Rabbit Proof Fence Analysis Essay Example

ringing, tapping on boards, doors opening and closing, and buckets creaking gives the viewers an idea of the girls staying in a prison-like place. Hence, we find out that they have no connection with this new community.

The settlement has turned their sense of familial belonging into a sense of alienation. Therefore the girls plan to escape. In fact they do it with a very strong motivation from the want of finding back the sense of belonging. Besides the girls, Mavis is also another character who tries to find her true identity. Although she appears in the film for only three minutes, Mavis receives lots of sympathies from the viewers as she is a victim of the elimination of Aborigines. Mavis has nowhere to belong. She cannot feel the connection between family members as she is taken away from her family at the very young age.

Moreover, she cannot fit in the 'white' society because she is not completely white like them. Thus with the lightning techniques used when Mavis appears in the dim light from sunset till dawn, the director shows a miserable life and a loss of freedom of a person without anything to belong. Nevertheless, when she finds the girls, Mavis gets excited because she finally discovers the sense of belonging. She asks them to stay and does not mind to give them food and share her tiny bed with them. The concept of belonging is clearly conveyed through the use of body language when four of them sleep on one bed and cling closely onto each other.

Hence, we can see a sense of belonging emerge from the

connections made people who are from the same background and culture. Another example related to the sense of belonging has shown through Alan Ballie’s novel ‘The China Coin’. Unlike the film ‘Rabbit Proof Fence’, at the beginning, Leah does not have any feeling of connection. Through the use of internal monologue, “I am about to be sold in slavery… have been kidnapped…” allows the readers to understand more about Leah’s opinions. The negative connotations of ‘kidnapped’ and ‘sold into slavery’ emphasise her point of view.

Moreover, the use of descriptive language when Leah mentions her mother as “an evil aunt, who flies a broom on a full moon” exposes a picture of a witch into the mind of the readers. This expresses the meaning that there is a bad relationship between her and her mother which also leads her to get the sense of not belonging. However, when Leah gets to know more about China and people there, her perspectives have changed. She becomes more accepting. She does not care much about whether she is Chinese or not, emphasised in “not Chinese but not not Chinese either”.

As Leah connects with and experiences people, places, groups and communities in China, her sense of alienation changes to belonging. In addition, this is the opportunity for the improvement of the relationship between her and her mother in the family. Leah starts understanding more about Joan. Through the phrase, “the two women clung together”, Baillie demonstrates Leah’s changes over the time. She turns more mature and is able to be a reliable person who her mother can depend on. This conveys that her feeling of connection

with her extended family has been back through the journey to China.

Hence, similar to the film ‘Rabbit Proof Fence’, by overcoming the challenges that hinder us, the book ‘The China Coin’ has helped Leah change her sense of isolation to belonging. Furthermore, the cartoon ‘State School No. 1812’ by R. Cobb also explores the concept of belonging through the connections that people have with a place. Unlike a normal school where actual school names are given, the school is named “State School No. 1812”, which sounds like a prison where people have no rights. This is comparable to 'Rabbit Proof Fence' which stops the half caste children from the feeling of fully belonging.

Through the use of facial expression, we probably know the students do not want to go to school as they look sad and depressed when they walk into the school. Furthermore, the high fence suggests that the students attend a jail. The gate acts as a wall separating them from freedom, dreams and hopes. Moreover, it being partly open symbolises that it does not welcome the students to enter but still it has to let that happen. Therefore like 'Rabbit Proof Fence' and 'The China Coin the cartoon shows that both the students and the school have problems that they struggle with, like barriers that inhibit them to get the sense of connection.

By looking through the three texts above, we see a sense of belonging emerge from the connections made with people, places, groups, communities and the larger world. Through these connections there may be barriers that prevent the individual from fully belonging, and have the potential

to socially isolate them. Nonetheless, these barriers are effectively guiding the individual to overcome these challenges and grow as a person with a complete sense of belonging.