“It’s an odd thing, a backyard, a little strip of nature, a little reminder of the rest of it, elsewhere.”
At its core, the narrative is about finding a sense of family or belonging in order to deal with the emotional pain of loneliness or trauma. The protagonist, May, suffers from depression that originates from her mother’s suicide and furthermore physical trauma. Therefore, May constantly reminisces about her mother’s love and how much she needs it in her life. The assertion alludes to the idea of a backyard symbolizing her mother’s love and a sense of family. This becomes a big part of the narrative, her moving a lot and trying to find this feeling.
“Peeling back my skin, my blood against theirs. Family. My people. My mob.”
May goes through a journey of self-discovery in an attempt to seek a sense of belonging. She tries to find her sense of identity by moving around and trying to find his father with that hope. She interacts with several people of her Aboriginal heritage where she feels at home but still has deep-seated loneliness. The statement illustrates this feeling of learning to belong with people that are more like her. She quests for this sense of belonging that she hopes she will find with her kind.
