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Chapter 25
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
After the funeral, someone carries August to her attic bedroom. When she is done crying, Eddie brings wine and they return to the field, where the family is dancing. August sleeps through the next day. Thinking of Eddie, she tries to masturbate but can’t, thinking of Jedda and Jolene. On Monday, August wakes and goes through the old wardrobe in search of Poppy Albert’s book. Instead, she finds boxes of childhood mementoes belonging to her and Jedda. Their cassette tape of spoken letters to Princess Diana is there, as well as a stuffed Mother Goose from their mother, two dolls they won by sending a handcrafted mouse maze into a TV program, and school journals filled with fantastical stories.
When August finally gives in to her grief, her family and friends are there to support her through it. Though she’s begun the process of confronting her trauma, there’s still much work to be done. Her efforts to locate Albert’s book are met with more painful memories of her childhood with Jedda, almost as if the house itself is trying to help her heal.
Active
Themes
Downstairs, August finds the house empty. She considers driving six hours to visit Jolene in prison but decides against it. Feeling more at home than before, she finds a bike and rides toward Eddie’s house. Eddie claims she danced wildly at the funeral, but August doesn’t remember. The two of them watch more mining trucks arriving across the fields. August is unsure whether she’s going to confirm or cancel her flight home. Eddie says she should leave, seeming worried the protestors on Kengal Rock will create trouble. August says goodbye and bikes to the library.
Although August has begun to settle into the familiarity of home, she is still unwilling to face certain things, including her mother. Here, the novel examines how traumatic events are often uncovered and processed in stages, especially when they’ve been repressed. Similarly, August’s conversation with Eddie feels more open than before, but there’s still a sense that things are going unsaid between them. For instance, Eddie disregards August’s newfound desire to remain in Australia and seems disapproving of the protestors.
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The librarian recognizes August’s last name when she signs in and gives her a list of overdue books Albert had checked out. Afterward, August visits the council chambers where Aunt Nicki works. Nicki is in a meeting but says she can meet August for lunch. On her desk, August thinks she spots her and Jedda’s old tape recorder but decides she must be mistaken. August returns to Prosperous to find Poppy’s library books, hoping they contain clues about his book. She gathers the books and sorts them into categories. Most are about aspects of Australia’s history.
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Eddie stops by and asks about one book featuring animism, the belief that everything on earth is alive with spirits. Remembering Albert’s love of the land, August wonders if he planned to use his book to save the farm. She asks if Eddie has an old cassette player, glad they’re friends again. Later, August walks the property with Elsie’s dog, Spike. They run to the river’s dam and back, feeling unexpectedly connected to her ancestors’ land. Peering into an old grain silo, August remembers imagining all the ways she might die on the farm after Jedda’s disappearance. Years later, she read an article about pilot whales who intentionally beach themselves when a family member does so.
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Eddie rides a dirt bike out to August. They ride around the fields to the stables. August remembers Eddie’s white horse Mister Ed, who is long gone. Back at Prosperous, Eddie tells her the rest of the livestock will be sold at auction. He departs. August swings from a tree branch as Elsie returns from her errands. She and Great-Aunt Mary have been looking at “old-lady homes” since Elsie would prefer privacy to Mary’s offered lodging. The mining company hasn’t offered to pay for her relocation. August asks about the old tape player and Elsie says Albert was using it for his book. The brolga has returned. August watches Jedda dance and sees Elsie watching her too, smiling.
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