Rabbit-Proof Fence: Plot, Themes, and Reflection

This article explores the plot, themes, and reflection of the film Rabbit-Proof Fence, which tells the story of three Aboriginal girls who were forcibly separated from their families in Australia. It discusses the themes of home and family, strength and determination, survival in the desert landscape, and racism depicted in the film. The article also highlights the importance of nursing care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and the role of nurses in addressing mental health issues caused by racism and cultural alienation.

Running Head: NURSING
Nursing
Name
Institution

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Nursing
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Plot...................................................................................................................................................3
Themes.............................................................................................................................................4
Home and Family.........................................................................................................................4
Strength and Determination.........................................................................................................5
Survival in the Dessert Landscape...............................................................................................6
Racism.............................................................................................................................................6
Knowledge on Aboriginal and Torres Islander for Nursing Care...................................................7
Reflection.........................................................................................................................................9
Conclusions....................................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
From the era of colonization of Australia, the association between the western settlers and
Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders has been featured by incompatible policies, which range
from isolation to removal to assimilation. The removal and segregation of the Stolen Generation
(Australian Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islander) has triggered widespread reaction from the
public and policymakers in Australia than before. Whilst it has only been the outcome of debate
for many years, it is currently intensely entrenched in awareness of people of Australia, with
multiple movies/films, and academic publications motivated by this trend (Bassett & Pilkington,
2011). One of these movies is Rabbit Proof Fence, which was originally directed by Philip
Noyce, which is founded on non-fictional text Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence authored by Doris
Pilkington Garimara. This film was set in 1931 and narrates the incident of three half-caste
young girls, Gracie, Molly, beside Daisy. The three girls were forcibly separated from their
relatives and society in Jigalong where they were transferred to Moore River Native Settlement,
their consequential getaway along with three-month trip home (Bernshausen, 2010). The paper
will examine the plot and themes of the film, racism depicted in the film, the comprehending of
Aboriginals, as well as Torres Strait Islander and nursing and finally my reflection of the movie.
Plot
The “Rabbit-Proof Fence” is a 2002 fact-based, autonomously produced movie
concerning extraordinary Outback journey home of three young Aboriginal girls. The film is
based on a loosely true narrative about Molly’s mother, who belongs to the Stolen Generations.
The film follows the journey of three sisters, Molly, Daisy and Gracie who reside in Jigalong a

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city situated on the northern region of the No. 1 Fence. Thus, the movie is set in Western
Australia concerning the separation of three girls from their families to a mission school located
at Moore River Native Settlement. The film was set in 1931 in the latter phases of Australia’s
protectionist period. The full-blood Aborigines were being isolated in remote settlements and
half cast children (Caucasian and Aboriginal parents) were being separated from their families
during this era (Bassett & Pilkington, 2008). The film is narrated from the perspective of a true
story “Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence” authored by Doris Pilkington, who is amongst the three
girls who play a central function in the movie (Simpson, 2018). The movie displays the capture
of the three girls who are separated from their families and society, their life at the mission, and
the escape and journey back home along the rabbit proof fence.
Finally, the children escape the camp plus spend nine weeks following the famous
Rabbit-Proof Fence for more than 150 miles back home. The Chief Protector of Western
Australian Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders, Neville orders an Aboriginal tracker to search
for the girls; however, the girls were skilled in covering the tracks (Etowa & Keddy, 2009).
Regrettably, Gracie was tricked and recaptured on the way; however, Daisy and Molly succeed
to come back home and they hide in the desert together with their mother plus their grandmother.
In addition, the movie shows the trauma of the forced separation of the Aboriginal children, the
ideology behind their missions, as well as the attitudes of non-indigenous Australian population
towards the Aboriginal population. This film may too provide an introduction to Aboriginal
culture, languages, lifestyles, beliefs along with tracking skills (Baumeister & Bushman, 2011).
Themes

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Home and Family
The theme of home and family is evident throughout the film through the main
characters. Happiness plus stability of life at home for the three girls separated from their
families is apparent in the movie’s opening series. The girls lose the happiness and stability that
they had in their homes provided by the family while they were in the camp. The girls were
determined to regain their happiness and stability by returning home to meet their families.
Home is an indeterminate place, which was a region adjacent to Jigalong depot, in which their
extended family resided in harmony with the land. The home was an open place, a non-
threatening setting that the girls could roam more freely and safely. The later scenes contrasted
with the artificially created along with the unhappy group at the Moore River Settlement. Thus,
the power of the family overpowers distances plus other challenges, comprising the white
policies. The mother-daughter bond is a lifeline for Molly and the fence functioned as a spiritual
link. While on the journey, Molly assumes the role of a mother and protective role where she
feels a duty to get the other two back home. Thus, the family makes the three girls to feel the
comfort and makes them stay together in the camp (Simpson, 2018).
Strength and Determination
In the film, Molly develops determination and strength as the movie unfolds. The inner
strength is what individuals draw on when their physical strength declines or an emotional
pressure appears unbearable. While on physically demanding journeys like the one the girls
underwent, travellers will die of all the strengths fails. Molly had adequate inner strength for all
the three girls that made to keep on with the journey (Beyer, 2010). Neville nearly equals Molly

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in determination since he was determined that the girls would be recaptured. In addition, Molly
was determined to get back home and she succeeds in this endeavour.
Survival in the Desert Landscape
The Western Desert impacts the composition of who individuals who reside and work in
this region and ascertains the nature of the journey through it. Moodo and Maude understand the
desert better and this environment neither scares nor threatens these characters. The family hides
in the desert when the girls get back home. Additionally, Molly is still learning the ways of the
desert but understands enough to survive in the journey. Rigg has a diverse reaction to the
environment as do Neville and the inspector. These men believe that the desert is the enemy,
while the Aboriginal persons consider the desert as home, a spiritual environment, which is a
portion of their identity. In the film, images of massive spaces are often interspersed with spindly
legs, as well as cheap shoes trudging across the desert landscape to stress harshness (Daschuk,
2013).
Racism
Racism is apparent in the film in the manner the Aboriginals people are treated by using
the White man policies. The centre of the story of the film is the escape of the girls from a
settlement, which they were coerced to live under white policies and the English government.
The film shows racism that happened between white Australians and Australia’s Aboriginal
persons. The majority of the Aboriginals were displaced and discriminated against in Australia’s
history. The film makes no bones regarding who is accurate and erroneous in its overwhelming
representation of Australia’s outrageous handling of its Aborigines for much of the past century.

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The government had acknowledged the growing number of Aboriginal kids who were fathered
by white Englishmen. The government believed that the Aboriginal children were smarter as
compared to pure-blood Aborigines and were educable. The significant elements of the film are
that explored the role that institutionalized racism that played a role in child removal and
separation from their relatives and societies. This makes attractively apparent that the goal of the
removal of the kids from their relatives was to breed out the apparent Aboriginal brood, which
was articulated through Neville. The truthfulness of the movies is crucial for stressing the
thought of white superiority, which subjugated attitudes to Aboriginal all through the colonial
account plus still appears to be an element shield away from the society nowadays. The movie
helps to explain how the government promotes racism through workers and the missionaries
(Beyer, 2010).
The government employees and missionaries both need to do good and assist the
Aborigines; however, their activities are guided by naturally entrenched stereotypes and self-
interests. The whites in Australia view the natives and the Aborigines inferiors to themselves due
to their skin colour. Thus, the idea of white superiority inspires the whites to act to stop the
formation of a third unwanted race through the exclusion of Aboriginal children from their
families and society (Bretherton, Balvin & ProQuest (Firm), 2012). The Australian Aboriginals
whose households were discriminated by a government policy of compulsorily taking away kids
of the diverse race from their Outback societies then transferring them to settlement campsites
that were kilometres away from their homes that demonstrated how deep racism was in this
society. While the girls were in the campsites, they were prohibited from speaking their
indigenous language plus were indoctrinated into faith, as well as traditions of prevailing white

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culture. These individuals were ultimately incorporated into the wide-ranging populace as
household servants, as well as farm labourers (Daschuk, 2013).
Knowledge on Aboriginal and Torres Islander for Nursing Care
The film clearly shows that the children separated from their families and society was
passing through immense trauma because they were culturally alienated by confiscations. Thus,
the film triggered many controversies in Australia because of its depiction of the Stolen
Generations. The Stolen Generations is a term that concerns the Torres Strait Islander and
Australian Aboriginal kids from their residents by the Australian government and church
missions (Vukic, Jesty, Mathews, & Etowa, 2012). The Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders
usually experience increasing mental problems cause by the colonial experience that they pass
through. The mixed-race kids were placed in institutions between 1905 and1970. Thus, the
children that were detached from their homes to the settlement camps experienced immense
mental problems because of the nature of separation. The three girls were separated from their
parents and thus, resulting in mental problems that need the intervention of the nursing
professionals (Murphy, 2017). These experiences of the three girls in the film are faced by many
Aboriginal persons and Torres Strait Islanders in Australia. The case of territorial removal
impacting the Indigenous Australians in the past two centuries, a case of strained migration to the
white settler society, can articulate back to European fears of dislocation. The nurses have the
role of providing care to the affected population, especially children by providing motivation and
how to cope with life after passing through the hands of racist in the society (Carl, Baker,
Robards, Scott, Hillman & Lawrence, 2011).

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The movie provides an opportunity to comprehend the mental needs plus challenges of
the Aboriginal in addition to Torres Strait Islanders in the society that needs intervention from
the nursing professionals. The film offers an opportunity to recognize the significance of nurses
in the mental labour force. Thus, the mental nurses cover different nursing functions, which
include working in triage, GP practices, youth health, as well as with the adolescent in different
schools and other institutions. In the case of the movie, nurses could play leading in helping the
children removed from their parents by offering counselling services since they were passing
through depression and anxiety. The nurses play a leading role in supporting the Aboriginals and
Torres Strait Islanders in identifying their identity that will reflect their cultural values and
practices they understood better to eliminate mental problems. (Hinton, Kavanagh, Barclay,
Chenhall & Nagel, 2015) In the film, the children in the settlement were forced to abandon their
language and speak English, which was causing more traumas to the children. Therefore, nurses
will help these children from mixed race to better cope with these changes.
Nurses have a leading role in helping the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
population overcome their mental issues related to racism from the whites in Australia. Like in
the movie, the majority of these people are subjected to adverse treatments founded on
stereotypes that make them vulnerable to depression and other mental health-related problems.
They should provide guidance and care to these people by ensuring that they overcome the
mental problems. Therefore, promoting mental health is an important nursing role in helping
those affected by the separation from their culture and families. The nurses should assist the
affected individuals to establish their identity and return to normalcy (Murphy, 2017).

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Reflection
In my view, after watching the film, I conclude that the poignancy of the movie functions
to challenge not only the “white blindfold” perspective of history, but also challenges those who
deny the right who seek existence of the Stolen Generation in the white society. The movie has
offered the platform where the challenges facing the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders can
be addressed by the government and other interested groups. The author clearly paints the exact
picture regarding the challenges the children are experiencing that represents the bigger society
of the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders in Australia and the need to develop policies that
will remove the current discrimination and racism that has undermined the quality of life of this
population (Davidson, 2014).
Conclusions
The “Rabbit-Proof Fence” is an excellent film that highlights the challenges that the three
girls passed through after they were removed from their families and society. The film is
effective in contributing to the big truth regarding the encounters of the Indigenous persons in
Australia in the hands of the colonialists. The movie represents the ordeals that the Aboriginals
and Torres Strait Islanders in Australia encounter through the hands of the government through
the white policies that have promoted discrimination and racism. In this case, children are the
most affected members of the society as shown in the movie (Behrendt, 2011). Nursing
professionals should start focusing their efforts in ensuring that they address the current mental
challenges faced by the Indigenous people in Australia including the Aboriginals and Torres

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Strait Islanders. The nurses should provide mental health care services to the affected individual
to improve their quality of life. Therefore, through the movie, nurses can play a primary function
in assisting the Indigenous persons by providing nursing care that targets mental problems
(Abbott, Dave, Gordon, & Reath, 2014).

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connections-to-australian-history/.

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