The Rabbit-Proof Fence film study

The Rabbit-Proof Fence

Philip Noyce, 2002

Based on the novel written by

Doris Pilkington Garimara

Doris Pilkington
This is what Doris Pilkington tells us about her life on the cover of her book: Nugi Garimara is Doris Pilkington's Aboriginal name. She was born on Balfour Downs station, approximately 60 kilometres northwest of Jigalong Community in the east Pilbara. At age 4, she and her mother were forcibly brought from Jigalong to Moore River Native Settlement. She left Roelands Mission at 18, the first from the mission to enrol for Royal Perth Hospital's nursing aide training. Her married life was spent in Geraldton with her husband and six children. She returned to Perth to complete her education at Curtin University where she later studied journalism."

I. Prologue:

M. A.O. Neville: □ is the Chief protector of the Aborigines

□ has the power of life and death on all Aborigines

□ is the local guardian of every Aborigine in Western Australia

□ must give food to all Aborigines

□ has the power to remove any half-caste child from their family.

Place, landscape: in the city in the bush in the rainforest

Language of narration:..........................................

II. The Chief Protector:

One of the three girls must be removed quickly. Why?

□ She is promised to her cousin

□ She is to marry a Black man

□ She is to marry a White man

III. Stolen:

Discussion about the fence:

Longest fence in the .........................

Keeps .......................... on that side of the fence, .................................. on this side.

IV. Slide show:

'Half-caste'
For many years Australian governments categorised Aboriginal people according to the level of 'Aboriginal blood' they were considered to have. For example, if two Aboriginal people had a baby it was categorised as a 'full-blood'. If an Aboriginal woman and a European man had a baby, this child would have been referred to as 'half-caste'. These terms are old-fashioned and insulting to Aboriginal people. This is because they consider Aboriginality to be made up of a variety of factors, including cultural understandings and heritage, rather than mere biology. Some prefer to say you are either Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal, degrees of mixture are irrelevant to them, others acknowledge the distinction of 'full' or 'mixed' descent.

V. Moore River :

Mr. Neville is nicknamed: “Mr. ...................”

Inspection: they’re checking the .................... ones because they can go to ........................ schools.

When asked about the babies’ mothers, Nina answers:

□ “nobody here got any mother” □ “Nobody here knows where their mother is” □ “The babies got no mother”

VI. Escape:

“The .................................. will cover our tracks.”

VII. Tracker:

Neville calls Molly “unfathomable”: what does he mean?

□ he can’t stand her.

□ he can”t read her thoughts

□ He can’t find her

VIII. River Chase:

The girls get help from two men. They give them:

□ a kangaroo tail

□ clothes

□ the direction of the fence

□ matches

□ wood

How does Maud (Molly’s mother) feel when she learns that her girls have escaped Moore River?

□ proud □ worried □ surprised

IX. Farmhouse:

The woman of the farm gives the girls:

□ food

□ the direction of the fence

□ wood

□ clothes

Nina reads a newspaper article about the missing girls: How long have they been missing now? ....................

X. Ambush:

Thanks to the bushman, the girls understand that there are 2 – 3 – 4 rabbit-proof fences.

The tracker can’t trap them because they are on the ..................... fence!

XI. Mavis:

What distance have the girls walked already? ..........................miles.

What do you learn about Mavis?

□ she has married a white man

□ she is the maid of a white family

□ she was raised at Moore River

□ she is abused by the head of the white family

□ she has a daughter at Moore River.

XII. Lost tracks:

.The tracker loses them. What does he feel for the girls now?

□ hatred. He is upset that the girls are more intelligent and he wants to find them.

□ respect. He admires the little girls who can escape him and he understands them.

□ worry. He knows that the desert is a dangerous place to cross and he wants to save them.

XIII. Gracie.

Gracie wants to go to Malluna because he mother is said to be waiting for her there. This is a ................

XIV. Lost:

Molly recovers her strength because she sees □ a spirit bird □ a kangaroo □ smoke

How does she recognise her “home”? She sees....

□ the Jigalong Depot □ animals □ the fence □ a forest □ mountains

XV. Coming home:

What does Molly say to her grandmother? ..................................................

Neville: “We face an ongoing battle with them. Especially the bush natives who have to be ......................... against ..................................... If only they could ..................................... what we are trying to do ............... them.”

XVI. Epilogue.

What do you learn about Molly?

........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Gracie?

Daisy?

debate about the film
On 11 March 2002, the Australian printed an article which refuted claims made in the film Rabbit Proof Fence. The article was written by Peter Howson, a former minister for Aboriginal affairs in 1971 and 1972 and Des Moore, a director of the Institute for Private Enterprise. They stated that claims of forcible child removal in Australia are often fabricated and unproven. They wrote, 'No testing of forcible removal claims has been made in West Australian courts and the story of the separation of the rabbit-proof fence girls rests only on a tale told 35 years later by one of the girls to her daughter. The daughter then wrote the book on which the producers of the film drew. But the film's removal scene bears no resemblance to even the book's account of a separation that apparently required no force.'

The authors also claimed that the film made 'grossly misleading assertions regarding Aboriginal policy'. They stated, 'the film's publicity conveys a completely erroneous picture of the policy circumstances under which children were removed from parents, and the extent of such removals. Thus, we are told that "the official policy of the time decreed that all half-caste children should be taken from their kin and land in order to be made white" and that A.O. Neville was a racist who believed "the answer to the 'coloured problem' is to breed out the Aboriginal race". In reality, however, only a small proportion of half-caste children were being separated when the rabbit-proof fence girls were removed from their mother/aunt.'

Howson and Moore believe that the film's depiction of Neville as "a devil" in the eyes of Aborigines is the final insult. They argued, 'After he died, his mother received about 500 letters from Aborigines praising his efforts on their behalf. A true story would have shown his humane actions to protect them from exploitation by whites or their own kin.'