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Eddie Falstaff
Aunt Missy is a middle-aged Aboriginal Australian woman. She is the daughter of Elsie and Albert Gondiwindi and the sister of Jolene and Nicki. Joey Gondiwindi is her son. When her niece, August, returns to Australia and begins searching for Albert’s dictionary, Aunt Missy becomes her ally in trying to save the family farm. Unlike Elsie, Missy believes they ought to fight Rinepalm’s claim on the land and protests alongside August, Joey, and Mandy when the bulldozers arrive.
Aunt Missy Quotes in The Yield
The The Yield quotes below are all either spoken by Aunt Missy or refer to Aunt Missy. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 33 Quotes
The three of them broke from a giggle to belly laughs. August felt there, felt effortlessly at home, felt as if a vibration were being shared between the three generations of women. Felt as if she might laugh that way, on Prosperous, after everything, after death and theft and secrets and lies and the muddied water, and the diesel and the blood—after all that—she felt as if she was home. Belonged.
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Aunt Missy rebukes a Rinepalm representative who interrupts her dinner with Elsie and August, refusing to feign friendliness with one of the people stealing their land. Though Elsie has declined to fight the mining corporation, she seems to appreciate Missy’s anger on her behalf, joining her and August in “belly laughs” here. The interaction leaves August feeling “effortlessly at home” and connected to her aunt and grandmother. This is a notable departure from her previous sensations of alienation and discomfort, which suggests she is beginning to heal from the childhood suffering she endured. The “muddied water” of long-term trauma still Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae
She was trying to figure out how people valued a thing, what made something revered while other things were overlooked. Who decided what was out with the old, what had to have a replacement? What traditions stayed and what tools, household items, art, things, evidence of someone, languages, fell away. But when she tried to draw a vague line to the artifacts of Prosperous she was stumped—why the artifacts of Middlesbrough were important and not those from home.
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Driving to the museum, August recalls her trip to Hadrian’s Wall near Middlesbrough in England—a wall built by invading Romans. Then and now, she contemplates “how people valued a thing, what made something revered while other things were overlooked.” Here, August notes that historical artifacts don’t necessarily provide a full and unbiased picture of ancient life, only what people considered valuable enough to preserve. While evidence of Roman civilization remains, the habits and lifestyles of local people they replaced have been essentially wiped from the record. In the same way, much of the physical evidence of Aboriginal Australian culture has Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus poss
Chapter 35 Quotes
August wanted to hand the papers back and to tell them everything, draw them close and whisper that their lives had turned out wrong, that she and her family were meant to be powerful, not broken, tell them that something bad happened before any of them was born. Tell them that something was stolen from a place inland, from the five hundred acres where her people lived. She wanted to tell them that the world was all askew and she thought it was because of the artifacts, that she thought they should understand it was all so urgent now, that they knew truths now, to tell them that she wasn’t extinct, that they didn’t need the exhibition after all.
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At the museum, August asks staff for help reclaiming the artifacts stolen from her family’s land. Rather than apologizing for the theft and returning the Gondiwindi artifacts immediately (as might be considered appropriate), they instruct August to book a viewing of the collection. August silently accepts their forms but really wants “to tell them everything” about the Gondiwindis’ historical oppression and their current struggle to save their homeland. So close to the cultural evidence that might save Prosperous, August feels convinced that “she and her family were meant to be powerful […] that something bad happened before any of them Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam dolor
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Aunt Missy Character Timeline in The Yield
The timeline below shows where the character Aunt Missy appears in The Yield. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 11
August’s Aunt Missy and Great-Aunt Mary pull up to the house. Both women are shocked to see August,...
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Chapter 17
Later, Aunt Missy and Great-Aunt Mary arrive with two others: Betty and Nora. August prepares the guest bedrooms...
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Chapter 20
...found, they never had a funeral for her. August goes outside to smoke, where Aunt Missy is telling Eddie about how Albert used to take her and her sisters—Jolene and Nicki—eel...
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August sees her cousin Joey, Aunt Missy’s son. She hasn’t seen him since he was sent to juvenile detention for four years....
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Chapter 23
August and her family gather around the fire pit. She stands with her aunties—Missy, Mary, and Nicki—seeming to sense their thoughts. Missy remembers fishing and planting with Albert. Mary...
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Chapter 33
Back at Prosperous, Aunt Missy and Elsie are packing boxes. August tells Missy privately about Eddie’s father donating Aboriginal artifacts...
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At the library, Missy reads more about the museum’s collection on a computer. August tells a librarian, Julie, that...
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Missy and August stop for fish and chips before heading home. A White man in front...
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...at the propaganda designed to convince young children the mines are beneficial. Later, she and Missy go through the Falstaffs’ artifact records and contemplate claiming Native Title on the land.
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The next day, August and Missy drive toward the coast. August loves traveling but feels a peculiar compulsion to return home....
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August asks Missy about the days preceding Poppy Albert’s death. Despite Albert’s belief that he’d return as something...
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Chapter 35
The next morning, August and Missy wait at the beach for the museum to open, hoping they’ll be able to convince...
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Upset, Missy tells August that White people should only get to visit “a museum of tanks of...
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...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...
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After returning the rental car, August and Missy board the train for Massacre Plains. Missy says the artifacts wouldn’t change anything anyway before...
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Chapter 37
Missy, Elsie, and Mary go back inside Prosperous while Joey and August look across the burning...
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Chapter 39
...the protest. The phone rings—it’s Elsie, checking to see if her house is still standing. Missy takes the phone and August fills her in. Missy wants to join the protesters. August...
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...Joey’s participation in the protest. Joey says the mine has no right to this land. Missy arrives and chains herself beside her son. They invite Eddie to join but he declines...
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...identity and fostering respect between groups. Elsie and Mary arrive and chide August, Joey, and Missy for chaining themselves to the fence. Joey insists they have to try. Elsie understands.
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...which has comforted her. Later, police in riot gear advance on the protesters. Joey sends Missy away so she doesn’t get hurt. The officers hose and tear-gas them. Other protesters arrive,...
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Chapter 41
...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...
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