Rabbit-Proof Fence

The movie “Rabbit-Proof Fence” directed by Phillip Noyce is a true story of three Aborigine children, Molly, her younger sister Daisy Craig and their cousin Gracie Fields, who grew up with their mothers along a rabbit-proof fence in Northern Australia. They were taken from their mothers and moved to Moore River Native Settlement. Throughout the movie, the fence symbolizes a physical barrier between people and animals and also a directional landmark for leading Molly and the girls on their journey back home.

The rabbit was one of the most destructive animals to ever be released in Australia. The rabbit destroyed crops and farmland and devastated the livelihoods of the early settlers in Australia. A fifteen thousand mile tightly woven chain mesh link fence was constructed in 1901 and called Rabbit-Proof Fence Number One. This physical barrier, a representation of man’s progress against animal, allowed the settlers to thrive and establish their futures. The fence is a symbol of separation from undesirable species that would affect the peoples lifestyle. A fence that was built to isolate an undesirable element actually becomes the hero of the story when we see Molly’s face as she gets the idea for using the fence to take her back home.

The construction of the fifteen thousand mile fence brought the children’s white fathers to the isolated aboriginal communities. The children remained with their mothers while the fathers moved on to continue building the fence through the rugged, vast country. Due to a government policy, the half-caste children were forcibly removed against their will and moved to Moore River Native Settlement located more than one thousand miles away from their home, Jigalong. In the film, the girls are pictured as frightened rabbits trapped on the wrong side of the fence, which symbolizes the fence’s attempt to keep them away from their home.

Molly is the leader of the three girls and holds on to her “home” culture the most. She sees Moore River Settlement as “sick”, and attempts to return home against all odds. They escape on a Sunday morning during church service with no food or water. Molly’s survival skills helped them get through the long journey and evaded the best tracker the settlement had. As a young girl, Molly remembered the rabbit-proof fence around her village. She comes across the fence on her escape and uses it to guide her back home. The best scene in the movie was when Molly and her mother are holding the fence at the same time and it felt like they could feel each other. It was not only her lifeline to her mother but also is her compass and a symbol of freedom.

The rabbit-proof fence symbolizes a physical and emotional barrier against “man and animal” and “man and man”. Initially built to keep away rabbits and other animals from human progress, the fence also symbolizes racial separation for those who don’t fit into the Australian society according to the laws of the time. The Aborigines survived without the fence for many years before the arrival of the white man although it was the white man that introduced the rabbit. The movie “Rabbit-Proof Fence” depicts the fence as a racial barrier and at the same time used as a navigational tool for freedom against capture.