The Bone Sparrow – Analytical Piece
Characters and Setting:
The Bone Sparrow is a heart touching story, set in an Australian Immigration Detention Centre. A young refugee, Subhi, tells the story from his perspective but some chapters of the book, are told from third person.
Subhi lives with his older sister, Queeny, and his mother who he refers to as ‘maa’. Subhi was born within the camp, and therefore has never experienced the ‘real’ world, beyond the fence. However, Subhi’s sister and mother both once lived outside the fence, before they had to flee from the violence in their country. Subhi’s best friend is Eli. They share everything with each other, but things change when Eli is moved to a different part within the camp. Subhi meets …show more content…
The high gates of the detention centre embody the loneliness the majority of people entrapped, experience. Yet for young refugee Subhi, the walls are simply a tool to which he utilises to measure his height; metaphorically demonstrating a feeling of hope, in contrast to the majority of people, confined. Expressed from Subhi’s perspective, The Bone Sparrow narrates a beautiful story, solely based on the common idea, that a child can view the world through ‘rose coloured glasses’. Although Subhi was never destined to experience life outside the camp, his vivid imagination allows him to explore a world in which he views as beautiful. His endless optimism allows Subhi to find the smallest glimpses of hope and joy in the darkest of situations, despite the reality of his living conditions. Of a night time, for young Subhi, his mother’s stories turn to life when the dirt outside, turns to a magical sea, washing him up …show more content…
The main themes include: hope, resilience, freedom, and looking for wonder in grim circumstances. Zana Fraillon positions the reader in such a way, as to find these themes both heart-warming and heart-breaking. The story being told from a child’s perspective, makes it heart-warming, seeing how a child’s innocence can cause them to think, and imagine. They can view the world through their imagination how they ant to see it. On the other hand, the story is completely heart-breaking as we know what is happening in reality, and we see the side of the story that young Subhi is oblivious to. I think Zana Fraillon has written this book to do exactly that. Make the audience really think about Subhi’s conditions, and realise that this is what Australian society has come to. We know of the issue about refugees and asylum seekers looking for a safe place to live, but don’t know enough about it, to really do anything. The situation is one, that has been present in society for so long, that people are becoming immune to it. The issue is becoming more and more ignored. This is ironic as originally, people were passionate about helping these people find a safe home and place to live, but as more news reports and accounts, have been released, people are losing interst in the topic, and starting to ignore
Characters and Setting:
The Bone Sparrow is a heart touching story, set in an Australian Immigration Detention Centre. A young refugee, Subhi, tells the story from his perspective but some chapters of the book, are told from third person.
Subhi lives with his older sister, Queeny, and his mother who he refers to as ‘maa’. Subhi was born within the camp, and therefore has never experienced the ‘real’ world, beyond the fence. However, Subhi’s sister and mother both once lived outside the fence, before they had to flee from the violence in their country. Subhi’s best friend is Eli. They share everything with each other, but things change when Eli is moved to a different part within the camp. Subhi meets …show more content…
The high gates of the detention centre embody the loneliness the majority of people entrapped, experience. Yet for young refugee Subhi, the walls are simply a tool to which he utilises to measure his height; metaphorically demonstrating a feeling of hope, in contrast to the majority of people, confined. Expressed from Subhi’s perspective, The Bone Sparrow narrates a beautiful story, solely based on the common idea, that a child can view the world through ‘rose coloured glasses’. Although Subhi was never destined to experience life outside the camp, his vivid imagination allows him to explore a world in which he views as beautiful. His endless optimism allows Subhi to find the smallest glimpses of hope and joy in the darkest of situations, despite the reality of his living conditions. Of a night time, for young Subhi, his mother’s stories turn to life when the dirt outside, turns to a magical sea, washing him up …show more content…
The main themes include: hope, resilience, freedom, and looking for wonder in grim circumstances. Zana Fraillon positions the reader in such a way, as to find these themes both heart-warming and heart-breaking. The story being told from a child’s perspective, makes it heart-warming, seeing how a child’s innocence can cause them to think, and imagine. They can view the world through their imagination how they ant to see it. On the other hand, the story is completely heart-breaking as we know what is happening in reality, and we see the side of the story that young Subhi is oblivious to. I think Zana Fraillon has written this book to do exactly that. Make the audience really think about Subhi’s conditions, and realise that this is what Australian society has come to. We know of the issue about refugees and asylum seekers looking for a safe place to live, but don’t know enough about it, to really do anything. The situation is one, that has been present in society for so long, that people are becoming immune to it. The issue is becoming more and more ignored. This is ironic as originally, people were passionate about helping these people find a safe home and place to live, but as more news reports and accounts, have been released, people are losing interst in the topic, and starting to ignore