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Experiences such as racism, along with our values, and attitudes affect our perception of belonging. Jane Harrison’s play Rainbow’s End highlights the importance of all these things. Through the notion of time, the characters in Rainbows End undergo a transformation in their choices and attitudes to others which leads to conflict and also acceptance in society. Challenges to the basis of belonging occur with the choices and attitudes of others. The choices of an individual and the attitude of others cause an individual’s sense of belonging to change and evolve. In this response I will discuss how Jane Harrison’s play Rainbow’s End highlights the importance of belonging and discuss the attitudes and values privileged in this text.

In the cases of the characters Nan Dear and Gladys in the play Rainbows End, initially their belonging was to the Flats of Mooroopna. Both women realised the importance of belonging within society, where they differed, is in their desire to be accepted within white society in the same way that they are in Aboriginal society. Nan Dear values her Aboriginal ways and beliefs and believes that they should be accepted into society without giving these things up. On the contrary, Gladys is prepared to give up all her original values and attitudes towards her culture to assimilate into white society. The beginning of the play emphasizes Gladys’ dream to assimilate. This dream is expressed through the dream sequence in Scene 1, “…GLADYS, curtsying, is presenting a bouquet of flowers to the QUEEN. Instead of being formal, the QUEEN pulls her into a hug”. This expresses Gladys dream and desire for assimilation and belonging into white society. This relates back to the cultural contrast in the text between the A...

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... will give her a better life. He creates an ironic image of a small flat in the city with a sitting-room and a ‘real stove’. He says that although there would be no room for visitors to stay, it would be better than what she has now. Jane Harrison symbolically uses these material possessions to show that Errol has misinterpreted what a ‘real home’ means. Dolly is horrified at the thought of leaving the river and her family. To her, a home is not defined by the objects in it, but by the people she loves and spends time with. She rejects his offer, saying in a definite tone that ‘This is my place. I am staying right here with my mum and my Nan’. In later scenes, when Errol returns, he demonstrates his understanding of her family bond by saying ‘where you belong, and your family, is important’. Errol’s attitudes and values towards family, belonging and acceptance have.