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Chapter 22
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Yield, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Colonialism and Exploitation
The Power of Language and Cultural History
Family, Identity, and Belonging
Collective Trauma, Memory, and Guilt
Human Spirituality and the Natural World
Summary
Analysis
August and her family gather around the fire pit. She stands with her aunties—Missy, Mary, and Nicki—seeming to sense their thoughts. Missy remembers fishing and planting with Albert. Mary thinks of reuniting with Albert as adults and the loss of her son, Jimmy. Nicki prays that this chapter of their lives will end. Elsie lights some tree branches and distributes them while August stands back, watching. Then, she casts some of Albert’s ashes into the fire before walking into the wheatfield, imagining his spirit flying free. Suddenly, a brolga (Australian crane) appears, dipping across the field like it’s dancing. August falls to her knees, sobbing, sensing that Jedda’s spirit is present too.
Despite her efforts to distance herself, August feels connected to her family at Albert’s memorial. Each aunt’s thoughts reveal more about their character. Missy mourns her father’s memory. Mary reveals that Jimmy (who Albert called “evil” in his dictionary) is deceased. Nicki’s vague prayer suggests she knows more about the circumstances of Albert’s death than she’s letting on. The memorial itself emphasizes the family’s connection with the land. Though August still perceives herself as an outsider, the sight of the brolga overwhelms her with the sense that her sister’s spirit is trying to connect with her.
Active
Themes
August flashes back and sees Jedda dancing in their bedroom. In the memory, Jedda stops someone from touching August in the top bunk. In the present, August thinks of all she’s done to remain young forever, like Jedda—she even moved to England because they both loved Princess Diana. She wants to hug Jedda and her younger self. More brolgas join the first. August feels drawn into the past and wonders if everyone is haunted by their childhood. She remembers all the pain from which no one could protect them, including what was done to her and Jedda by Uncle Jimmy Corvette, “who liked to climb into their beds when nobody seemed to notice.”
August’s flashback comes close to revealing something about what happened to Jedda. She remembers her sister protecting her from someone. Out of guilt, August has lived her life as if trying to appease her sister’s spirit. Now, so close to the events of her past, August is finally forced to confront her childhood trauma. Her mention of Jimmy’s invasion of the girls’ beds implies he was sexually abusing both August and Jedda—which is perhaps the same reason Albert called him “evil.”
Active
Themes
In a flashback, August hears gospel music and watches Elsie and Albert leave the house for the night. Uncle Jimmy—Great-Aunt Mary’s son—is babysitting. He shows them a movie and won’t stop stroking their hair. Jimmy eventually kisses August on the mouth. The morning after, August feels irrevocably changed. Weeks later, Jimmy visits again but Jedda does something to protect August from him. In the present, August’s body regains all the feelings it has lost. She hears the word burral-gang in her head, meaning “brolga,” without knowing how she knows it. As the birds take flight, August knows Jedda is among them. She sobs, sensing she is home at last, but that home is the “saddest place on earth.”
