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Chapter 31
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
Albert defines muyalaang as tree carvings which mark graves. Aboriginal Australians have always shown reverence for their dead, proving that they are (despite what the settlers claim) a civilization. He recalls catching Jimmy sneaking up to the girls’ room one night. Albert threw him out of the house and threatened to dha-l-girri-dhu-nyal (“catch, crush, kill, and eat” him). Later, after Albert speared Jimmy, he visited him in the hospital and demanded Jedda’s location. Jimmy (who never told anyone Albert injured him) claimed it was an accident and Jedda was “[i]n the water[.]” Overnight, he died of sepsis and Albert never found Jedda. All he wanted was to baludhaay Jedda’s body—to cover her and comfort her through her transition.
Albert’s entry highlights the ways Aboriginal Australians have always respected human life and honored its ending—unlike their supposedly “civilized” oppressors. That Albert and Jimmy kept the truth of Jedda’s disappearance a secret from the rest of the Gondiwindis suggests that both men wanted to protect the family from this painful knowledge. Despite these good intentions, Jedda’s disappearance still torments the family. Since water symbolizes the long-term effects of trauma, Jimmy’s claim that Jedda is “[i]n the water” supports the notion that her loss has continued to affect the family. Like his ancestors, Albert longs to honor Jedda’s life and provide a resting place for her but is tragically denied.
Active
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