“The journey not the arrival matters” Discuss this statement focusing on HOW the composers of your prescribed text and two related texts represent the concept of journey.
A physical journey involves both a beginning and ending. The beginning and ending is not what is important, in fact the journey itself is important. Physical journeys involve movement to new places whilst incurring obstacles. A physical journey has many opportunities for its travellers, these allow for physical, environmental and intellectual growth as they learn about themselves whilst overcoming challenges and learning about the world around.This is shown through different techniques in the film ‘Rabbit Proof Fence’ directed by Phillip Noyce, The book cover ‘Odyssey’ by homer illustrated by Alan Baker and the poem ‘Night Ride’ by Kenneth Slessor. In ‘Rabbit Proof Fence’ directed by Phillip Noyce techniques such as, symbolism, language, lighting, camera angles and shots, imagery, music, sound and setting are used to represent the concept of journey and that ‘the journey, not the arrival matters’.
The three girls in Rabbit Proof Fence, Molly, Gracie and Daisy are the travellers.The film follows the three girls as they are captured and sent to the Moore River Native Settlement where they run away from back to their home Jigalong. The opening scene of the film is a panning shot of the landscape from a birds eye view. Noyce uses this camera angle and shot to inform the audience that the journey is going to be epic and that the landscape is a major character in the film. Noyce uses Aboriginal song and language at the beginning in scene one to set the context and show that the film will have Aboriginal content.
In Scene two Noyce positions the audience to look upon the girls and their family from a far, hiding and watching them hunt, this is shown from Constable Riggs perspective in the position he is, this represents that he is sneaky, in charge and in control and that he has authority. The slow panning up his boot represents this. Close ups of the girls smiles are shown as the camera dances with them as they play. This makes it evidently clear to the audience that the girls are happy and Jigalong and have no foresight into what is about to happen.In Scene four where the girls are taken from the depot by Constable Riggs, Noyce uses sound effects of females screaming and crying, rapid intense music and the rapid movement of the camera all show the panic and fear of the girls and their mothers.
Noyce uses the symbolism of the beating hands on the windows of Constable Riggs’ car, with the glass in between. This symbolises the loss of connection to the land and their culture. It is broken by a barrier, the barrier being the glass between the beating hands on either side. The First stage of the girls journey begins in scene six.This scene shows the girls kept behind bars like prisoners and animals their fear is show through a low angle shot from the view of Molly up to the guard and high angle shots show their vulnerability.
The girls fear is shown when the three girls arrive at Moore River Native Settlement. The girls think that the nun is a ghost and are hesitant to follow her. Noyce shows the girls fear through the use of the girl’s body language and how they whisper to one another. The beginning of the second journey takes place in scene sixteen.As the camera follows the girls among the trees, the rain covers their tracks; the rain becomes the first obstacle that the girls have to overcome. Noyce shows this by a camera zooming in on the girls sheltering in rock terrain from a high point.
The second obstacle the girls have to over come is outwitting Moodoo the aboriginal tracker. Molly outwits Moodoo by hiding Daisy’s bag upstream and then walking downstream to cover their tracks. Noyce allows Molly to learn certain things that she didn’t already know on her journey home.Molly learns that there is more than one fence.
Noyce uses the symbolism of the girls touching the fence as they grab the barb wire at the same time Maude does. This also shows that the girls have made a significant advance in the journey; the Rabbit Proof Fence will lead them home. At this point in time Noyce changes the music from eerie to uplifting to change the mood, this signifying an important stage in their journey home. Noyce shows that Moodoo has respect for Molly through the only words he speaks in the film ‘she’s pretty clever that girl, she wants to go home’.This also emphasises the fact that he wants Molly to succeed in her journey and make it back home to her family in Jigalong.
Noyce then creates another obstacle for Molly to overcome, this time she is unable to outwit A O Neville as he tricks Gracie into believing her mother is nearby and she can catch the train to her. As Daisy and Molly watch Gracie being captured by Constable Riggs the audience is shown the pain and determination in Molly’s eyes as they watch Gracie, knowing her journey is at an end and she is going back to Moore River Native Settlement.It is at this moment that the audience knows Molly will go to what ever lengths are needed to get her and Daisy home to Jigalong, even if that involves carrying Daisy whilst both of them are very exhausted. The final obstacle Molly has to overcome is in the desert where they are stumbling along exhausted pushing on to get home, Molly supporting Daisy.
The two of them collapse, Noyce uses the sound of the two girls’ grandmother singing, then silence when the camera zooms in on the two girls collapsed on the ground.Noyce then uses the spirit bird in the sky to encourage Molly to keep going as her mother had told her the spirit bird would always look after her and guide her home, Molly mutters ‘Home’. Noyce uses a shot of Constable Riggs driving rapidly down a dirt road to Jigalong to await their arrival. The girls are called home by the singing of the female members of their aboriginal tribe. When the girls are reunited with their mother Noyce uses slow motion and music to increase the emotional impact. This is then escalated when Molly says to her grandmother ‘we lost one’.
She feels as though she failed in her journey. The closing scene is of a documentary which Molly and Daisy are walking through the desert. Noyce uses subtitles to inform the audience that their journey didn’t end at their reuniting with their mother and grandmother, the audience also learns that Gracie is now dead. The book cover ‘Odyssey’ by Homer illustrated by Alan Baker uses title, vector lines, imagery and layout to represent the concept of journey and that ‘the journey, not the arrival matters’.
Baker uses the title as the first thing that the reader’s eyes capture; he does this by the use of very large font and positioning the title in the middle of the page. The reader focuses on the word ‘Odyssey’, this represents a long journey. Baker also uses black writing on a white background to ensure that it stands out. Alan Baker uses vector lines to show the importance of the journey.
The vector lines start at the title and move down and then back up again past the title. The journey is shown as important also because of the creatures depicted, Giant octopuses and creatures of legends.The waves give the impression that there will be danger and obstacles faced on the journey. An image of a boat with sails shows that the journey is going to be a voyage of some sort. The shape of the boat sets the time of the voyage, a historical time, this setting the context and highlighting the mythical content of the journey.
The picture of the ancient Greeks also puts the cover into historical context. Alan Baker uses the layout of the book cover to emphasis the content of the journey.The book cover has a boarder and has no space wasted this inferring that the journey is going to be hectic and non stop. The book cover is balanced with a Greek scene at the top of the cover, the title placed in the centre and a mythical emphasis is placed at the bottom of the page. Kenneth Slessor the composer of the poem ‘The Night Ride’ uses techniques such as personification, onomatopoeia, metaphors, alliteration, imagery, contrast and punctuation to represent the concept of journey and that ‘the journey, not the arrival matters’.Slessor uses personification to suggest the movement of the train in the journey, for example ‘Engines Yawning’ suggests that the train is slowing and ‘the old roar of the rails’ suggests that the train is picking up speed and the journey is going to continue.
The use of onomatopoeia ‘blink’ suggests that there is a disturbance that disturbs the sleeping passengers and suggests they are half asleep. The metaphor “rushing rivers of bush outside’ creates the image of the train continuing at a high speed on its journey to an unknown destination.A time frame is set with the use of imagery ‘gas flaring on the yellow platforms’ Slessor indicates that the use of gas lanterns are present and in use on the platform. He also suggests that the train is dark and mysterious ‘the dark train’ ‘black sinister travellers’. He then contrasts from those images to calm and quietness, “all sounds are drugged”. Kenneth Slessor uses punctuation to create blurred and mixed impressions from the traveller’s point of view.
Slessor uses hyphens to create vague impressions.Slessor at the end indicates that the traveller remembers nothing of the train station at Rapptown although he observed so much he took nothing in. Slessor also doesn’t make the traveller’s destination apparent this shows that this text does not support the quote “the journey not the arrival matters” as the journey made no impact what so ever on the traveller. In the film ‘Rabbit Proof Fence’ by Phillip Noyce and the book cover ‘Odyssey’ illustrated by Alan Baker the journey and what they learn along the way is important.Although in Rabbit Proof Fence her arrival home is important the journey the girls undertake and what they learn is more important than the final destination.
The poem “the night Ride” by Kenneth Slessor does not support the quote, little impact is applicable to the traveller as opposed to that in Rabbit Proof fence and Odyssey. All physical journeys start and finish differently but all learn something along the way that makes the journey itself more important than where they arrive.
