Rabbit-Proof Fence: The True Story Of One Of The Greatest Escapes Of All Time (2002) - Plot & Excerpts
Years ago I saw the excellent movie Rabbit-Proof Fence, and GR friend Brendon reminded me that it was based on this remarkable book.Doris Pilkington wrote this memoir after hearing the stories of her mother, Molly, and her aunts, Gracie and Daisy. Pilkington begins the book by sharing some history of the Aboriginal people in Australia, and over the generations we see how the British colonialists stole their land, killed them, starved them, and forced the natives to move into government-approved zones. (Similar to how the American settlers forced the Indians to march along the Trail of Tears to their relocation area in Oklahoma.)* The history was well-explained, and it gave context to the plight of the half-caste children, those who had British fathers and Aboriginal mothers."The common belief at the time was that part-Aboriginal children were more intelligent than their darker relations and should be isolated and trained to be domestic servants and labourers. Policies were introduced by the government in an effort to improve the welfare and educational needs of these children. Molly, Gracie and Daisy were completely unaware that they were to be included in the schemes designed for children who were fathered by white men. Their mothers were accused of being promiscuous. A few critics were honest, however, when they said many white men satisfied their lustful desires with the native women until they were able to return to white society."In 1931, when Molly was about 14, she and her younger sisters were rounded up and taken to a Native Settlement in Western Australia, which was more than 1,000 miles away from their home in the desert. The description of when Molly was taken away was gut-wrenching. Her mother and relatives wailed and moaned, and Molly also wept. The settlement, which was basically an internment camp, was operated by the government as a way to educate the mixed race Aboriginal children. So the half-caste children were taken away from their native families and forced to assimilate to English ways, all for the privilege of someday doing menial labor."Instead of a residential school, the Aboriginal children were placed in an overcrowded dormitory. The inmates, not students, slept on cyclone beds with government-issue blankets. There were no sheets or pillow slips except on special occasions when there was an inspection by prominent officials. Then they were removed as soon as the visitors left the settlement and stored away until the next visit. On the windows there were no colourful curtains, just wire screens and iron bars. It looked more like a concentration camp than a residential school for Aboriginal children."Molly, who was both smart and brave, figured out a way to escape and return home: she and her sisters would follow the rabbit-proof fence, which were coast-to-coast barriers the government built in the early 1900s to try and control the rabbit population. Molly and her sisters walked more than 1,000 miles, barefoot and with little food, and made it home to their families. Molly was a good leader and knew the land well; she was skilled at making camp, at hunting for food and at covering their tracks. The sections on the girls' escape and journey were gripping, and even though I knew the ending because I had seen the film, I was completely engrossed."Now the question is, how does anyone keep traveling in a northerly direction on a dismal, grey day without a map or compass? It would be difficult for an adult without the most thorough knowledge of bushcraft not to become disoriented and lost in a strange part of the country where the landscape is filled with thick undergrowth and without the sun to guide the way. Well, Molly, this 14-year-old girl, had no fear because the wilderness was her kin. It always provided shelter, food and sustenance. She had learned and developed bushcraft skills and survival techniques from an expert, her step-father, a former nomad from the desert."During their trek, Molly and her sisters were given food by other natives they met and even by some white farmers, although several of those folks also telephoned their location to the government official who was trying to recover the girls. But the sisters managed to stay ahead of the officers and made it home safely. Pilkington includes an epilogue that tells what happened to the sisters (they had long lives and big families) and a helpful glossary of Mardujara words, which was the language Molly and her sisters spoke. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about the history of Australia, Aboriginal culture, or if you just like a good story about a prison escape and a walkabout.*Short rant about friggin colonialists: Look, I am a reader and a sociologist and I know it's the way of the world, Might Makes Right, You Can't Stop Progress, blah blah blah, but it is SO DEPRESSING to read about all the times that indigenous people and cultures have been crushed by invaders who wanted the land and/or slaves. As a German-American, I am sensitive to how the Native Americans were massacred by the early European settlers. Just as the British are probably touchy about how their ancestors colonized every other continent. "Rabbit-Proof Fence" reminded me of the heartbreaking book "Things Fall Apart" by Chinua Achebe, which was about how the villages in Nigeria were destroyed by British colonialists and Christian missionaries. And if you want to get really depressed, check out Dee Brown's "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee," about all of the injustices committed against the Native Americans. Yes, all of this history is soul-crushing. But it's also important. In the sociology class I teach, I have an in-depth lecture on racism throughout world history, and I'm often amazed at the number of college freshmen who didn't know that racism wasn't just an American problem -- it's a global problem. It's a human problem. I read these books to bear witness.
Julia Fusco4/8/09English book review#3A Rabbit and a Review of Rabbit Proof FencetRabbit Proof Fence is a true story about a great adventure and an escape. The real story is about three girls who are half-castes in Australia. They are sent to a boarding school. All three girls run away trying to get back to their home. But, the story itself was neither adventurous nor great. Rabbit Proof Fence was disappointing and uninspiring to the true adventure, which probably was so mesmerizing and scary. The book is boring. The book uses two languages and switches back and forth. Finally, the book did not give enough background information about the girls. tMost nonfiction books are exciting. Sometimes the reader cannot put down the book, but unfortunately not in this instance. There were no drastic events. If there were any injuries that happened to Daisy, Molly, Gracie the book didn’t mention any injuries. That’s what makes a book interesting. In my opinion it didn’t get to the interesting part until page 97.Every thing else is just play- by -plays. For example, “By noon on the day they parted, the temperature had risen and it was the hottest day since their abscondment. The military coat and jackets were discarded and Molly and Daisy decided to rise beside the creek bed. There wasn’t much water in it but there was enough to quench their thirst and to fill their Billy can, so that they would have a supply of drinking water until they came across a windmill or one of the wells along the canning stock route.” It was pretty much walk, eat, sleep, and repeat. Even the tracker following the girls didn’t chase them or capture tem to bring them back to the settlement just for them to escape again. tWhen a person speaks in a different language, the audience wants to know what the character is saying. What’s annoying about this book is it switches between Mardu language and English. In the back of the book there is a glossary. But flipping back and forth to see what a word means can be frustrating. What is worse is there aren’t many words in the glossary. Using two languages and being inconsistent now that’s really annoying. One time the word will be in English the next time the word is in Mardu. For example, the book says they eat “goanna” for dinner. Next time the book will say they ate Murrandu. Just choose a language and stay consistent. What was even worse was having a word in the book in Mardu and it would not be in the glossary. I want to connect with a character that way I sympathize with them even more then if I don’t connect with the character. How do you connect with an individual if you don’t learn about their personality and what they are like what, and what their background is? In this book we only learn a little about one character, Daisy. We find out that daisy is stubborn from what she does in the book. It’s hard to connect to someone who is stubborn. The story is vague about the girls themselves. There are only six paragraphs on what happened to the girls after the book ended. I wanted to know more about what happened later in the girl’s life.So, in conclusion, these are three reasons that I didn’t like the book. I feel it is necessary to connect to the characters .One way to connect to the characters is by living the experience through the characters; this book did not do that because there was nothing major that happened to these girls that I could live through them. Finally, I need to only have one language throughout the book.
What do You think about Rabbit-Proof Fence: The True Story Of One Of The Greatest Escapes Of All Time (2002)?
This book will stay with me for a long time. I thought the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom was tragic. The treatment of the Australian aborigines and the reach of white colonialism is an equal travesty. This story of Molly, Daisy and Gracie, the forced removal from their families and their long trek home on foot is a remarkable testament to the human spirit. Don't plan on a happy ending tied up with a pretty bow, though. The epilogue documents the reality of being an aborigine in Australia, and what it was like for the girls as adults.
—Stephanie
This is the sad yet beautiful, poignant true story of three Aboriginal girls who were taken from their families and tribe during the Australian government's policy of removing children, educating them to be servants and working towards a goal of assimilation by wiping out their genes – the entire race, eventually – through inter-racial marriage. They had found that within three generations of breeding with whites, the children are blond and blue-eyed. Today these children are known as the Stolen Generation. Set in Western Australia in the 1930s, the story is about three cousins – Molly, 14; Daisy, 11; and Gracie, 8 – who are forcibly taken from their tribe and home at Jigalong in the north-west to the Moore River Native Settlement just north of Perth. In Western Australia are two rabbit-proof fences that run north-south, and east of Perth, to keep the rabbits out of the farmland (Europeans deliberately introduced rabbits to Australia, where they have been a plague ever since). It’s the longest fence of its kind in the world. The settlement the three girls are taken to is one of many designed to eradicate their cultural heritage – they’re forbidden to speak their native tongue – and mould them into good servants. It’s a cruel and punitive place. They escape the school and, barefoot and without provisions, undertake to walk 1,600 kilometres home by following the rabbit-proof fence, which runs past Jigalong. White men and black trackers follow them and planes search for them from above while they hid and trekked through scrub, rock and salt plains. The girls made the historic journey only to be taken back to the settlement.The first five chapters give background and historical context for the story, as well as an understanding of Aboriginal culture and their thoughts and feelings. There’s also an appendix of Aboriginal words used in the story.It’s a harrowing survival story of historic proportions that was made into a wonderful movie with breath-taking cinematography. Either the book or the movie would be great to use. The connections between the way the Australian Aborigines and the Canadian First Nations people were treated through government policy and settlements/residential schools add context and perspective to the history of either country. The fact that it’s a true story and an historical story, as well as an extraordinary feat, makes it a powerful story.Written by Molly's daughter Nugi Garimara, whose "white" name is Doris Pilkington, the movie is also a must-see - the breath-taking cinemetagraphy helps balance out the sadness, and the young actors are excellent. It's yet another painful chapter in Australia's history, but one that shouldn't be ignored.
—Shannon (Giraffe Days)
A memoir about three Aboriginal girls who are taken out of their home in Northern Australia (during 1930s) and put in a ‘school’ to train them to become servants. This is all with government approval because the girls are part white and part native. The oldest girl is determined not to stay and to get back to her home. They run away from the school-prison and find the rabbit proof fence that runs the length of Australia and walk home, eating rabbits, beetles, what ever they could find. Pilkington, whose native name is Nugi Garimara, writes her mothers memoir who was the oldest girl. We wonder how blind sighted the whites were in Australia, America, South America where such unjust treatment because of the color of the skin. I liked this book. It isn’t a great book but it is testament to courage, determination, and the strength of family. I would recommend it.
—Richard
