Analytical Essay: ‘Deadly Unna?’
The compassionate novel Deadly Unna?, written by Phillip Gwynne, creates vivid characters and depicts race discourses experienced by Gary Black (also known as Blacky) in a fictitious South Australian coastal community. The novel portrays a typical coastal town of the 1970s and is set mainly in the Port: the local Pub, the Black family home and the jetty, where the local children play. The story explores the racism between the Nungas (the indigenous population who live at the Point) and the Gooynas (the white population who live at the Port). As Blacky is from the Port, he only begins to develop awareness of the racism around him as a result of his friendship with Dumby Red, a Nunga football player, and consequently stops making racist jokes and comments. Analysis of racist ideas in the town, the marginalisation of the Nunga community, Blacky’s changing beliefs and how it influences and empowers him to respond to the death of Dumby Red, reveals that Gwynne encourages the reader to reject the racist values, attitudes and beliefs of Blacky’s community.
In the novel ‘Deadly Unna?’ various discourses about racism are portrayed, exemplifying the individual’s belief, attitudes and the values of the characters. The reader is positioned to view Blacky as having no knowledge of how racist his friends are through the racist comments that are made amongst them and Blacky's going along with it. At the start Blacky may not have been aware of the racism around him as he previously laughed and even told racist jokes. The statement “And the priest says I got the black bastard with the door. And they all laughed all the regulars. Especially Slogsy. But I didn’t. I don’t know why, I’d laughed at the joke bef...
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...ilty about the graffiti and takes it upon himself to get rid of it. Blacky even starts to have dreams about Slogsy writing ‘BOONGS PISS OFF’ (p.258-259) all over the town making him even more determined to do something about the graffiti and racism. This shows Blacky’s emerging ideology and how it influences and empowers Him to respond to the death of Dumby. Although the town culture is racist Blacky’s view is altered after being friends with some Aboriginals.
Blacky’s friendship with Dumby Red causes Blacky to stop making racist jokes and comments. Throughout the novel Gwynne drives the reader to reject the racist values, attitudes and beliefs of Blacky’s community, as seen in his portrayal of racist ideas in the town, the marginalisation of the Nunga community, Blacky’s emerging ideology and how it influences and empowers him to respond to the death of Dumby.
Throughout the text, the white colonists are very racist towards the Aboriginals. Even cattle, horses and white women are placed hierarchically higher in society than the black people. In response to this, Astley constructs all narrations to be written through the eyes of the Laffey family, who are respectful towards Aboriginals, hence not racist, and despise societal ideologies. By making the narration of the text show a biased point of view, readers are provoked to think and feel the same way, foregrounding racism shown in the ideologies of early Australian society, and showing that Aboriginals are real people and should receive the same treatment to that given to white people. “They looked human, they had all your features.” (pg 27) There was, however, one section in the text whose narrative point of view was not given by a character in the Laffey family. This instead was given by a voice of an Aboriginal woman, when the Aboriginal children were being taken away from their families. By giving voice to the Aboriginal society, the reader is able to get a glimpse of their point of view on the matter, which once again shows that society was racist, and Aboriginals were treated harshly.
Hooper urges the reader to accept that in the context of colonial Australia, Aboriginals faced such extreme oppression that they resorted to summoning spirits to doom their cruel white colonisers. She recounts a walk to a cave in Cape York, where she intentionally selects paintings depicting destructive images of white colonisers being “doomed”, highlighting the rifles which the white troopers brandished. The marginalised Aboriginals resigned to using “purri purri” (sorcery) against the police, which emphasises the idea that in this context, the Aboriginals felt so oppressed that they resorted to conjuring spirits for protection. Hooper describes a painting in which under a white man’s shirt, “he was reptilian”, and the adjective “reptilian” allows the audience to understand that in this context, the Aboriginals felt so threatened that they had to draw the trooper as a snake. In Aboriginal culture, the snake symbolises protection of the land of Aboriginal people, whom believed that a man would be harmed if the symbol was drawn upon him. My understanding of the oppression in which Aboriginal Australians faced in colonial Australia invoked feelings of anger and disgust, and reinforced pre-existing attitudes I have on discrimination and the corrupt police
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Initial major development of racism in the town rises with the treatment of the Aboriginals in Blacky’s community. This is also the point when Blacky becomes aware of the racism ingrained in his community. After the grand finals, there is an announcement of the Best on Ground award – Blacky believes that Dumby Red, a friend of him who is Aboriginal, is worthy of the
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Racism and Segregation is a strong recurring theme in the novel Jasper Jones. Silvey has used Jasper, Charlie, and Jeffrey to convey the themes of racism through the book and to send an important message to the audience. He has shown us that making assumptions about someone based on rumours and appearances is wrong and that racism can rise out of ignorance. Silvey’s main message was that anyone can overcome racism and that it is just
As a child Janie’s race is something she realizes later, but is still an important part of her life. As a child Janie grew up with a white family, named the Washburns, for whom Nanny worked as a nanny for. It is not until Janie sees herself in a picture with the Washburns children that she realizes she is black, Janie recounts her realization t...
These repeated words show the reader that the narrator identifying himself as a “colored” man is sincerely shameful and desires to abandon his colored race. In addition, the word choice of debating, shame, forsake, and inferiority in the context conveys a feeling of negative categorization to the reader while the narrator is talking about the African American race. This projects the narrator’s idea, which is carried throughout the novel, that being a “colored” man in society is looked down upon and shameful. In the beginning of the novel when the narrator is conversing with his mother for his true identity, there is a sense of shame as the narrator says, “ She must have felt that I was examining her, for she hid her face in my hair…” (8). Also when the narrators mother talks about his white father, a positive sense of categorization is delivered as the mother says, “ No, I am not white you- your father is one of the greatest men in the country- the best blood of the south is in you” (8). These two quotes early in the novel connect to the narrator’s general idea that being an African American in society is categorized as shameful and negative while being white is classified as the “best” and “great.” This idea is relevant to the social issue of racial
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At the beginning Blacky becomes aware of the apartheid of white and black first in the players at the local footy team, the white players (Goonyas) all got changed at one end of the club change rooms while the Aboriginal (Nunga) players got changed at the opposite end ?Usually the nungas got changed at one end us goonyas got changed at the other? pg. 21. This is when Blacky begins to realize that even though he sees everyone as equal the rest of the town does not necessarily feel the same. Even Blackys friend Pickles encourages in a way Blacky not to be Dumbys friend, Blacky goes along with it but eventually admits to his friendship with Dumby red, ? Mate of yours now is he? (Pickles) No way not him I hate his guts (Blacky)?pg. 25 after he said this he spat on the ground to prove to Pickles that he meant it Blacky had not realized that his friend were so racist and had previously gone along with any racist slurs they made. His suspicions were confirmed when, at the grand final presentation Mark ?Arks? won the Mcrae medal instead of Dumby red. Dumby had been the heart and soul of the team all season and deserved to win h...
With Dumby’s support and friendship he was able to refrain from falling into the discrimination of aboriginals. With Clarence and her family Blacky was able to learn new things about the aboriginal community and become more educated thus being able to know what is true and what a lie is. All of these points show Blacky’s progress to becoming more enlightened and with that more courageous which he uses to stand for his beliefs and for Dumby and
...cted” but that “that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist” that Birdie and her sister express toward the end of the novel upon their reunification (408). Through embodying both falseness and such a self-serving and facile view of race, Redbone serves as Senna’s symbol that they go hand in hand, that is, that such conceptions are empty and inauthentic – not true to the way the world actually works. As we begin to doubt who Redbone is, we doubt what he says. Taking this a step further, the sense of inauthenticity associated with him points out the aspect of lying to oneself that is necessary for maintaining these self-serving definitions of race. As Redbone pretends to be something he’s not and the flasher denigrates others for an inauthentic sense of power, the racist lies to himself about how the world really is to maintain his image of himself, and his race, on top of it.
‘Noughts and Crosses” by Malorie Blackman is a novel which follows the lives and experiences of two characters, Callum and Sephy. Throughout the book Blackman deals with a number of issues including relationships, alcohol abuse, power abuse, depression and violence. However, the key issues of the book are racism and prejudice. These issues of racism and prejudice are conveyed through the narrative techniques of characterization, point of view, language, structure and setting.
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