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Chapter 34
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
The next morning, August and Missy wait at the beach for the museum to open, hoping they’ll be able to convince the curators to return some of their family’s artifacts. Once inside, they scan the Aboriginal artifacts for any mention of the “Falstaff Collection.” The art reminds August of Albert’s stories and moves her to tears. She and Missy avoid an exhibit of photos featuring deceased Aboriginal people, though a crowd of schoolchildren walks in with no hesitation. Missy asks August to take a few covert photos of some artifacts, but a security guard catches them. Missy protests that the artifacts come from their country, but the man only warns them again.
While the artifacts are reminders of the Gondiwindi family’s Aboriginal roots, they are tinged with sorrow because they’ve been stolen and put on display. Furthermore, the museum’s exhibits on Aboriginal Australians focus on their tragic oppression rather than highlighting their continued existence. Many Aboriginal cultures have rules surrounding showing photographs or video of deceased people, highlighting that while the museum ostensibly exists to raise awareness, it’s also doing something offensive. As if to emphasize their continued marginalization, the security guard forbids Missy from taking photos of items that may have been literally stolen from their family.
Active
Themes
Upset, Missy tells August that White people should only get to visit “a museum of tanks of blood.” Missy can hear Albert whispering in her ear, telling her to keep going but also encouraging her to slow down and view her ancestors’ artifacts. But Missy is tired of hearing about the atrocities committed against her people and leaves the museum to get some air. Alone, August admires the displays and feels ignorant at the same time. She agrees with Missy that the exhibits feel like an attempt to appease White people’s guilt.
Missy’s reaction to the museums illustrates how frustrating it can be for indigenous people to see their history of marginalization displayed while their living populations continue to exist within an oppressive system. In other words, the museum only acknowledges Aboriginal suffering as a way to appease White guilt, not to make any genuine effort toward helping Aboriginal Australians who are still living. August understands Missy’s grief but chooses to stay in the museum, soaking up the culture she’s almost lost.
Active
Themes
Approaching the information desk, August asks about her family’s artifacts, showing the clerk Eddie’s cards. Though the curator’s assistant and researchers easily locate the items in the database, they tell August she has to book a viewing and give her forms to fill out. August wants to tell them how urgently she needs these artifacts to right whatever’s gone wrong in her family but doesn’t. Instead, she relays the information to Missy, lying about the frequency with which the artifacts are displayed, as if that will soften the blow. Frustrated, Missy says they don’t have time but agrees to fill out the forms at home.
After returning the rental car, August and Missy board the train for Massacre Plains. Missy says the artifacts wouldn’t change anything anyway before falling asleep. August looks up photos of tin mines on her aunt’s phone. She feels convicted that the lives of her people meant something, even if they’ve been torn apart and dismissed by the general population. After midnight, Joey picks them up at the station. He tells them things have gotten “a bit wild” at Prosperous. Rinepalm started clearing trees and knocked down a shed, prompting the protesters to chain themselves to various structures. He drives them back to Prosperous, where the wheat field is ablaze. Elsie and Great-Aunt Mary are waiting on the veranda.
Active
Themes
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