Every day human life is full of events that propose conflicting ideas of reality and the truth. Unfortunately, due to human error, emotions and outside influence, the recollection of such events cannot always be regarded as 100% accurate. Sometimes the truth can reflect poorly against the evidence and sometimes a series of lies can match up with what has been established as fact. Yet even determining the difference between the two can be the worst of struggles. Especially when one, of the two, involved parties is deceased. On the morning of November 19th 2004, Senior Sergeant Christopher Hurley arrested Indigenous man Cameron Doomadgee for creating a public nuisance. Later that day, Doomadgee was found dead in his cell. The event rocked the
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With the controversy capturing further attention, journalist, Chloe Hooper, was asked to report the facts of the case, now presented in her acclaimed book, ‘The Tall Man’. The text aims at displaying the competing versions of reality, including the power struggle between Indigenous and Non-indigenous Australian’s, as well as the social differences between Palm Island and mainland Australia; and the difference between truth and what is told. Through the concepts of truth, justice, race and the ongoing legacy of colonialism, Hooper engages the reader to find their perception of the case’s reality, that may oppose the originally accepted version of the truth.
Perhaps the most obvious contradicting reality in The Tall Man lies between the ‘good and evil’ metaphorical, understanding of Indigenous and Non-indigenous Australian’s. Represented tirelessly in the novel, Hooper uses both past and present examples of …show more content…
The Tall Man’s preface opens with the connection between colonialism and contemporary Australia, and how while most people tend to separate the two events they are in fact very closely linked. The way Hooper writes, effortlessly challenges the idea that the past has no effect on the future by referencing the negative history, that is the Aboriginal past. She also demonstrates the way a shaky foundation ruins the strength of a structure, and therefore that it is easier to break. The objective of this is to set the precedent of Doomadgee’s case, showing how that the lives and upbringings of Hurley and Doomadgee have led them down a path, that potentially made Doomadgee’s death an inevitability. The way Hooper perceives contemporary Palm Island is not actually contemporary at all, highlighting that the previously discussed lack of power is not dissimilar to first settlement, and this left the island stuck in the past. Her expression leads the reader to feel as though the Island is several civilisations behind, and in drawing attention to the lack of health care and education, she emphasises this understanding. Hooper also mentions how Palm Island was left out of the last census, showing that with all these factors combined, that the island and it’s people are essentially forgotten. “Fifteen minutes from the mainland, they lived in a different country.” (Hooper, pg. 17). The
With the controversy capturing further attention, journalist, Chloe Hooper, was asked to report the facts of the case, now presented in her acclaimed book, ‘The Tall Man’. The text aims at displaying the competing versions of reality, including the power struggle between Indigenous and Non-indigenous Australian’s, as well as the social differences between Palm Island and mainland Australia; and the difference between truth and what is told. Through the concepts of truth, justice, race and the ongoing legacy of colonialism, Hooper engages the reader to find their perception of the case’s reality, that may oppose the originally accepted version of the truth.
Perhaps the most obvious contradicting reality in The Tall Man lies between the ‘good and evil’ metaphorical, understanding of Indigenous and Non-indigenous Australian’s. Represented tirelessly in the novel, Hooper uses both past and present examples of …show more content…
The Tall Man’s preface opens with the connection between colonialism and contemporary Australia, and how while most people tend to separate the two events they are in fact very closely linked. The way Hooper writes, effortlessly challenges the idea that the past has no effect on the future by referencing the negative history, that is the Aboriginal past. She also demonstrates the way a shaky foundation ruins the strength of a structure, and therefore that it is easier to break. The objective of this is to set the precedent of Doomadgee’s case, showing how that the lives and upbringings of Hurley and Doomadgee have led them down a path, that potentially made Doomadgee’s death an inevitability. The way Hooper perceives contemporary Palm Island is not actually contemporary at all, highlighting that the previously discussed lack of power is not dissimilar to first settlement, and this left the island stuck in the past. Her expression leads the reader to feel as though the Island is several civilisations behind, and in drawing attention to the lack of health care and education, she emphasises this understanding. Hooper also mentions how Palm Island was left out of the last census, showing that with all these factors combined, that the island and it’s people are essentially forgotten. “Fifteen minutes from the mainland, they lived in a different country.” (Hooper, pg. 17). The