Rabbit Proof Fences Questions
Why was Molly told to hide the other children?
Molly was trying to hide the other children because Mr. Devil was coming to get them and she knew they would be taken away as they were half-caste children.
Who is Mr.Devil?
Mr. Devil was the name given to Mr. Neville who is the man in charge of running the mission and Moore River. He was the ‘Chief Protector of Aborigines’ in Western Australia, who removed Aboriginal children from their families so they could be trained to be like white people, and bred out the black skin colour.
Explain what he means by ‘bred out’.
Back then they believed that if an aboriginal married had had kids with a white person and that was repeated through the generations, after three generations there skin colour and culture would be gone meaning there heritage would have been ‘bred out’
Why were the children brought to Moore river? Do you believe this is a good reason? Why?
The Moore River mission was one of the places they bought aboriginal children to be ‘taught to live like a white person’ and put into training to be a slave. I don’t believe that stealing a child/children from the family and taking them away from their home where they grew up, so they could be taken to a mission and taught to live like white people the ‘higher class of a person’ so they could be trained to be a slave for the white people. Back then (back then meaning not even 100 years ago) it was believed that white people where the higher class of people, to the extent that they would kill the aboriginal people.
How were the children transported?
When the children were taken away from their families they were transported in the capture's car and then they were in a small cage in a train and eventually, in the back of a truck.
Give your impressions of the dormitory.
The dormitories the girls were staying in where white and grey with no colour and with no representation of any cultures of any kinds, which is most likely what the people in charge were going for. The dormitories were very crowded, and loud, and had a lock on the door which shows how much the white people distrusted the Aboriginals and half-castes.
How does this compare with the environment the girls came from?
The place the girls came from was there home, which mean it would have had a lot of things that represented their culture. The dormitories the whole place would have been very different for them because it would have had no cultural representation there at all. They came from a place with no specific times when they had to do things to refuge where they was a certain time to do certain things.
What were some of the English culture forced on the children?
A whole new culture was forced onto all of these kids who went to the missions, there culture was not allowed to be expressed in any way. The food they ate, their surroundings, clothes they wore, the language they spoke, religion, traditions were all new to them, but they weren’t allowed to do anything else.
Why were they checking for the fair ones?
They were checking for fair skin on the children because the fairer the skin they had it meant the more intelligent and the more of a white person they were meaning that if they were fair enough they would be sent to get an education and live like a white child.
How did they punish children who ran away?
When a child ran away they were bought back and belted and then locked in a really tiny shed. Almost all the children knew what happened when they ran away, but the children who ran away still felt that running away w and having a large chance they would be caught and beat would be better that staying there. It really shows how bad it would have been to have been taken there.
Who is the tracker? What is his job?
The tracker is the man who went and found the children who ran away. The man who had this job had to know the area very well and had to have very good finding and navigation skills.
Explain the significance of Molly’s dream.
Mollys dream showed her perception of the bad white people she had met. In contrast in then showed her mother and the bird that she said would always watch over her. This dream was the final step in convincing molly to run away.
Why didn’t Daisy want to go back home?
Daisy didn’t want to go home because she thought they would get caught, and after she saw what they did to children when they ran away she didn’t want to be next.
Why was the rain important? How did Molly know this?
Molly knew the rain would be important because she knew that it would cover their tracks and foot prints so the tracker wouldn’t be able to follow there traces.
Why did they leave Gracie’s bag and then walk along the river? Did they fool the tracker?
Because they were trying to confuse the tracker and buy themselves some time to make progress in their journey so they could make more distance without the tracker being one step behind them. The tracker was fooled, but was only fooled for a small amount of time.
What did Molly’s hand signal mean?
Molly’s hand signal was a welcome to the aboriginal men, saying ‘hello can I please have some food’ this is a gesture only used by aboriginal people.
What food were they given?
The food they received was Kangaroo tail that the aboriginal men had caught and dried.
Why did the white women help the girls?
The woman was sympathetic of the girls as they reminded her of her own children. It made her realise that if her child was in that situation she'd want them to be looked after.
Why was the rabbit proof fence important to Molly?
Because she knew that the rabbit proof fence ran through her home so if they followed it, they would easily get back to their home.
Why did the tracker and the policeman miss finding the girl the first time?
They missed them because the girls met a man that told them they were on the wrong fence and told them to cut cross, and because the tracker and policeman were coming down and across the original fence the girls were no longer following, they missed them.
How far did they go when they met the ex-Moore river child hanging out the washing?
The children mentioned to the ex-Moore river child that they had walked 800 miles and they travelled a total of 1,500 miles, so they had gone over half of the way.
Why did so many people want to help them even though they wanted by the police?
Because it was a miracle that they had made it that far across the state, therefore they felt sympathetic towards them and they knew if they were caught they knew what conditions they'd have to live in.
Why did the tracker have empathy for the girls?
Because his daughter lives at Moore River, therefore he could relate to having a child that was living horrible conditions.
Why did the Aboriginal lie to Gracie?
He lied to Gracie because there was a reward out for them and he knew if he sent her there he would get a big reward.
Did you feel empathy for Gracie? Why?
I did feel empathy for Gracie because she didn’t know any better and fell for the man’s trick because she was so desperate to see her mother that she was willing to go off from the others and find her and even if she was just given a little hope her love for her mother was so strong she refused Molly’s insisting and went off in the other direction.
What were the Aboriginal women up to?
The women could sense that the girls were coming home so they were trying to warn the girls that there were men who were going to take them.
What did Molly mean when she said “I lost one”?
Because Gracie was taken away during their journey home. When Molly said ‘I lost one’ she was talking about Gracie being taken, Molly obviously felt guilty about Gracie being taken and was blaming herself for losing Gracie.
Why was the colouring of the girl’s skin significant?
The colouring of the girl’s skin was important because is they weren’t aboriginal and had dark skin they wouldn’t have been taken to Moore River in the first place and wouldn’t have had to make the journey back to their home in the first place.
What was the Protectorate trying to do?
The Protectorate was trying to annihilate the Aboriginals and have an all-white country, because he believed that the fairer your skin was, the smarter and better you were. He wanted Molly and Daisy back at Moore River because he wanted to bred the black out of them.
What happened to Molly’s daughter?
When Molly’s daughter was three, she was taken away, presumably to Moore River or to another place simular to Moore river, and Molly never saw her again.
Should Australians feel guilty about the ‘Stolen Generation’?
To a certain degree, I don't think Australians should feel guilty as such, however I believe we should understand that we are responsible for doing horrible things to the Indigenous. We caused so much trauma that has taken a toll on many generations.
Molly was trying to hide the other children because Mr. Devil was coming to get them and she knew they would be taken away as they were half-caste children.
Who is Mr.Devil?
Mr. Devil was the name given to Mr. Neville who is the man in charge of running the mission and Moore River. He was the ‘Chief Protector of Aborigines’ in Western Australia, who removed Aboriginal children from their families so they could be trained to be like white people, and bred out the black skin colour.
Explain what he means by ‘bred out’.
Back then they believed that if an aboriginal married had had kids with a white person and that was repeated through the generations, after three generations there skin colour and culture would be gone meaning there heritage would have been ‘bred out’
Why were the children brought to Moore river? Do you believe this is a good reason? Why?
The Moore River mission was one of the places they bought aboriginal children to be ‘taught to live like a white person’ and put into training to be a slave. I don’t believe that stealing a child/children from the family and taking them away from their home where they grew up, so they could be taken to a mission and taught to live like white people the ‘higher class of a person’ so they could be trained to be a slave for the white people. Back then (back then meaning not even 100 years ago) it was believed that white people where the higher class of people, to the extent that they would kill the aboriginal people.
How were the children transported?
When the children were taken away from their families they were transported in the capture's car and then they were in a small cage in a train and eventually, in the back of a truck.
Give your impressions of the dormitory.
The dormitories the girls were staying in where white and grey with no colour and with no representation of any cultures of any kinds, which is most likely what the people in charge were going for. The dormitories were very crowded, and loud, and had a lock on the door which shows how much the white people distrusted the Aboriginals and half-castes.
How does this compare with the environment the girls came from?
The place the girls came from was there home, which mean it would have had a lot of things that represented their culture. The dormitories the whole place would have been very different for them because it would have had no cultural representation there at all. They came from a place with no specific times when they had to do things to refuge where they was a certain time to do certain things.
What were some of the English culture forced on the children?
A whole new culture was forced onto all of these kids who went to the missions, there culture was not allowed to be expressed in any way. The food they ate, their surroundings, clothes they wore, the language they spoke, religion, traditions were all new to them, but they weren’t allowed to do anything else.
Why were they checking for the fair ones?
They were checking for fair skin on the children because the fairer the skin they had it meant the more intelligent and the more of a white person they were meaning that if they were fair enough they would be sent to get an education and live like a white child.
How did they punish children who ran away?
When a child ran away they were bought back and belted and then locked in a really tiny shed. Almost all the children knew what happened when they ran away, but the children who ran away still felt that running away w and having a large chance they would be caught and beat would be better that staying there. It really shows how bad it would have been to have been taken there.
Who is the tracker? What is his job?
The tracker is the man who went and found the children who ran away. The man who had this job had to know the area very well and had to have very good finding and navigation skills.
Explain the significance of Molly’s dream.
Mollys dream showed her perception of the bad white people she had met. In contrast in then showed her mother and the bird that she said would always watch over her. This dream was the final step in convincing molly to run away.
Why didn’t Daisy want to go back home?
Daisy didn’t want to go home because she thought they would get caught, and after she saw what they did to children when they ran away she didn’t want to be next.
Why was the rain important? How did Molly know this?
Molly knew the rain would be important because she knew that it would cover their tracks and foot prints so the tracker wouldn’t be able to follow there traces.
Why did they leave Gracie’s bag and then walk along the river? Did they fool the tracker?
Because they were trying to confuse the tracker and buy themselves some time to make progress in their journey so they could make more distance without the tracker being one step behind them. The tracker was fooled, but was only fooled for a small amount of time.
What did Molly’s hand signal mean?
Molly’s hand signal was a welcome to the aboriginal men, saying ‘hello can I please have some food’ this is a gesture only used by aboriginal people.
What food were they given?
The food they received was Kangaroo tail that the aboriginal men had caught and dried.
Why did the white women help the girls?
The woman was sympathetic of the girls as they reminded her of her own children. It made her realise that if her child was in that situation she'd want them to be looked after.
Why was the rabbit proof fence important to Molly?
Because she knew that the rabbit proof fence ran through her home so if they followed it, they would easily get back to their home.
Why did the tracker and the policeman miss finding the girl the first time?
They missed them because the girls met a man that told them they were on the wrong fence and told them to cut cross, and because the tracker and policeman were coming down and across the original fence the girls were no longer following, they missed them.
How far did they go when they met the ex-Moore river child hanging out the washing?
The children mentioned to the ex-Moore river child that they had walked 800 miles and they travelled a total of 1,500 miles, so they had gone over half of the way.
Why did so many people want to help them even though they wanted by the police?
Because it was a miracle that they had made it that far across the state, therefore they felt sympathetic towards them and they knew if they were caught they knew what conditions they'd have to live in.
Why did the tracker have empathy for the girls?
Because his daughter lives at Moore River, therefore he could relate to having a child that was living horrible conditions.
Why did the Aboriginal lie to Gracie?
He lied to Gracie because there was a reward out for them and he knew if he sent her there he would get a big reward.
Did you feel empathy for Gracie? Why?
I did feel empathy for Gracie because she didn’t know any better and fell for the man’s trick because she was so desperate to see her mother that she was willing to go off from the others and find her and even if she was just given a little hope her love for her mother was so strong she refused Molly’s insisting and went off in the other direction.
What were the Aboriginal women up to?
The women could sense that the girls were coming home so they were trying to warn the girls that there were men who were going to take them.
What did Molly mean when she said “I lost one”?
Because Gracie was taken away during their journey home. When Molly said ‘I lost one’ she was talking about Gracie being taken, Molly obviously felt guilty about Gracie being taken and was blaming herself for losing Gracie.
Why was the colouring of the girl’s skin significant?
The colouring of the girl’s skin was important because is they weren’t aboriginal and had dark skin they wouldn’t have been taken to Moore River in the first place and wouldn’t have had to make the journey back to their home in the first place.
What was the Protectorate trying to do?
The Protectorate was trying to annihilate the Aboriginals and have an all-white country, because he believed that the fairer your skin was, the smarter and better you were. He wanted Molly and Daisy back at Moore River because he wanted to bred the black out of them.
What happened to Molly’s daughter?
When Molly’s daughter was three, she was taken away, presumably to Moore River or to another place simular to Moore river, and Molly never saw her again.
Should Australians feel guilty about the ‘Stolen Generation’?
To a certain degree, I don't think Australians should feel guilty as such, however I believe we should understand that we are responsible for doing horrible things to the Indigenous. We caused so much trauma that has taken a toll on many generations.