Comparative Flashcards
Whitechapel describes himself ‘boy, mule, nigger, slave’
Family call him ‘dog’
Page 1
-Names are central to identity
-Whitechapel accepts oppressors names b/c he sees himself in the same way
-Powerless to establish individual identity -> choses to accept dehumanised status
-Family blame him for Chapels death / loyalty to Mr. WC was stronger than to family
-Powerful influence slaves’ identity
Whitechapel’s beliefs about slavery
‘born owned by another man, like his father before him and like his son would be’
Chapel dreams ‘his children would be free’ but rebuts with ‘evidence of 300 years of history’
-Wc manifestation of oppressed older generations / pessimistic re: end of slavery / resigned to its existence
-Ch represents ppl optimistic for change / want to free themselves / younger gen
-Wc = respected patriarch -> passes trauma on to future generations
-D illuminates intergenerational trauma + generational differences
Whitechapel schooled in ‘subservience, obedience, compliance’
vs
Chapel who is ‘thirsty for change’
-Contrasts b/w generations expose consequences of oppression
-Ch’s literacy transforms him form powerless to powerful / empowerment = dangerous b/c creates leaders for change
Slaves compared to ‘stock on the plantation’.
‘They do not feel what we feel’
Whitechapel
‘a slave can live a good, long life’.
-Editorial echoes society’s belief in white superiority + divide b/w dominant + subordinate groups / beliefs based on anecdotal and subjective ideas of ‘values’
-Dehumanising lang. creates divide b/c slaves worthless outside economic benefits provided to powerful -> African heritage replace w/ Western culture e.g. Wc given his
masters name
-Slaves taught to believe they’re serving god / good slave -> going to paradise (heaven) / Wc sees himself the way his masters see him
Cook explains her ‘masters pot is full of the best things’ but her pot is ‘sweet’ to her
Cook hearing Chapel read:
‘all I feel inside is pride, not fear, not yet; just pride, swelling in my chest and filling my heart’
-Cook = female voice + positive perspective -> contrast to the relentless oppression
-Loves Chapel -> keeps secret / proud and hopeful / hopes Chapel can use literacy against oppressors
-Pot metaphor = represents two identities of slave /mother + wife
-Strong identity b/c exploited yet finds meaning through life
Virginian editorial
slaves are ‘not our equal, not derived from our race’.
A ‘just punishment for a runaway slave = ‘something in the region of 200 lashings’ + ‘restricted diet’ + ‘maybe leg irons’
‘this seems just and fair’
-Flippant debate over treatment of slaves reveals accepted mistreatment and violent abuse
-Authoritative tone -> opinions appear as facts
-Virginian represents attitudes of the white majority
-Extreme violence used as a tool for economic exploitation
Black Skin Girl
‘The letters of the alphabet appear on her dress’
The Woman ‘tires’
She ‘attempts to evade the letters’
-At first, childlike game but the woman becomes increasingly uneasy
-Transformation from joy to panic = confronting for audience
-Woman sings in her own language as painfully attempts to protect herself from her oppressors / Contrast b/w English alphabet + Woman’s resistance highlight tension b/w violence of colonizers and strategies of resistance
-Language = important form of communication
Aunty Grace marries an ‘Englishman’ and moves to ‘London’
Woman, Dad brother, sister and nanna participate in ‘peaceful’ and ‘silent protest march
-England + London represent colonization -> symbolism of AG marrying Englishman poignant / to family, AG abandoned indigeneity, land + culture
-Aunty Grace = manifestation of ppl who attempt to change identity
-Family participate in peaceful march in scene after Vocke’s court report -> draws on audience’s knowledge of ATI deaths in custody + reference to ‘police camera’ increases fear but makes bravery of resistances more admirable
-Ice block continues to melt -> aud reflect on their culpability and see urgency of change needed
Woman delivers court report about the death in custody with ‘no hint of emotion’
‘finally breaks out’ & recounts events in voice of court + her own to explain ‘his condition aroused immediate concern’ eventually describes ‘limp body’ before he is ‘pronounced dead
• scene = switch to dispassionate tone of court report
• the Woman’s voice breaks in most difficult, emotional parts
• emotional distancing measures helped her tell her stories but she cannot hide her grief / pain (shows movement along the 7 stages is constant)
• Flat, disconnected monotone +the hard facts of Vocke’s story -5 highlights the apathy and brutality With which he had to contend in his final moments
-Powerful groups use excessive unnecessary force –> death
Whitechapel in forgetting
‘memory is pain’
‘how long can the masters daylight continue to rule over our nights?’
-D wants readers to empathies with slave story / feel emotional
-Wc realizes obedience to slavery has backfired
-Realizes others view of the world like chapel
-D = foreshadowing inevitable change but reader must question current society b/c inequalities remain
Plea:
‘The woman places the suitcase down at the feet of the audience’
Walking Across Bridges:
‘so many people’ / ‘we cant go back now’
-Suitcase to audience = shift of responsibility / woman carried suitcase alone now audience have witnessed her pain have a responsibility to carry it / share the burden
-Emphasizes need to change the racism and oppression which caused the baggage
-Additional scene depicting 2000 walk for reconciliation reflects evolution of play to reflect Australian society.
-Bridge walk = optimism for reconciliation / healing
-In 2021 performance = another scene at the end b/c not as hopeful following BLM movement of 2020 + anniversary of the deaths in custody report
Photograph story
Woman describes room in parents’ house w ‘trophies’ ‘pennants’ and ‘memories, birthdays…
