Rabbit Proof Fence

The population in Australia is meager in terms of their land mass. But most of the continental country is largely inhabitable condition. Only vegetation on the continent happens along the coast. The most part of central Australia is largely dry, infertile, hot condition which is not ideal for living. There is little or no vegetation and scarce water resources. Most of the people living in those regions are Aboriginal people.

“Rabbit Proof Fence” depicts the struggle the Aboriginal people faced in the hands of the British immigrant who tried to introduce their own cultures to them by force. The idea of a “third race” to exist along with the white and aborigines was something the Whites did not want. They wanted to select a few “half-caste” girls and put them through a training program so that they qualify into the white culture. The idea was to gradually eliminating the third race and the cultural differences by “breeding out”.

“Rabbit proof Fence” introduces the law which gave a government official, Mr. Neville, right to have control over the “half-caste” girls throughout the region. This law was made under the assumption of racial distinction and a way to change the future of those kids. The assumption was that by making those girls educated and providing with them the opportunity to learn the cultural values and traditions, they can be accepted into the society.

It also served as a plan to eliminate the third race by taking all the girls who were fair skinned and having them mix into the society. The philosophy was that through generations, the existence of racial features will disappear and everyone would be white skinned and cultured. Racial superiority served as a force in the migration of thousands of mixed raced girls to facilities like Moore River Native Settlement. If a mixed race exists, then the Whites will have to provide them with rights which they declined the aborigines. Also it would blur the line of racial superiority of the whites over the aborigines.

The movie also shows a distinct treatment of aborigines who worked for the white people. The Tracker, who works at Moore River Native Settlement, is denied a leave from work to attend to a family event without any reasons. Also the woman, who works for a family, is sexually abused by the man of the family. She begs the three little girls to stay with her so that they can save her. It depicts the nature of how the aboriginal people, who worked for the whites, were mistreated, abused and did not have many rights.

The movie also showed great variations among the religion of the whites and the aborigines. The whites practiced Christianity while the aborigines practiced polytheism and believed in natural forces for guidance. The Eagle flying was a symbol of that and the girl believed that it was watching over her. When she passes out in the desert due to fatigue and dehydration, she seemed to gain energy because of the eagle’s presence. She believes that as long as she has the eagle over her head, she will not face any dangers.

The fence which extended all the way around the country served as a symbolism to how the British viewed themselves quite different from the Aborigines. The fence was built to protect the crops from the rabbits, just as the law to take the aboriginal kids to training facilities was adopted to eliminate the concept of a mixed race.