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Chapter 40
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
Elsie initially caved to Rinepalm’s demands because the mine would help others in town. Now, Aunt Nicki reveals Albert’s dictionary, along with his heartbreaking secret knowledge that Jimmy, Aunt Mary’s son, murdered Jedda. At the same time, Rinepalm fells a tree on the property, revealing a mass grave of old bones. Historians declare the undocumented Aboriginal cemetery culturally significant. Additionally, Nicki gives Albert’s Native Title application, dictionary, and cassette recorder to August. She was just trying to protect the family from its contents. Albert has recorded himself pronouncing various Wiradjuri words, leaving behind a precious artifact of Aboriginal culture. Eddie moves away. August knows there’s nothing more to say between them.
Even as her home was being stolen from her, Elsie tried to frame this new trauma as beneficial for the rest of her community. But in light of the revelations of Albert’s dictionary and the Mission’s Aboriginal cemetery, the Gondiwindis now have enough proof of cultural connection to claim Native Title on the land. While Nicki felt she had good reasons for keeping the dictionary secret, the novel suggests that, in the end, the family’s collective trauma must be faced in order to begin the healing process. Albert’s inclusion of spoken Wiradjuri words makes it clear that the language is not extinct but embodied and relevant to of his still-living Aboriginal descendants. Eddie’s departure confirms for August that, despite his friendship, he was never willing to make the sacrifices necessary to be part of her family.
Active
Themes
Six months later, it rains on Massacre Plains for 40 days. The Murrumby fills and reinvigorates the land. Museum anthropologists declare the Aboriginal Australians a civilization based on their revolutionary agricultural techniques, documented by Albert and Greenleaf’s records. The rain delays the mine’s construction. August stays in Massacre Plains with Elsie, Missy, Mary, and Joey. She has finally found the words and belonging she was looking for and has grown comfortable carrying the past with her. Jolene is finally released from prison. She and August say goodbye to Jedda together. August and Joey distribute pages from Albert’s dictionary to local kids. The dictionary’s Foreword reminds its readers that the words and the people who speak them still exist on this land.
