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Act 2, Scene 2
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in No Sugar, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Racism, Discrimination, and Colonial Violence
Government, Civilization, and Religion
White Australians vs. the Aboriginal Family Unit
Language and Culture
Summary
Analysis
Back at the Long Pool Camp in the Moore River Settlement, the Millimurra-Mundays play, work, and rest. Billy arrives with Matron Neal, Topsy, and Mary. Matron Neal examines the family for scabies, the ostensible reason for which they were sent to Moore River, even as they protest that they are clean. Unsurprisingly, she finds them healthy, and tells Milly it’s a credit to her parenting.
Milly is the center of the family unit and does her best to make sure her clan is healthy and clean. It is kind of the Matron to acknowledge this, but it is a crime that the family was brought to Moore River at all, as there was never evidence that they had scabies, and it was only a plot to get Aboriginal families out of Northam.
Themes
Although there’s nothing wrong with Joe, Matron Neal has him take his shirt off for an examination. The Matron comments that he’s a “strapping lad” and Gran draws attention to Joe’s belly button. She’s proud of it because she tied it herself, and “brought him into the world with me own two hands.”
Gran has delivered many generations of Millimurra-Munday babies. Like Milly, she is deeply invested in the physical wellbeing of the family, from birth onwards.
Themes
The Matron concludes there is nothing wrong with the Millimurra-Munday family. She gives Milly some soap and handkerchiefs to keep the children clean. As she leaves, the Matron asks how many dogs the family is keeping. The family remains silent for a moment, before Sam admits that they have a handful. Billy tells the Matron the family has seven, causing Joe, David, and Cissie to curse at him as he leaves.
Billy is more loyal to the Matron, his employer, than he is to the Aboriginal community. Instead of protecting them by concealing the number of dogs they have, he happily admits that they have several, meaning the dogs will likely be killed by the officials at Moore River.
Themes
