Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence: Chapter 7 Summary & Analysis

The trip out to the settlement is “laborious and stressful,” as the roads are wet due to heavy rains. When the girls finally reach Moore River, it is dark. Matron Campbell goes inside and retrieves an orderly, who then takes Molly, Gracie, and Daisy from the car to a wooden building which will be their dormitory. The girls notice, as they approach, that the door to the building is covered in chains and padlocks, and that there are bars on all the windows. The girls think the building looks just like a jail.

The girls crawl into their beds, but cannot sleep on the hard, stiff mattresses. All three girls cuddle up in one bed, sharing blankets and clutching each other for warmth. In the morning, they are awoken by a woman pulling their blankets off of them, who then repeats the same action at every bed in the entire dormitory.

As the girls in the dormitory rouse from their beds, a friendly girl named Martha Jones introduces herself to Molly, Gracie, and Daisy and offers to be the girls’ guide. She has been at the settlement for one year, and Molly estimates that she and Martha are the same age—about fifteen. Martha insists that things at Moore River are not that bad, and that the girls will get used to the place soon.

In the dining hall, the girls eat a breakfast of “weevily” porridge and lukewarm tea. The girls eat together with the boys, and, after the meal, Martha introduces them to her cousin, a boy named Bill. Martha tells the girls to return to their dormitory while she talks with Bill, and they do. Molly whispers to Gracie and Daisy that she doesn’t like it at Moore River at all, and the girls echo her fear and distrust of the place.

After spending the rest of the morning talking and trading stories, Martha introduces the girls to her friend Polly, and the group decides to go for a walk around the settlement. Molly, Gracie, and Daisy are fascinated by the overflowing river which runs through the camp, and simultaneously miss the dry and rugged landscape of their home. As the girls continue their walk, Polly points out a big rock on the far side of the river, and warns the girls to never go there, as it’s haunted by “little hairy men.” Molly whispers to her sisters that they are in “marbu country,” and that they can’t possibly stay.

Back in the center of camp, the girls pass a small grey building. A voice calls from inside and asks for some food and some tea. One of the girls asks Martha and Polly what the building is, and Polly explains that it’s known as the “boob.” Anyone enduring punishment is locked up and left alone there—sometimes for days. Martha tells the girls about a group of runaways who were locked up for a week, with nothing to eat but bread and water. Additionally, one of the orderlies shaved their heads and paraded them around the camp, lashing them with a strap. One of the girls asks whether anyone has ever run away successfully, but Martha explains that a “black tracker” working with the settlement always catches any runaways and returns them to the camp to be flogged and locked up.

As the girls make their way back to their room,  Pilkington interjects to describe the girls’ miserable surroundings. Their dormitory is more like a concentration camp, and the children who live at the settlement are decidedly “inmates, not students.” The girls have no sheets on their beds—linens are only brought out when there is an important visitor at the camp.

Back at the dormitory, Molly, Gracie, and Daisy snuggle up on one bed and talk. Overwhelmed by all they’ve seen that afternoon, the girls begin to gossip together in their native tongue. A girl on the other side of the dormitory warns them that their language is forbidden and tells them to forget their mother tongue and speak English.

After a dinner of watery stew, the girls lie in bed while the wind blows noisily outside their window. Molly takes in her miserable surroundings and listens as an orderly locks the girls in their dormitory for the night, realizing that she and her sisters must escape from the settlement at any cost.