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Foreign Soil
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Foreign Soil, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Place
The Limitations of Hope
Communication and Misunderstanding
Solidarity vs. Prejudice
Summary
Analysis
Kellyville Village is a small, idyllic place where everyone knows everyone else’s business, nobody locks their doors, and the “white-picket-fence dream” persists. This year, 1992, boasts the hottest summer ever recorded—at least, it’s the hottest summer since the narrator (Ava) has been alive. Everyone is listening to Salt-N-Pepa—but not the narrator. And she hates her brother’s MC Hammer-inspired flattop hairstyle. Instead, she longs for hair extensions and “straightening goo.” She wants to look like a “real Aussie girl[]“ and resents her Afro and dark skin. She knows she’ll never be Madonna or Kylie Minogue, but she just wants to be less like herself—and she hates that nobody understands this.
Just as experiencing prejudice can turn oppressed people against each other (rather than against their oppressors), it can also cause people to internalize their oppressors’ derogatory views. Growing up in a mostly white, suburban town where the “white-picket-fence dream” persists has taught Ava to reject her Blackness. Her peers and the broader culture have taught her that her Blackness is something to be ashamed of, and so she’s ashamed of it. Also telling is the way she thinks having an Afro and dark skin makes her less a “real Aussie girl[]” than other (white) girls.
Themes
In the present, the principal, Mr. James, knocks on the classroom door. The narrator (Ava) wonders if her grade-three teacher, Mr. Wilkinson, is in trouble. People consider him “a renegade” because he wears his long hair in a ponytail, lives in a caravan on the edge of town, and wears band T-shirts instead of dress shirts. Mr. Wilkinson smiles as Mr. James enters the classroom, a fake smile on Mr. James’s face. It’s rumored that he was in Vietnam and that “something evil had happened there.” Melinda’s mom guesses that the Viet Cong captured and tortured him. A skinny, trembling girl with shiny black hair steps out from behind Mr. James. Mr. Wilkinson announces that the girl’s name is Shu Yi. The narrator has never seen someone as beautiful as Shu Yi; she’s what the narrator would look like if she “were a little less me.”
There are traces of anti-Asian sentiments in this scene, from the rumors that “something evil had happened” to Mr. James in Vietnam to Melinda’s mother’s guess that the Viet Cong captured and tortured Mr. James. Both details create a narrative in which Vietnamese people—and to ignorant, undiscerning Westerners, Asian people in general—are violent, monstrous, and subhuman. With this in mind, Shu Yi’s new classmates’ willingness to accept her into their classroom and community seems unlikely. Meanwhile, the narrator’s comment on Shu Yi’s beauty suggests that she doesn’t hold her peers’ prejudiced views.
Themes
Shu Yi is quiet; she keeps her head down and sits alone at recess. The next day, Melinda Meyer announces that her family is thinking of moving out to Windsor, since “even Baulkham Hills is starting to look like another fucken country.” When Glenn Hopkins asks Melinda what country Australia is starting to look like, Melinda shrugs and says, “Maybe Africa or something.” From that day forth, the students make Shu Yi’s life miserable; people spit in her hair, and she always returns from snack time looking like she’s just been crying. But the narrator (Ava) just occupies herself with her Hans Christian Andersen book, as she doesn’t “want[] to take on” Shu Yi’s case—since Shu Yi’s arrival, the other students have left her alone, and Ava’s mum has finally “taken the plastic undersheet off [Ava’s] bed.”
Melinda Meyer’s comment about her community “starting to look like another fucken country” is rather cruel and pointed—it doesn’t seem like something a young child could come up with on their own. It’s clear that Melinda’s parents are directly or indirectly teaching her to look down on immigrants and regard non-white people as inferior. And that the other students take her lead suggests that they—either at home, or from Melinda—have been taught to think this way too. Ava takes a morally ambiguous position. While she clearly recognizes that it’s wrong to bully and dehumanize Shu Yi, she’s grateful that Shu Yi’s suffering has alleviated hers—notably, she’s relieved that her mother can finally remove her bed’s “plastic undersheet,” suggesting that she wet the bed when her peers bullied her and hasn’t done so since Shu Yi’s arrival. Still, though she doesn’t participate in the bullying, her failure to act in solidarity with Shu Yi means that the bullying can continue, so her lack of involvement doesn’t help anyone but herself.
Themes
One night, after dinner, the narrator’s (Ava) mother (Ava’s mum) clears the dinner plates in silence—a clear sign she wants to talk to one of the kids about something important. The narrator, whose mother calls her Ava, asks Ava how the new girl, Shu Yi, is doing at school. Ava’s mum has noticed that Shu Yi is always alone, doesn’t speak much English, and seems sad. Ava’s mum reminds Ava that it’s hard to be the new kid at school—especially “if you’re different[.]” When Ava responds, “Whatever,” her mum is stunned.
Ava’s mother is trying to teach Ava that acting in solidarity with others who are less fortunate than oneself (in this case, Shu Yi) is always the right thing to do. In failing to challenge Shu Yi’s (and Ava’s, formerly) oppressors, Ava is indirectly supporting the very systemic racism and prejudice that led her peers to bully her.
Themes
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Ava reflects on Ava’s mum’s role in the community. Ava’s mum works as a cafeteria worker and office holder for the local Babysitting Club to ensure that white suburbia accepts her Black family. Sometimes Ava “see[s] another side of [her mum],” though, on the rare occasions that her mum spots another Black woman and excitedly runs toward her. Now, Ava’s mum suggests that she and Ava talk to Mr. James about what’s going on with Shu Yi. Annoyed, Ava says it’s not their problem if Shu Yi has trouble fitting in. But Ava’s mum holds firm; she and Ava will see Mr. James tomorrow morning.
Ava’s mum has put in a lot of hard work to ensure that her predominantly white community accepts her Black kids. Foreign Soil has already shown how being an immigrant can make a person feel like an outsider and affect their sense of self and how they navigate the world. Here, it expands that idea to show how being a racial minority has similar effects.
Themes
At school the next morning, Ava eavesdrops outside Mr. James’s partially open office door as Ava’s mum and Mr. James argue. Mr. James is furious with Ava’s mum for suggesting that his students have been harassing Shu Yi. He asks her if Ava or Shu Yi has reported this. Ava’s mum lowers her voice and speaks calmly, trying to reason with Mr. James. She says it’s clear what’s going on. But Mr. James won’t budge; he tells Ava’s mum that Shu Yi will just have to learn to fit in—immigrants can’t move here “and expect everyone to bend over backward so [they] feel comfortable.” Ava’s mum leaves Mr. James’s office, calling him a “racist prick” under her breath.
Mr. James’s snide remark that immigrants like Shu Yi need to toughen up, as nobody in their new home is obligated to make them “feel comfortable” is rather ironic—after all, Mr. James’s anger seems to be a response to Ava’s mum’s accusation making him feel uncomfortable. His unhelpful response to Ava’s mum’s concern also underscores the importance of people who experience discrimination and racism to act in solidarity with each other.
Themes
Ava’s mum leads Ava into the classroom. Ava’s classmates stare at Ava as Mum leads Mr. Wilkinson into the cloakroom to speak in private. Moments later, Mr. Wilkinson motions for Ava and Shu Yi to join them. Ava stares at the students’ red schoolbags hanging from the hooks on the walls; each backpack has a black kookaburra embroidered on the front pocket, as well as the school’s motto: “PLAY THE GAME.” Ava stays silent, and so does Shu Yi. Mr. Wilkinson gently assures Ava that he knows he can count on her to help Shu Yi feel at home here. Hearing this, Shu Yi raises her head to look at Ava; there’s a hopeful expression on her face.
The school motto embroidered on Ava’s peers’ backpacks applies to Ava’s present predicament. On the one hand, she can “play the game” and stand by as her racist peers bully Shu Yi—which is the morally wrong thing to do, but which means her peers will likely continue to leave her alone. Or she can stop playing the game, reject the status quo, and stand up for Shu Yi. While this second option is clearly the morally right, socially responsible thing to do, not playing along generally creates backlash for the rule-breaker, and this isn’t something Ava wants for herself.
Themes
Ava runs out of the classroom once it’s lunchtime. She can sense Shu Yi behind her but doesn’t turn around. Ava heads to the Fairy-tale Corner of the library and considers how Shu Yi doesn’t know any fairy tales—in fact, she probably thinks it’s good manners to drop breadcrumbs outside like Hansel and Gretel.
Already, readers can see how Ava’s initial admiration for Shu Yi is starting to crumble. Under social pressure to conform to her peers’ racist views, she starts to regard Shu Yi with disdain, insinuating Shu Yi is uncivilized because she’s from another country.
Themes
Ava tries to bury her face in her book of fairy tales, but Shu Yi approaches and stands before her. In “stilted but sure” English, Shu Yi asks to sit with Ava today. Ava thinks it sounds like Shu Yi practiced saying this at home. Shu Yi looks behind her at Melinda and her friends, then she turns back around and looks at Ava “pleadingly.” But Ava just slams her book shut, and in a loud, audible whisper sneers, “Fuck off, you filthy Chink.” Melinda hears this and laughs. Shu Yi stares at Ava as a thin stream of urine drips down the inside of her legs and slowly soaks “her frilly white socks.”
Ava’s mistreatment of Shu Yi reaches a climactic high. Before, Ava indirectly enabled her racist peers by refusing to condemn their actions and defend Shu Yi. Now, she actively participates in their bullying, calling Shu Yi a racist slur. The urine that drips down Shu Yi’s leg is significant. Earlier, Ava noted that Shu Yi’s arrival corresponded with Ava’s mum removing the undersheet from her bed, insinuating that when Shu Yi arrived and the kids stopped bullying Ava, Ava stopped bedwetting (which was implied to be a shame response to being bullied). Now, as Shu Yi urinates, it’s clear that Ava has passed along that shame to Shu Yi.
Themes
