Arboriginals and the White Government

A detailed Summary of Arboriginals and the White Government

Aboriginals and the White Government

The white government is racist and Eurocentric; as a result they have brought about racial discrimination against the aborigines. The colonial attitude of the Aborigines was that they represented primitive animals not deserving respect as they belonged to the menial class of the suppressive society. The Laffey family does not accept this attitude as Cornelius criticise the hypocrisy of the Europeans as 'poaching is approved by the government, and murdering the owners of the local 'grouse', blinked at' (p. 32). He uses his job to write an article condemning a massacre of Aborigines which he witnesses first-hand. Cornelius refers to it as 'needless and foolish acts of provocation and aggression on the part of the diggers' (p. 31) and says that 'even the quasi-official road-blazing part...had indulged in unprovoked killing of natives' (p. 31). His article deliberately has been used to position the readers of the article to see European Australians as malicious and at fault. The dominant colonial view of the Aborigines is that they were criminals and troublemakers.

From Cornelius's action, it can also be seen that Aborigines were marginalised and suppressed as they were seen to belong to the

lower class of the society compared to the Europeans who were considered to be of a higher class. The physical violence that the white people have imposed upon the Aborigines constructs the reader's negative view towards racism as it helps to position the reader to be with Astley's point of view about racial discrimination as she also challenges the typical traditional view of Aborigines. The physical violence has been endorsed by the mainstream Australian but is not accepted by the Laffey and Astley and therefore the reader too.

Priests are represented with the power to impose religious beliefs upon people as they are considered to be of a higher class than normal mainstream Australians. For example, Father Madigan, the priest, who is supposed to have taken a vow of poverty when ordained as a priest, has a 'sleek Volvo parked in the driveway was a black as sin' (p. 156). Jessica Olive also states how the 'terrified obedience' (p. 75) that the church imposes is 'directed largely at women' (p. 76), and that she is 'so tired of being condescended by your sex and in particular by the people of your calling' (p. 76). This represents how priests as having the power to influence and m

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Approximate Word count = 801
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels

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