Jack Davis ( No Sugar Essay)
NO SUGAR (JACK DAVIS)
Jack Davis’ “No Sugar”, written in 1985, is a play that highlights Australian racism and cultural destruction caused by British colonialism. It is set in 1929 (Great Depression) in Northam, Western Australia. The play explores the impacts of the European social and political philosophy of the early 20th century on Aboriginal society. The focal points of this play are the superiority of white people, racism, and the bond between Aboriginal families. These themes highlight Australian culture, and have shaped it into its many different forms for all Australian’s today.
Jack Davis has used dialogue between the characters in this extract to privilege a postcolonial reading of the text. Davis uses dialogue in order to construct a world in which the aboriginal people can be identified to the audience as an ill-treated, oppressed race. Davis uses dialogue to represent how the colonized react to the social situations in which they were subjugated to, on a regular basis in the early times of colonization. “CISSIE: Aw mum, Old Tony the ding always sells us little shriveled ones and them wetjala kids big fat one.” Through this dialogue the audience identifies that society at the time did not allow the colonized to be classed as the same standard as the colonizer. Davis lends this text to a postcolonial reading through the use of characterization.
The use of characterization in the play reinforces the idea that the characters amplify a sort of submission to English culture displays to the audience the effect of colonization. Although the characters retain many of their aboriginal attributes, such as living off the land “Come on, let’s get these rabbits.” They have allowed themselves and their culture to be colonized by accepting many of the British attributes such as playing cricket “DAVID and CISSIE play cricket with a home-made bat and ball.” The aboriginal people have allowed themselves to colonized acquiring British aspects, which coincide
Jack Davis’ “No Sugar”, written in 1985, is a play that highlights Australian racism and cultural destruction caused by British colonialism. It is set in 1929 (Great Depression) in Northam, Western Australia. The play explores the impacts of the European social and political philosophy of the early 20th century on Aboriginal society. The focal points of this play are the superiority of white people, racism, and the bond between Aboriginal families. These themes highlight Australian culture, and have shaped it into its many different forms for all Australian’s today.
Jack Davis has used dialogue between the characters in this extract to privilege a postcolonial reading of the text. Davis uses dialogue in order to construct a world in which the aboriginal people can be identified to the audience as an ill-treated, oppressed race. Davis uses dialogue to represent how the colonized react to the social situations in which they were subjugated to, on a regular basis in the early times of colonization. “CISSIE: Aw mum, Old Tony the ding always sells us little shriveled ones and them wetjala kids big fat one.” Through this dialogue the audience identifies that society at the time did not allow the colonized to be classed as the same standard as the colonizer. Davis lends this text to a postcolonial reading through the use of characterization.
The use of characterization in the play reinforces the idea that the characters amplify a sort of submission to English culture displays to the audience the effect of colonization. Although the characters retain many of their aboriginal attributes, such as living off the land “Come on, let’s get these rabbits.” They have allowed themselves and their culture to be colonized by accepting many of the British attributes such as playing cricket “DAVID and CISSIE play cricket with a home-made bat and ball.” The aboriginal people have allowed themselves to colonized acquiring British aspects, which coincide