Sally's Story Analysis

Great Essays
Sally’s Story Sally’s Story illustrates the life of an average Aboriginal family in Australia. The southern British Commonwealth during that period of time was a far cry from its colonial past, where Aborigines were singled out for persecution. Yet, life for members of the Aboriginal population remains to be a struggle in a subtle but present manner. Indigenous Australians faced difficulties from greater economic hardships caused by poverty and unemployment to social stigma and discrimination, which is a huge contrast in comparison to their Caucasian counterparts. Moreover, the story highlights the problems of many Australian War Veterans who suffer from alcoholism, depression and ailments after their time of duty which made life for them …show more content…
As mentioned, Sally’s father has served in the army during World War II and his life as a veteran has taken a toll on both himself and on his family. Throughout his time in the story, Sally’s father has been mentioned for his war stories and experiences serving in the army. Moreover, the years have been explicitly mentioned as being set throughout the 1950s and 60s. One notable historical experience that has occurred simultaneously with Sally’s Story was the shifting of Australia’s currency in 1966 from pounds, shillings and pence to the current Australian dollar. This was a measure to streamline and simplify the economy through a decimal based system with one standardised national currency (Murphy, 2016). However, based on the story, Sally’s mother and grandmother were concerned with the shift to the dollar. “There’s no money like the old money”, as Sally’s grandmother has stated in response. Evidently, Australia is undergoing changes as a result from a rising Post-World War era, especially with regards to the economy and acceptance of …show more content…
Numerous issues remain in the country for the native population of the country as illustrated in the book. However, there tends to be a shift to normalcy and acceptance of Aboriginals in Australia. During the period in which Australia was colonised by the British Empire, tribes have been massacred and attempts to wipe populations of natives from the continent were undergone by soldiers and troops stationed there. Aboriginals were also classified as “sub-human” or inferior to the White man and efforts to civilise them through abductions was even justified to promote a “wholesome community”. Therefore, many Aboriginals have focused merely on survival as a way of life due to the threat imposed by the European

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