Conflicting Perspectives - No Sugar Essay

Joe Perspective

That colonial authority should be rejected when it abuses it’s power to disempower marginalised communities

How Joe Broadens My Understanding of a Marginalised Group

Davis demonstrates that the historical Aboriginal experience throughout colonial times has been characterised by much trauma and suffering at the hands of the colonial administration through their paternalistic protectionist policies

Davis’ Purpose through Joe

To privilege the Aboriginal spirit of resistance

How Davis positions the audience to respond through Joe’s perspective

Positions the audience to respond with shock and disillusionment toward the colonial government’s corrupt abuse of power to disempower Aboriginal populations.

Values/Attitudes through Joe

Defiance

JOE QUOTE 1

“We never shifted out, we was booted out” when Joe refutes Sergeant Carrol’s assertion that the Aboriginal people in the community “shifted out”.

Juxtaposition of connotative phrases and assertive tone

M+E JOE Q1

The phrasal verb “booted out” connotes a forced removal or dispossession, and is contrasted with the euphemism “shifted out”,  that suggests movement of one’s own volition. This juxtaposition is significant as Davis uses it to express the truth of Aboriginal oppression versus the colonial narrative of concern expressed by Sergeant Carrol. This demonstrates Joe’s perspective that colonial authority must be rejected when it misrepresents the truth through his confrontation of the colonial government’s lies and attempts to conceal Aboriginal injustices in his role as the jarring witness who uses his voice to contradict colonial lies. 

BROADEN MARGINALISED JOE Q1

This has broadened my understanding of the Indigenous experience of marginalisation as it has exposed me to how not only were Indigenous people disempowered through discriminatory Protectionist policies and laws like the Aborigines Act of 1905, but also systemic abuses against them were minimised through the deliberate manipulation of language.

PURPOSE JOE Q1

This reveals Davis’ purpose to privilege the Aboriginal spirit of resistance to colonial oppression as Joe refuses to comply with the colonising agenda of dispossession to allow for white dominance.

AUDIENCE RESPONSE JOE Q1

This influences the post-colonial audience to respond with shock and disillusionment by confronting it with the blatant corrupt use of power and deceit of the colonial government who minimised and was indifferent to Aboriginal suffering evident in its manipulation of language

VALUES JOE Q1

This promotes the value of defiance as it portrays Joe’s refutation of Sergeant Carrol’s claims to be empowering, asserting his autonomy through his rejection of the colonial narrative.

JOE QUOTE 2

“You oughta know where they are, you dragged ‘em there!” when Joe alludes to the Munday/Millimurra’s forced removal to the Moore River Settlement in response Sergeant Carrol’s question regarding where the rest of his family was.

Accusatory tone, allusion

M+E JOE 2

The accusatory tone is significant as it emphasises how Joe places the fault of the displacement of Aboriginal Peoples on the colonial government due to its introduction of paternalistic protectionist policies that violated Aboriginal autonomy. This is evident through the allusion to the government having “dragged ‘em there”, suggesting force, thus evoking outrage as it highlights the violent, forceful way the administration took control of Aboriginal lives to realise its agenda of imperial expansion. This reveals Joe’s perspective that rejects colonial authority through his clear resentment against the colonial government for their infantilisation of Indigenous communities.

BROADEN MARGINALISED PERCEPTION JOE Q2

This broadens my understanding of the Aboriginal experience of marginalisation by confronting me with the extent of their suffering, being dehumanised and exterminated by the white colonisers to further their self-serving agenda

JOE PURPOSE Q2

This reveals Davis’ purpose to privilege the Aboriginal spirit of resistance to colonial oppression by portraying it to be used as a shield against the animalistic, dehumanising treatment used by the colonial administration to disempower Aboriginal Peoples.

JOE AUDIENCE RESPONSE Q2

This thereby influences the post-colonial audience to respond with shock and disillusionment due to the portrayal of the colonial government’s gruesomeness evident in their animalistic treatment of Aboriginal people

JOE VALUES Q2

In doing so, this promotes the value of defiance by showcasing this rebellion to provide a defence against the dehumanising oppression of the colonial administration.

Carrol Perspective

that Aboriginal people are evolutionarily inferior to the white colonisers, as per the theory of Social Darwinism which organised humans in a social hierarchy, and thus have no claim to sovereignty on Australian soil.

How Carrol Broadens my Understanding of a Marginalised group

Davis demonstrates the widespread belief in White Supremacy present in the colonial government perpetuated the systemic abuses against Aboriginal people which continue to impact on Aboriginal Communities

Davis' Purpose through Carrol

 

To expose the white supremacist and naturalised beliefs which motivated much of the colonial administration’s action

How Davis positions audience response thru Carrol

Davis positions the post-colonial audience to respond with scepticism towards the current dominant understanding of Australian history by demonstrating how the colonial government deliberately concealed their injustices against Aboriginal Peoples, and there still may be more yet to come to light

Value/Attitudes Sgt Carrol

Condemn entitled attitudes

CARROL QUOTE 1

“He didn’t grab it, it just wandered onto his property”, when Joe accuses Martin, a white local, of stealing his family’s horse, which Sergeant Carrol weakly dismisses.

Unbothered tone, symbolism

M+E CARROL 1

Carrol’s unbothered tone unconvincingly excuses Martin’s theft which is is symbolic of the power imbalance between the White colonists and Aboriginal Peoples, as Carrol signals to Joe that he understands he has sufficient power over Joe to ensure Martin’s protection, even with as implausible of a defence as the horse happening to “wander onto his property”. This reveals his perspective that Aboriginal people are inferior as he exploits his privilege in a white supremacist society to prevent an Aboriginal person from opposing the status quo.

BROADEN MARGINALISED GROUPS CARROL Q1

This has broadened my understanding of the Indigenous experience by illustrating how systemically, Aboriginal people were often powerless against their white oppressors due to the prevalence of white supremacy and the corrupt use of the justice system that featured a naturalised bias that disadvantaged the colonised, even amongst government officials like Sergeant Carrol.

CARROL Q1 PURPOSE

This thereby reveals Davis’ purpose of exposing the white supremacist and naturalised beliefs which motivated much of the colonial administration’s actions by depicting how government facilities like the justice system only existed to serve white people and hence left many Aboriginal people susceptible to crimes.

CARROL Q1 AUDIENCE RESPONSE

This thereby positions the audience to respond with scepticism toward dominant colonial narratives by demonstrating how Sergeant Carrol had sufficient power to control history.

CARROL Q1 ATTITUDE

This thereby demonstrates Davis’ condemnation of entitled attitudes by depicting Carrol’s efforts to take advantage of his higher position of privilege as a white person in a white supremacist society as ignorant and damaging.

CARROL QUOTE 2

Dramatic irony in “Just make yourself scarce and don’t go camping anywhere you’re not s’pposed to – and that includes Government Well” when Sergeant Carrol commands Joe to respect the sense of white entitlement to ownership of the land, thus respecting their imposed divide between white and black spaces

M+E CARROL Q2

This is ironic to a post-colonial audience as Carrol demands this respect despite historically white settlers not respecting Aboriginal sovereignty over the land before colonisation. His ignorance is evident in his arrogant tone that fails to acknowledge the existence of the colonised on the land for 65,000 years before British invasion.  This reflects Carrol’s entitled perspective as he is unable to recognise the irony that Aboriginal land was stolen due to his belief that white people had the right to colonise Australia due to their ‘racial superiority’, justified in the belief in Social Darwinism.