Rabbit-proof Fence

Rabbit Proof Fence takes us to the continent of Australia. As we see in Rabbit Proof Fence, Australia is a very dry place. It is actually the driest inhabited continent on earth. Australia is arid or semi-arid in ¾ of its land. Also as we see in the movie there are not many elevation changes. Australia is also the most flat continent. Its highest point is Mount Kosciuszko which is 2,228 meters high. The population of Australia is about 20 million people with most of the population centers on the coast.

Rabbit Proof Fence is based on true events which give us a look into the treatment of aboriginal people of Australia. Aboriginal people can be traced back 40,000 years as inhabitants of Australia. In the 17th century exploration by European settlers began. It was in 1770 when Captain James Cook took claim of the area in name of Great Britain. Rabbit Proof Fence takes us to 1931 when there was a special law or aboriginal act that controlled the lives of the Aboriginal people. The goal of the Aboriginal act was to breed out the black race. A man named A.O. Neville was the chief protector of Aborigines and was the legal guardian of every Aborigine in the State of Western Australia and held his position for 25 years. As we see in the movie, the state has the power to take any half-caste child away from their family and then taken to Moore River. It was here the children were taught to be white and was the place where the main character and her sister and cousin escape and make the long journey back to their homeland Jigalong. I can’t even imagine the strain this put on the Aboriginals. This was in fact stealing generations from these people and stealing their identity.

I was wondering while watching, what the true meaning of the film’s title. The title Rabbit-proof Fence was indeed the actual purpose of the fence. The fence was constructed between 1901 and 1907 to keep rabbits out of Western Australia pastoral fields. We learn in the movie there are actually three fences. A map of the fences is posted to the left. The rabbit was introduced to Australia when it came over on the first fleet from Great Britain and was released into the wild in 1859. The rabbits spread like wild fire and had a real negative effect on Australia. Today many native plants and animals are extinct due to the introduction of the rabbit.