“We are swapping Band-Aid education for brand new education, sealing the cracks – all the holes in the broken-down fences of Australian education policy for Indigenous peoples.”
The novel is set in a dystopian future but still centers on the social issues of the Aboriginal people in Australia. The Aborigines are still residing under the Northern Territory Intervention and have to face the aspects of social engineering through policies and education. Therefore the book highlights the effort to instill a new education system that should replace the policed curriculum specifically for the indigenous people. Thus, demonstrating the frustration that such intervention has brought and consequently impacted the education system and restriction of information.
“She feasted on a plague of outsidedness. It was always better never to have to think about what other people thought of her.”
The protagonist Oblivia is a traumatized young woman who has been dealt the worst fate hence acts as a symbol of the Aborigines. She is mute thus does not utter anything in the entirety of the novel which is an allegory of the silencing the indigenous people have faced since colonialism. Moreover, she is alienated by the world as much as she isolates herself from the rest of the world. She suffers the cruelty of mankind but finds refuge through Bella Donna but later subjugated under her marriage to Warren. Her journey is a metaphorical one as the novel parallels personal struggles with the generational struggles of the Aboriginal people.
“If you leave here, you know what is going to happen don’t you? People are going to stop and stare at you the very instant they see the colour of your skin, and they will say: She is one of those wild Aboriginals from up North, a terrorist”
Wright molds the world as a dystopian with current social issues to highlight that the contemporary world is as much dystopian for certain groups. It illustrates the racial connotations in the intervention policies into the traditional lives of the indigenous people. Through the character Donna, the narrative expresses the significance of the indigenous people to reclaim their land and heritage. Furthermore, such a character enlightens Oblivia on the harsh reality of the world regarding the color of her skin and the challenges she will face.
