Analyse Power and Resistance in the plays 7 Stages of Grieving

Plays such as these are seen as distinctive aspects of literature that engage audiences through shared emotion that affects us all. Through different classical literary works, everyone has experienced the excitement and emotional involvement that gives the play its important place in our lives today. The play, the 7 stages of grieving, is one of the most successful and fantastic works, which first premiered in 1995—a time of economic and social difficulty in Australia. The play conveys a deep relevant theme of discrimination as well as using a wide range of compelling literary devices and bringing the audience to experience many special emotions throughout the whole play. Within the play, it recognizes the truth of colonialism’s ravages on the indigenous community in the form of murder, discrimination, dispossession, and more—was seen as ground-breaking in many ways. The 7 stages of grieving, highlights power structures that have impacted the daily life of Indigenous Australia as well as the ways in which power has been exerted: physically, emotionally, individually, systemically, through the removal of lands and culture. In “invasion poem”, the significant impact of a colonial violence is intensely shown through the sharing of the Woman and her family’s real-life experiences. The demonstration of the omnipresent and devastating colonial violence in Aboriginal life is depicted through the steal of the Woman’s “father seat” by the brutal strangers, an event that can be seen as a metaphor for the loss of Indigenous heritage and tradition as shown in the play. The life under a White dominated society is also displayed through an instance of violence as the powerful “invaders” arrogantly command the Indigenous Woman “not to speak”, “not to dance” and cruelly beat her, “chained her feet” in her own house, this strongly engages the audience to consider the significant influences of violence and colonialism on daily life for Aboriginal Australian at that time. The pitiful death of a young Aboriginal man, Daniel Yocke, who “wasn’t breathing” and “didn’t have any pulse” after being arrested by Brisbane police in scene fourteen, contributing to highlight a system that inherently discriminatory and inequality. Wesley Enoch and Deborah Mailman showcases the theme of discrimination throughout several scenes within the plays, the 7 stages of grieving, the scary, painful “sleepless” and deaths are overall the traumatic outcome of the Aboriginal community under a White violent government system. The theme of resistance and self-determine are also significantly displayed within the plays through a prominent march to protest deaths in custody, “don’t tell me we weren’t fighting”, providing individuals an opportunity to unite and stand against injustice. The process of celebrating the Aboriginal people identity under a white superiority system, this has been fought for through many years and “fighting most their lives” posing characterised the Indigenous spirit and experience. The option to flee is presented, as in the case of Aunty Grace, but her grief at Nana’s funeral shows the price she has paid, the loss of family and culture. Through the action of Aunty Grace, “crying, at last, crying”, showing the ultimate grief and sadness which is a physical and emotional result of the abuse of power based in race in the society at that time. The sign on the grave ‘for sale’ and ‘a changing flag’ indicates that the red earth in which the grave is placed, and indeed all the lives which have been displace when “a wreck on arrival”. The loss of land which is known as their identity, and their family evokes the ‘capacity for grief’ which is taught Aboriginal to ‘cry quietly’, “cry in the dark and alone with their grief” and cry for those people who “had never come back. ” An audience would relate to the loss of the Aboriginal identify and their family member and consider the significant of a nation and culture fading away with nothing more than ‘grieving’ in the harrowing past. Throughout an extreme grief and the fading away of Indigenous culture, the theme hope is intensely placed in the audience. Hope in Mailman and Wesley’s play looks toward the future: ‘everything has its time’ (Scene 5). The hope for reconciliation is metaphorically packed in a suitcase which is full of photographs of family members and elders who have died. the Woman’s emptying the suitcase illustrates the central conundrum she faces to constantly grieve which is too much to bear—yet to forget them altogether is unbearable in a different way. It represents a disconnection from her culture, her family, and indeed herself. Hope is garnished by family despite the circumstances. Family and unity, meeting and marching brings hope to individuals and the community. Resistance and perseverance has prevailed when hope has been betrayed. In concluding, the actor places hope in the audience by laying the suitcase at their feet, symbolically asking them to participate in reconciliation. Despite vivid descriptions of the hardship and bleak circumstances of colonisation, continued oppression and racism, the play still presents hope as can be seen that the Woman believes “tomorrow will be a better day”. Overall, hope is intently depicted as being able to survive through family, through maintaining cultural ties in storytelling and, ultimately, in individuals who may not have power and position but can still make changes. In conclusion, the phases of discrimination, assimilation, self-determination and hope of Aboriginal history are very clearly showed from 7 Stages’ tone, themes, and content, however, that the idea of true reconciliation caused many Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander people even more pain. At the end of the action, the Woman is still messily moving through the many stages of grieving, attempting to wrangle the many layers of her sorrow, her family’s struggles, and her people’s pain. The play makes transparent Enoch and Mailman’s frustrations with the idea that Reconciliation’s goals, while noble, will ever be possible for a people who have been disenfranchised, dispirited, and structurally disadvantaged by colonialist oppression and violence for over two centuries.