Language and Culture Theme Analysis

In No Sugar, both white and Aboriginal Australians use language to reinforce their own racial and cultural identities. Although all of the characters in the play predominantly speak English, the Millimurra-Munday family peppers their speech with Nyoongah, an Aboriginal language. When reading the play, readers can turn to the glossary for definitions of over one hundred words and phrases. However, for those watching the play, the frequent Nyoongah vocabulary is likely unfamiliar and disorienting. Like the white Australians within the play, audience members are forced to use context clues to uncover meaning. Living in a world where so much has been taken from them—their land, their autonomy—Aboriginal Australians hold on to language as one of the last vestiges of their culture. In contrast, white Australians use English, especially written English, as a method of gatekeeping, actively discouraging Aboriginal children from learning to read, or else using complicated documents to confuse the Aboriginal people who are signing them. In both cases, language serves to isolate one community from another. However, the white Australians use it in order to disenfranchise the Aboriginal people in their communities and deny them the opportunity to improve their conditions, whereas the Millimurra-Mundays and other Aboriginal characters use their language to protect themselves and their culture, which white Australians have attempted to steal from them or destroy.

The Millimurra-Munday family has very few physical possessions, and very little agency over their own lives—even the food they eat and the land they live on is regulated by the government. However, they are able to hold on to aspects of their rich cultural history through speech and song, even as other aspects of their identities are taken away. The Nyoongah language bonds together those that speak it, while creating a divide between the Aboriginal Australians and the white Australians who only speak English. In court, for example, Sam refers to his “gnoolya,” or brother-in-law, Jimmy, which the white men in the room do not understand. Later, Gran asks the Constable about “them wanbru,” or blankets, which he also is unable to translate. By preserving their language, the Millimurra-Munday family is able to preserve some of their culture and dignity. Songs and phrases in the Nyoongah language further preserve the family’s culture and history. The play ends with Joe and Mary leaving Moore River in search of a better life, as Gran sings them off with a song in Nyoongah. The song, which translates to “woe, woe, woe. / My boy and girl and baby / Going a long way walking,” acts as a bridge across four generations. Even as Joe, Mary, and their baby leave their families and home behind, they remain connected to their ancestors and to their culture through their shared language.

Mr. Neal, a white Australian, is more interested in controlling the people in his care than helping them. He attempts to use access to language and information as a way to oppress the Millimurra-Mundays and other Aboriginals, and keep them from gaining power or influence. At the Moore River Settlement, Mr. Neal tries to convince Sister Eileen to stop lending books and novels to the Indigenous population. He explains, “There’s a sort of unofficial directive on this: it’s the sort of thing which isn’t encourage by the Department.” When Sister Eileen clarifies what he means, asking, “you don’t encourage the natives to read?” Neal explains, “my experience with natives in South Africa and here has taught—led me to believe that there’s a lot of wisdom in the old adage that ‘a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.’” He believes that if the Aboriginal Australians are allowed to read, they will get “ideas,” which will make them harder to control. If Neal genuinely wanted to improve the lives of his charges, he would be happy to let them read. However, it seems that his goal is simply to keep the Aboriginals docile, so depriving them of knowledge and the ability to read will only depress them further.

Mr. Neal also uses the written word to manipulate the Aboriginal people under his care. He knows that Joe wants to leave the settlement with Mary and so Neal gives Joe a document to sign, which declares that Joe will “Undertake not to domicile in the town of Northam, nor anywhere in the Northam Shire. I fully understand that if I return to Northam I am liable to be returned under warrant to the Moore River or other Government Native Settlement.” Joe begins the read the paper on his own, but when he is too slow, Neal takes it from him and reads it aloud. Although Joe understands the basic gist of the document—“You mean if I put me name on this, me and Mary can take off?”—its formal wording, and the rushed way in which it is presented to Joe, means that he does not get the opportunity to fully consider its implications. That is, although Joe will be allowed to leave, he is not free.

In No Sugar, spoken and written languages are used to create and enforce cultural boundaries. In the play, white Australians use formal and written English to purposefully confuse the Aboriginal people with whom they interact. Government officials especially understand that keeping the Aboriginal community ignorant makes it easier to manage. They understand that knowledge is power, and that knowledge is often easily gained from books and other written texts. Meanwhile, the Millimurra-Munday family uses their Indigenous Nyoongah language to relate to each other, to remind themselves of their ancestral roots, and to assert their identity as Aboriginal Australians. The white Australians and civil servants actively use language to disenfranchise the Indigenous people, whereas the Millimurra-Mundays use it to empower themselves and their community.