’ I couldn’t eat the soup before I worked there, but when I saw this I definitely couldn’t eat it. See, I wasn’t brought up like that. My mother was a beautiful cook and we ate lovely meals back home. I think they did things like this to deliberately lower us; well, degrade us really. (Nannup, 1992: 64)
The second event when Alice is criticizing Mrs. Larsen about what Mrs.
Larsen does. She is angry because Mrs. Larsen calls her ‘her little black girl’ in
her letter to her brother in Sydney. Mrs. Larsen tells her brother that Alice has
been working with her for a long time and Alice is really worth it. Alice thinks it
is terrible that Mrs. Larsen calls her like that and Mrs. Larsen is not thinking about
her feelings when she says that. It is explained in the sentences below.
She was writing to her brother who lived in Sydney. She told him that she’d found a girl, but she had run off. She said to him, ‘My little black girl has been with me for such a long time and she’s worth a hundred of those others that I can’t trust, so I’ve decided to keep her on for awhile.’ You know, I think it’s terrible that she called me that, he ‘little black girl’. I mean, she wasn’t thinking about my feelings to say that. (Nannup, 1992:101)
Alice’s criticism can be seen in another event, for instance, when Alice is
criticizing how the white never let her idle. She thinks about how they always
55
at Mogumber. Every morning she will get up and go to breakfast, and then she
will go straight over to the office. (Nannup, 1992:71)
The last event that shows that Alice as a critical girl is when she is
criticizing Mr. Neville about his promise when they take her and bring her down
they promise her to educate her but they never do that when Alice learns to write
when she is in Mr. Neville’s place. Mr. Neville only concerns about Alice’s
education as far as Alice can write her name and count they money, because he
thinks that that is all the education Alice needs. It is strengthened in the sentences
below.
It was while I was at Mr. Neville’s that I started to really learn to write. See, when they took me and brought me down they promised to educate me, but they never did. As I said before, as far as Mr. Neville was concerned, ‘All they need to do is write their name and count money, that’s all the education they need.’ (Nannup, 1992:121)
In the third part of this story, we can also see this characteristic. It can be
seen from several events. The first event is when Alice is criticizing the treatment
she gets when she is in the boarding house. When Alice lives in a boarding house,
she is not treated like a paying boarder. She has a little room and she just sits there
all the time. At meal times, she eats in the kitchen, while others are served in the
dining room. Alice thinks that she should have the same treatment as the other
boarders, but after the finish the meals, they will go, and never invite her. It is
illustrated in the sentences below.
would sit and eat with me, but as soon as the men were finished they’d go and have their meal in the dining room and never invite me. (Nannup, 1992:153-154)
Another event that shows Alice’s criticism is when she is criticizing the
treatment for Aboriginal soldiers after and before the war. When the Aboriginal
soldiers come home they no longer get the same treatment as during the war. They
have been used to mixing with their white soldier mates but now they find
themselves barred from the hotels again. Alice reckons that really unfair, because
they are just gun fodder – while they are fighting and getting killed they are good
enough, but as soon as they take their uniform off they are nothing. None of those
poor boys can understand why they are treated like that (Nannup, 1992:180).
In the last part of the story, we can also see this characteristic. She is
criticizing why there is no equal right between the Whites and the Aborigines.
One of the biggest changes in Alice’s life is when white people have all the power
and the Aborigines have no right at all. Just like when Alice is out to work, Alice
has no choice about that and Alice has to stay in that job for twelve months before
Alice can even think about leaving. That is something young people do not realize
today, they have no idea how little freedom Alice had at that time. Some of the
girls that were sent out to work had a really rough time. We can see it in the
quotation below.
One of the biggest changes is, in my day, white people had all the power and we had no say, no say at all. Like when we out to work, I had no choice about that and I had to stay in that job for twelve months before I could even think about leaving. It didn’t matter That’s something young people don’t realize today, they have no idea how little freedom had. Some of the girls that were sent out to work had a really rough time. (Nannup, 1992: 218)
57
true equality in Australia, because for her it is too far-gone. Alice believes that
someday there will be a change. However, Alice thinks that the change will not
come if people do not develop a respect for one another and respect for the land
and stop tearing the country apart. It is shown in the sentences below.
It makes me very sad to say to this but I don’t think I’ll see a time when there will be true equality in this country, because to me it’s too far gone. I believe there is a time when Jesus comes back and they say then there will be a new heaven, and a new earth. But until then I don’t think it will change. That is, if people don’t develop a respect for one another, and a respect for our land, and stop tearing this beautiful country apart. (Nannup, 1992: 215)
In addition, Alice is also criticizing all the mining and destroying the land
that in her opinion it is something that worries her a lot. It is not only happening in
the Pilbara either, it is everywhere, and the white people are destroying everything
just to make money. To Alice, Australia is a big country, and it is crying poverty
today, all through people being greedy. Greed is terrible thing for Alice and Alice
thinks everyone should be equal. It is strengthened in the sentences below.
All that mining and destroying of the land is something that worries me a lot. It’s not only happening in the Pilbara either, it’s everywhere, the world is off it’s axis, they are destroying everything just to make money. To me, Australia is a big country and it’s crying poverty today, all through people being greedy. Greed is a terrible thing, and I think everyone should be equal. (Nannup, 1992: 215)
2. Tough
Alice is a tough girl. Alice is emotionally strong and able to deal with
difficult situations. For example, when the time was close for Alice to go with the
Campbells, they took Alice to say goodbye to her family. Alice feels so sad but
not realize that she will never see any of her family again. It is explained in the
sentences below.
So I spent time with them and my baby step-sister was a bit older then and she was really beautiful. Then, when it was time for me to go back to the station, I said goodbye to everyone, not realizing that it would be the last time I would ever see any of them again. (Nannup, 1992:44)
In the last part of the story, we can also see this characteristic. Alice is a
tough woman. Alice is quite healthy, especially after dealing with her illness. She
thinks that being older has pretty much slows her. Although Alice cannot get
around, she always makes herself busy. She thinks that it is never too old to learn
something. It is explained in the sentences below.
I suppose health problem is something that was always going to catch up with me. That, and being older, has pretty much slowed me down today. Not that I see myself as a real old lady, I know women older than me. But even though I can’t get around like I used to still keep myself very busy. I think you’re never too old to learn and I find something new every day, some new experiences or something I didn’t know. (Nannup, 1992:216)
3. Determined
Alice is a very determined girl. Alice is having a strong desire to improve
her handwriting. Alice will take any opportunity to try and practice her
handwriting. On the nights when the Larsens play bridge, Alice will sit in the
kitchen and practice her handwriting. Alice and Doris are writing letters to teach
each other but it used to take Alice hours just to write down one page. After Doris
leaves the Moore Rive, she is sent to work in Merredin. Alice wants to keep
writing letter to Doris so Alice will take every opportunity to try and get her hand
going. We can see it from the quotation below.
59
used to take me hours to write down one page. After she’d left Moore River, she’d been sent to work for the manager off the flour mill in Merredin. I wanted to keep writing to her so I’d take every opportunity to try and get my hand going. (Nannup, 1992:92)
In the second part of this story, we can also see this characteristic. Alice is
having a strong desire to do something and she does not easily give up. It can be
seen from several events in this part of the story. When her daughter, Joan, is still
a baby, Alice is finding out that the life is getting harder. Alice has to go to the
police station for a few times to ask for help. It is really hard to do, to go asking
for things, but there are no other choices for her. Aside from the shame that Alice
fells, is the question that they will ask. They will ask her question, and Alice has
to answer that. It can be seen in the sentences below.
Around this time, when Joan was a baby, we were finding things pretty hard going and a few times I had to go down to the police station and ask for the rations. The police were our protectors in those days and it was terrible going down to the station to ask for help. It was a really hard thing for me to do, to go asking for things, but were left with no other choice. The worst thing, aside from the shame I felt, was all the questions they’d ask. They’d ask you everything under the sun, and they’d say things like, ‘Why haven’t you got a job, plenty of jobs around.’ Well this just wasn’t true, and besides, I had four children to look after. How was I going to manage another job as well? (Nannup, 1992:173)
The next event is when Alice sells everything that she has. When the life is
getting worse, she begins to sell her clothing coupon for those who need it. With
the money she gets, she is able to use the money to buy something to herself. As it
is supported by the sentences below.
I ran into a girl one day who was working in one of the shops and she said to me, ‘Mrs. Nannup, I’m going east and I want some material to make some frock to go away with. Could I get some coupons off you?’ So I sold her a few clothing coupons to help her out and I was able to use the money to buy something myself. (Nannup, 1992:175)
to live. In addition, she has a strong desire to have a place to live although she has
to ask about it to Mr. Neville. Alice also adds that it is terrible to meet Mr. Neville
in town. However, Alice is not living there because she wants to, but because she
does not have other choices. Even if Alice had the money, she cannot find a place
to rent, white people have the first option there. As an Aboriginal, Alice has to get
someone recommend you for a place to rent. It is strengthened in the sentences
below.
I was left speechless. He was the last man I wanted to see. I felt terrible, but I wasn’t living there because I wanted to – we had four kids, and steady work wasn’t easy to get. Even if you had the money you couldn’t just go and find a place to rent – white people had first option there. If you were an Aboriginal family you had to get someone to recommend you for a place to rent. (Nannup, 1992:167)
Then again, Alice is a determined woman. Alice has a strong desire to find
his father inheritance, and she will not let anyone stop her. However, after over
the years people try to find the money for Alice, she cannot find it. Finally Alice
knows that when Aboriginal people receive an inheritance, any money left to them
becomes the property of Aborigines department. Alice does not understand why
department does that. Alice thinks that she can make difference to her family with
the money. It is also explained in the sentences below.
Over the years, different people tried to find that money for me, but they never had any luck. I’ve since found out that when this happened, if Aboriginal people received an inheritance, any money left to them became the property of the Aborigines department. I don’t understand that, we are all human beings, we should have been entitled to it. I could have really used that money my father left me, and it would have made the world of difference to my family. (Nannup, 1992:179)
The last event that shows Alice’s determination is when she is working very
61
home. She used to be very tired, because her kids cshool clothes always needs
washing and she will be up late night ironing them with a coal iron so they will be
ready for the next day. That is a lot work, but having the extra money is too great
a help for her family to pass the condition up. It is told in the sentences below.
In the end I was working five days a week at this, as well as doing all my
own work at home. I used to be that flat out, because the kids’ school clothes
always needed washing and I’d be up late at night ironing them with a coal iron so
they’d be ready for the next day. We never had any electric lights at the reserve so
I had to do all of this at night with a hurricane lamp. It was a lot of work, but
having the extra money was too great a help for my family to pass it up. (Nannup,
1992:183)
Alice is a tough woman. Alice manages herself to stay in a difficult
situation, after knowing that she loses her daughter. Alice comes to a very deep
sadness after Alice loses her daughter, Margaret. Alice feels that the sadness is not
something that she can explain in words, it is a sadness inside her that leaves
nothing in your life untouched. Margaret is four years and five months old,
Margaret used to help Alice sweeping the yard. It is told in the quotation below.
4. Brave
In the second part of this story, we can see this characteristic. Alice is a brave
girl. It is can be seen from several events. The first event is when Alice is
rebelling against white people. She is very annoyed by Miss Ryan, Mrs. Larsen’s
niece, because Miss Ryan split the water on the floor. Miss Ryan says that it is for
Alice to wipe it up, but Alice refuses to do that. It is said in the statement below.
I was that annoyed. I went into Mrs. Larsen and told her what had just happened. Mrs. Larsen called out, ’Kathleen,’ and Miss Ryan came in. Mrs. Larsen said to her that if she’d split the water on the floor then it was for her to wipe it up.
‘No,’ she said, ‘she’s the servant, she’s got to do it.’ ‘Well, I’m not doing it,’ I told her (Nannup, 1992:103)
The next event is when some white men try to insult Alice and her
girlfriends. When the whites try to insult them, she dares to fight back, although
she knows that the police may come and get them. It is described in the sentences
below.
We all went across then and had our tuppence worth. And I tell you what – they bolted, off they fled. Jessie shouted, ‘Look you girls, pull yourselves together.’ She was very strict on silly things like that. ‘You know if the police come we’ll be in a big trouble. But, that was it, she was right – it was just we had to put up with.
Alice’s bravery also can be seen this event, when Alice refuses to make a
gun out of the piece of fruit case for Jimmy, a son of the family that Alice works
for. She has been busy then she has not eaten anything, so she sits down to have
some lunch when Jimmy comes. She used to make guns for him but she just does
not like to do it right then. She asks him to leave her alone because she is going to
63
I’d been that busy I hadn’t eaten anything, so I sat down to have some lunch. While I was sitting there Jimmy came along. He wanted me to make him a gun out of this piece of fruit case. I used to make guns and things for them all the time but I just didn’t like it right then. I said, ‘Look, I’m too busy. You’ll have to leave me alone. I’m going to eat my lunch and the I’ve got work to do.’ (Nannup, 1992:129)
The last event that shows Alice as a brave girl is when she decides to go
from Mrs. Cashmore’s house. Alice deals with difficult situation with Mrs.
Cashmore with courage and confidence. When Alice tries to give advice to Mrs.
Cashmore, Mrs. Cashmore is angry with Alice. Alice dares to say to Mrs.
Cashmore that she will be off from her job. Alice knows that she is not allowed to
go, but she decides to go. So, Alice plans to runaway from the house. Alice packs
her cases and hides them until she is ready to go. The toilet that she used is a good
two hundred yards away from the house, so Alice hides the cases there. She waits
until it is the time for her to go and serve afternoon tea. Alice packs a few things
for her to eat and drink along the way. Then, it is the plan, and she makes her run
for it. When she walks around the way, it starts to thunder and there is lighting all
around her. She does not want to stop; she wants to keep on walking because she
has nothing left. So, Alice keeps on walking and the lightning is lighting up the
ground around her. It is strengthened in the sentences below.
In addition, Alice dares to walk around the way, although the sky starts to
thunder and there is lighting all around her. She does not want to stops, she
wanted to keep on walking because she has nothing left. So, Alice keeps on
walking and the lightning is lighting up the ground around her. It is also explained
in the quotation below.
As we walked around it started to thunder and there was lightning all around us. Ooh, you’ve never seen anything like it! We didn’t want to stop, we wanted to keep on walking because we had no tucker left. So we kept on walking and the lightning was lighting up the ground around us. (Nannup, 1992:144)
Alice also adds that she is rebelling against Miss Ryan because Miss Ryan
thinks that Miss Ryan can push her around only because she is a servant.
However, she is not one of the kinds, she rebels and she has to because she is so
patient all the time. She thinks to herself that if she were humble all the time then
it would be worse for her in the long run (Nannup, 1992:104).
Alice is dissatisfied because the treatment given by the white people is not
as good as she has expected. For example, finally Alice knows that she does not
have any break after she works for Mrs. Larsen. After working with Mrs. Larsen,
she only has two weeks before she gets her new arrangement. It is explained in the
sentences below.
Anyway, as it turned out I only stayed for about two weeks. Although I really needed a break after being with Mrs. Larsen for so long, I was only there long enough for them to make arrangements to send me out to another place to work. They never gave you time, they just choofed you off when they decided you were ready to go. (Nannup, 1992:108)
In the third part of this story, we can also see this characteristic. It can be
65
hotel. Suddenly, the owner of the hotel asks her not to stand in front of his hotel.
However, Alice refuses to do it and ask why she and her children are not allowed
to stand at that place. It is very brave of her to refuse the owner of the hotel. The
owner of the hotel keeps asking her to move from the hotel. He will get someone
to move them if Alice does not move from that place. Alice insists that they will
be standing at that time. She is very angry because she knows that Aborigines are
not allowed in the hotel because it breaks the law. Alice will stay there until the
owner pushes her off that place. Her children worry about Alice, but Alice says to
her children to take no notice of the owner of the hotel. It is shown in these
conversations below.
Suddenly he turned to me and said, ‘Excuse me madam, but you know you are 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 knew what he was on about. Aborigines weren’t allowed in the hotel, it against the law. ‘I’ll stay until you push me off here.’ I said. The kids were a bit worried and they were going, ‘No Mum, Mum don’t row.’ But I said to them, ‘Just don’t take any notice of him. (Nannup, 1992:181)
Alice’s bravery can be seen from the next event. For example, one day Alice
is in town in town with her daughter when across the road Alice sees the mother
of an Italian girl and her older brother. They are looking over at her, and Alice’s
daughter is really scared. Alice’s daughter thinks they are coming after her. Alice
has a friend with her, and her friend says to keep away from them because they
leave her daughter alone. Alice thinks to herself that her daughter has been taking
nonsense from the Italian girl for long enough. Alice teaches her kids to stand up
for themselves and not let other people treat them like dirt on account of being
Aboriginal (Nannup, 1992:191).
5. Insistent
In the second part of this story, we can see this characteristic. Alice is an
insistent girl. Alice is demanding firmly and repeatedly to the people in the Moore
River to call her Basset. Alice is very angry because people in Moore River
always call her Cassit. There is a nurse in the mission and she will call Alice
Cassit. Alice looks at her and says that she is not Cassit but Basset, as what her
father’s last name. Alice thinks that the people in the mission do not like Alice
having her father’s name because he comes from such a big family. It is explained
in the sentences below.
But afterwards, they always called me Cassit. Matron would be coming along and she’d say, ‘Cassit! Cassit! Cassit! Don’t you go past me when I call you.’ I’d look at her and say, ‘I’m not Cassit, I’m Basset,’ but she’d never call me by my proper name. See, they probably didn’t like me having my father’s name because he came from such a big family up there. (Nannup, 1992: 62)
6. Considerate
Alice is a considerate girl. Alice is always thinking of what other people
want and being careful not to upset them. For example, Alice has to be careful
about speaking in the Aborigine language around her father, Tommy. One day,
when her mother calls Alice, Alice speaks in Aborigine. In fact, Tommy is
coming around the corner and he hears Alice speaking in the Aborigine language.
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sorry to Tommy because she uses her native languages. She has to be careful
about speaking her native language around Tommy. Tommy does not like Alice
speaking her native language around him. It is shown in the conversations below.
I had to be very careful about speaking lingo around Tommy. One day Mother said, ‘Come on you kids, we’re going to get ready for a drive.’ ‘What horse are we talking?’ I asked
‘Old Kelly,’ She said just like that.
Then quick as lighting I said in Aborigine, ‘Old Kelly! He’s no good, he’ll bog and we’ll be there all night.’
Well, Tommy was coming around the corner and he overheard me, ‘Alice, in my presence you speak English!’ he said. I said I was sorry and all that because he didn’t like me speaking my language. (Nannup, 1992: 26-27)
In the third part of this story, we can also see this characteristic. Alice is
thinking of what the Reverend wants. The new reverend wants Alice not to go to
his church again. After that, the reverend does not allow the Aboriginal kids to go
on their picnic at that year, but the new reverend takes all the white kids. Finally,
Alice decides that she will leave her church after the treatment that she gets from
the new reverend. Although Alice has been with the Church of England for many
years, Alice will never set foot in this church again. Alice st
