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Chapter 7
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
August flashes back to living with her parents, Jolene Gondiwindi and Mark Shawn. Her family was so impoverished that August began compulsively eating anything available, especially the rare block of cheese. Her parents moved to the suburb of Sunshine after Jedda and August were born. Her parents had frequent visitors but neglected their daughters, who entertained and fed themselves. August didn’t dislike her parents, but they were inexperienced. One winter, the police discovered Jolene and Mark were growing marijuana in the house and arrested them. Soon after, Elsie and Albert retrieved Jedda and August and took them to live at Prosperous House in Massacre Plains. August, who was eight, incorrectly believed this was the most turbulent time of her life.
August’s compulsive eating as a child suggests she feared going hungry. It’s worth noting that this behavior manifested prior to losing Jedda or any other significant trauma—her childhood was traumatizing from the start due to a lack of reliable caregivers. Mark and Jolene’s arrest further destabilizes their daughters’ lives, though it seems that more upheaval lies ahead, unbeknownst to young August.
Active
Themes
