Comparative Response: Compare the two texts “Son of Mine” and “We Are Going”
The aboriginal experience in Australia over the past century clearly conveys strong ideas of both belonging and alienation. “Son of Mine” and “We Are Going” are both aboriginal texts that portray a strong message about this experience of oppression and alienation through strong emotive techniques to provoke action and thought amongst readers.
“Son of Mine” mainly focuses on the issue of racial division to highlight the alienation and threatened sense of belonging the aboriginal population faces. “My son, your troubled eyes search mine, Puzzled and hurt by the colour line” in this quote, Noonuccal uses emotive language to emphasis the racial division and alienation. This message is then further supported through the compelling imagery of the mother-son relationship “Your black skin, soft as velvet shine” in this phrase, Noonuccal uses soft sibilance to portray to deep sense of love and affection in this relationship, only strengthening the message of alienation . Conclusion?
“We Are Going”, a political activism speech, explores the barriers to belong that colonists/white people have created and the plaguing of the aboriginal culture. This message is illustrated through the indigenous connection to the land. “Where now the many white men hurry about like ants. Notive of the estate agent reads: ‘Rubbish May Be Tipped Here’. Now it half covers the traces of the old bora ring.” In this phrase, Noonuccal aims to provoke action amongst readers through the use strong emotive imagery, the dumping of rubbish on the aboriginal’s most sacred land. This phrase also acts as a powerful analogy to the colonisation of Australia, that this land is free to take and exploit “Rubbish may be tipped here”. Conclusion?
The two aboriginal texts “Son of Mine” and “We Are Going” highlight the issue of belong and alienation through a compelling sense of emotive imagery