A Black Grandmother
-Sally Morgan
Answer the following questions.
1. Why was the origin of the family hidden?
The origin of Sally’s family was hidden to avoid being humiliated in society. After being Australia dominated by the whites, the Aboriginals were considered terrible. It was reckoned that Aboriginals were a bad influence. Thus, Sally’s grandmother had told a lie that she was not an aboriginal. This indicates that the aboriginals had to conceal their identity to live with dignity and respect. There was a great deal of social stigma attached to be Aboriginal in their society.
2. Sally was not good in study, but what and who encouraged her to excel in the junior exam?
Sally was not good in study, but she was encouraged by her mother and Aunty Judy. Her mother was keen on her doing well, she decided that, for her mother, she’d make the effort and try and pass subjects she had previously failed. For the first time in her school life, she actually sat up late, studying her textbooks. It was hard work, but her mother encouraged her by bringing in cups of tea and cake or toast and jam. After each examination, her mother would ask her anxiously how she had done.
Aunty Judy assured her that she couldn’t be an artist. She advised Sally not to worry her mother who wanted her to stay at school. She further said that she could give up all idea of Art School because it was just not on.
3. What was the reason of Nan’s frustration that made her cry?
The main reason of Nan’s frustration that made her cry was that she wanted to conceal her real identity as an aboriginal. She was frustrated for being a black grandmother. When someone tried to know her real identity, she felt bad as she was black. She told her that her grandchildren wanted a white grandmother not a black. Black people were living a difficult life in their community. Thus, Nan felt that they were inferior to whites as the blacks were suffered from a social stigma that it was a terrible thing to be Aboriginals.
5. How did Sally convince herself that she was aborigine?
When Sally was fifteen years old, she, for the first time, was conscious of her Nan’s colouring. By that time onward, she was sure that her grandmother was not white. Then she thought logically, if her grandmother was not white neither of them were. That moment onward, Sally convinced herself that she was aboriginal.
6. Explain with reference to the context:
i. “There’s no money like the old money”
Who said this line to whom? What does ‘old money’ refer here? What was the incident?
Sally’s Nan said this line to her mother. ‘Old money’ refers to here Australia’s currency, i.e., pounds, shilling and pence which changed to dollars and cents. The incident was that the Australia’s currency changed from pounds, shilling and pence to dollars and cents. Sally’s Mum and Nan thought that it was a step backwards in their history.
ii. ‘You’ll leave school over my dead body!’
Who is the speaker, what is happening? How is the mood of the speaker? Who is the sentence addressed to?
The speaker is Sally’s mother. Sally wants to leave school, but her mother wants to her to be good at school education. The mood of the speaker is bad. She is annoyed with her daughter’s question “Why don’t you let me leave school?”. This sentence is addressed to Sally.
