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Chapter 5
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 Elsie falls asleep, August wanders the fields. Ever since Jedda disappeared, the farm’s atmosphere became significantly quieter. The citizens of Massacre Plains, likewise, became more subdued and paranoid. The news, however, treated Jedda and other brown-skinned children as forgettable, though the Gondiwindis never forgot. Heartbroken since age nine, August ultimately left home and rarely spoke of her sister. Standing in the field, August’s memories return. A sudden shower reminds her of Poppy Albert’s declaration that such rain brings both wheat and locusts. Back in her room, August reflects on the constant ache of incompleteness she’s always felt. A month after Jedda disappeared, Albert baptized her to protect her. But to August, the experience confirmed how little she belonged.
While August is reluctant to discuss her pain, the land nevertheless brings up old, painful memories. Jedda’s disappearance scarred both her family and her childhood home, rippling out to the rest of Massacre Plains. The authorities’ dismissal of Jedda’s case is, in August’s mind, indicative of institutionalized racial prejudice. The sudden rain shower symbolically amplifies August’s trauma. While Jedda’s disappearance haunts August, her general feeling of “incompleteness” suggests there are other reasons she left Australia, including a distinct sense that she didn’t belong, even among her family.
Active
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