Essay - Stolen
“It was not the children that were stolen, but their soul.” Discuss.
Jane Harrison’s novel Stolen shows how children’s souls are stolen and the tragic effects of it. The main five characters, representing Stolen Generations which refers to the children being taken away from their Aboriginal family, had different life experiences. It is their experiences reflect their stolen souls, including loss of culture, misunderstanding of personal identity and destroyed emotional and spiritual world.
There is no doubt that being taken away from family and parents leading to a nonsense of their culture. Understanding of a specific culture is gained by immersion in it. Without growing up with and learning the culture, people can’t find connection between themselves and where they should belong to. Showed in Stolen, Sandy, the oldest child when was taken, had a better knowledge to the Aboriginal culture. The story of “Mungee” and the fact that “women put sand in themselves to stop raping” indicates Sandy’s understanding. However, the other four characters always wondering “where am I belonged to”, they got lost because they had no idea about the environment and background of where they should be grown up with. Being stolen from their parents results in the lack of belonging due to stolen history.
It is the children’s personal identities that being stolen as a result of taken away from parents. Without love and care from family but a burden of hard work. The children in home centre were unprotected and tired. Ruby, “an used and abandoned girl”, ended up in a mental hospital murmuring “I got a lot to do” and “I need no home”. She couldn’t recognize her parents and sister any more, even didn’t know who she was and where she came from. On the other hand, Anne seems to live happier. Being adopted by a friendly white couple, Anne enjoyed a better material treatment than others. Although she knew that “we chose you”, she tried to tanned herself, seeing herself as a white girl.
Jane Harrison’s novel Stolen shows how children’s souls are stolen and the tragic effects of it. The main five characters, representing Stolen Generations which refers to the children being taken away from their Aboriginal family, had different life experiences. It is their experiences reflect their stolen souls, including loss of culture, misunderstanding of personal identity and destroyed emotional and spiritual world.
There is no doubt that being taken away from family and parents leading to a nonsense of their culture. Understanding of a specific culture is gained by immersion in it. Without growing up with and learning the culture, people can’t find connection between themselves and where they should belong to. Showed in Stolen, Sandy, the oldest child when was taken, had a better knowledge to the Aboriginal culture. The story of “Mungee” and the fact that “women put sand in themselves to stop raping” indicates Sandy’s understanding. However, the other four characters always wondering “where am I belonged to”, they got lost because they had no idea about the environment and background of where they should be grown up with. Being stolen from their parents results in the lack of belonging due to stolen history.
It is the children’s personal identities that being stolen as a result of taken away from parents. Without love and care from family but a burden of hard work. The children in home centre were unprotected and tired. Ruby, “an used and abandoned girl”, ended up in a mental hospital murmuring “I got a lot to do” and “I need no home”. She couldn’t recognize her parents and sister any more, even didn’t know who she was and where she came from. On the other hand, Anne seems to live happier. Being adopted by a friendly white couple, Anne enjoyed a better material treatment than others. Although she knew that “we chose you”, she tried to tanned herself, seeing herself as a white girl.