Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in No Sugar, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Racism, Discrimination, and Colonial Violence
Government, Civilization, and Religion
White Australians vs. the Aboriginal Family Unit
Language and Culture
Summary
Analysis
The Millimurra-Munday family arrives at the Moore River Native Settlement. Jimmy is working on creating shade for the family’s tent when Billy approaches. The family is shocked when Billy, who is an Aboriginal man, reveals that he is a police officer working for the Settlement. Gran comments that Billy isn’t a “politjman, you just a black tracker.”
Billy is an Aboriginal man who has decided to work for white bosses and enforce white Australian laws. The Millimurra-Munday family does not fully respect his authority, refusing to call him a policeman, which is an official position, but instead a black tracker, which is a historical term referring to a certain class of Aboriginal sellouts.
Themes
Jimmy, Milly, and Sam discuss dinner. There’s a soup kitchen on the Reservation, but Jimmy, who has already been at camp a few days, says the food is “bloody pig swill.” Sam and Jimmy go off to find a sheet of iron that they can use for cooking, and Milly and Gran lay down to rest.
Each member of the family does their best to contribute to the group meal. Milly and Gran will cook later, and so they rest, while Sam and Jimmy can do work now. Ironically, although the camp is supposed to care for the family, the food is barely edible, if not an outright health hazard.
Themes
