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Chapter 2
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Sister Heart, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Colonial Violence
The Bonds of Kinship
Resilience
Freedom and Bondage
The Healing Power of Nature
Summary
Analysis
In the afternoons, Annie watches Tim watching the birds. He loves all of them. He tries to stifle his coughs so as not to scare them off. Watching him makes Annie think of—and miss—her baby sister. But she loves Janey and Tim and the birds and the trees.
The birds become a powerful symbol of freedom to all three children. They long to be free like the birds, and so watching the birds reminds and promises them that one day, they will be too.
Themes
One day in class, Teacher draws an X on the floor at the front of the room with chalk. She makes Annie stand on the cross facing the class, then recites “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and orders Annie to repeat the rhyme. Annie stumbles through the English words, making so many mistakes that the children eventually can’t help themselves and burst out laughing. Teacher whacks Annie with her ruler and promises that they will repeat the humiliating exercise daily until Annie can recite the nursery rhyme perfectly. She makes Annie clean the chalk mark from the floor. Later, Janey tells Annie that Teacher is trying to humiliate her by making her say a rhyme for babies. But Janey knows that Annie isn’t as dumb as Teacher thinks—or wants to make Annie seem.
Teacher continues to target Annie and expose her to ridicule from the other children. There’s no love or kindness in Teacher’s lessons, which are instead designed to belittle her students and break their spirits. But the book makes it clear that Annie’s spirit cannot be broken, at least not as long as she has Janey and Tim’s support. And while it’s still clear that she and the others should never have been taken from their families, the book celebrates the strength and resilience that they all have to survive.
Themes
The weather grows warmer, Annie’s hair gets longer, and Tim’s cough worsens. Eventually he becomes feverish. Janey teaches Annie how to steal bread, which they sneak to Tim between meals, trying to help him build strength. But he still grows thinner and thinner. One day, Janey decides to catch a fish for him. Annie and Tim go along, but not Nancy, who’s turned 14 and been sent out to work. She hates it and is secretly planning to run away to take control of her own life. Tim asks if he’ll be forced to work for mean people, too, when he turns 14. Janey says yes. Tim wants to know why. Janey says that the government dislikes them and their families and that’s why they take the children and try to make them forget where they came from. Annie vows not to forget. So does Tim.
When Tim gets ill, the book makes it very clear who’s to blame—the school authorities, who failed to give the children the nourishment and healthy environment they need. Luckily, Tim has Annie and Janey to look out for him. And all three children have the bounty of nature to augment the meager rations the school offers them. The school gives the children the bare minimum necessary for survival both because people like Teacher don’t seem to think that the children deserve better and because people like Teacher view the children as labor to be exploited rather than as human beings. And everything they do—from stealing children to trying to break their spirits—is designed to diminish them. But Annie, Janey, and Tim won’t allow their humanity to be taken from them.
Themes
On the way to the creek, Janey points out the spring flowers to Annie. Janey especially likes billy buttons, which look “like baby suns.” Tim coughs and tells the girls to hurry up. Janey won’t let him wade in the chilly creek—not until it’s warmer or his cough has subsided—but she and Annie quickly catch three gilgies (small Australian crayfish). They build a fire—which reminds Annie of home and safety—on the banks of the creek and cook the gilgies. They are, Annie thinks, a breakfast fit for queens. Janey says that Teacher eats jam and cream.
Nature gives the children the nutrition that the school denies them. The discussion of Teacher’s luscious diet pointedly suggests that the children aren’t starving because the school lacks resources—they’re starving because the school doesn’t consider them worthy of the expense. And while it’s clear that no children should have to do what these three do to survive, the book nevertheless celebrates their resilience and resourcefulness in the face of mistreatment and abuse.
Themes
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Annie, Janey, and Tim enjoy sitting by the river until they hear the mealtime bell. It interrupts Annie’s pleasant daydream. When she stare into the fire, she can almost pretend that she’s back at home. As the children race along the riverbank, Tim coughs up snot, but his breakfast of gilgie stays down. Suddenly, he trips and falls. Janey grabs his shirt and keeps him from going into the creek but falls in herself. Annie fishes her out and helps her to wring the water from her dress. As they walk into the dining hall, Tim groans. Who wants to eat stinky soup after gilgies?
Thus far, Tim has been the member of this adoptive family most in need of care and attention due to his weak chest. But things can—and do—change in an instant when Janey falls into the creek. Readers should remember that, springtime wildflowers notwithstanding, the mornings are still bitterly cold. Janey exposes herself to the very real danger of illness by her instinctive desire to protect her brother.
Themes
Janey’s dress is still wet at bedtime, but it’s far too late in the day to try to steal her dry clothes. Nancy makes Janey put on her sweater and tells her to sleep curled up for warmth. The girls tuck her tightly into her blankets. When Annie wakes up, she sees that Nancy has given Janey her blanket and crawled into Dot’s bed for warmth.
The fact that the children’s default is to steal what they need rather than ask for it insinuates the callous disregard with which their keepers treat them.
Themes
After a while at the school, Annie knows her English numbers and letters. She eats the stinky soup and does her chores and answers to “Annie.” But, deep down, she knows that she isn’t who the people at the school want her to be. None of them are, not Janey or Tim or Nancy or Emmy or Dot. Deep down, they keep their secret names and their histories so close that no one can take them away. The only way to stay safe, Annie knows, is to keep her secrets hidden away and to put on an outside face for the outside world.
Despite their best efforts to strip these children of their humanity and to deprive them of their culture and their lives, Annie and the others cling to that which makes them human—their memories and their identities. Annie has learned the lesson Aunty Adie started and Janey continued—how to keep the most important parts of herself hidden, secret, and safe.
Themes
The gilgie was good medicine for Tim, who starts to recover from his wintertime cough. But Janey falls ill after her dip in the creek and the night in wet clothes. Tim worries and tells Janey he will catch a gilgie for her, but she makes him promise not to. The days are still too cold, and she worries that if he falls in the water, he'll relapse. When Janey tries to yell at Tim, she falls into horrible, choking coughing spells. Annie grows worried.
As Tim recovers, Janey sickens. Her inability to talk without gagging, in addition to Tim’s and Annie’s worries, shows readers how serious her illness is. But at this point, nothing in the book has suggested that the school authorities are willing or capable of taking care of her. Annie and Tim know it’s up to them, as Janey’s kin.
Themes
Late at night, Janey’s coughing wakes Annie. Annie sits up to see her friend sitting upright in bed. Janey says it’s easier to breathe when she sits up. The two friends whisper in the dark. Janey wistfully imagines running away with Tim and bringing him home to their family. But she’s starting to wonder if she’s crazy to hope for a better future. She falls into another coughing fit and Annie worries. She knows that Janey needs medicine to get better.
It’s clear to Annie and to readers that Janey’s health is failing, even if Annie isn’t ready to acknowledge it. Even in the depths of her physical distress, however, Janey worries about Tim—the love she has for her brother transcends her suffering. And Janey shows readers here how the school has failed to alienate the children from their families and their culture. The forces of assimilation will not win in the end, no matter how much cruelty and violence they accomplish in the meantime.
Themes
The next evening, Annie asks Nancy for help. Janey is feverish and suffering from chills. Nancy doesn’t have any medicine—they never give anyone medicine unless they’re practically dying, she says—but she and the other girls do their best to make Janey comfortable, fanning her sweaty face then tucking her under the blankets to keep her from getting a chill. Nancy promises to tell Nurse that Janey needs care.
Janey must become seriously ill before anyone at the school takes it seriously, even though it’s clear that she’d be in much worse shape if it weren’t for the attention and care of Nancy, Emmy, Dot, and Annie. Earlier in the book, Nancy and Janey told Annie that nor’westers and sou’westers stick together, but now it’s clear that the children’s humanity transcends limitations of geographical and cultural differences. They are all in this together, and their love infuses the school and the story with the humanity drained away by the government and cultural authorities.
Themes
After lessons the next day, Nancy brings Annie to the creek to catch gilgies. After they catch four, Nancy starts to cook them while Annie fetches Janey and Tim from the crying tree. Janey says Nurse gave her medicine and told her she just has a bad cold. But Annie still thinks Janey looks very sick. Annie leads her friends to the creek where Nancy is cooking the gilgies over a fire. Nancy is wistful. The school has told her she’s going to be the next girl sent out to work. But she’s not going to let them send her. She’s going to run away first. But before she goes, she needs Janey to help her steal some supplies.
The children continue to stick together and help one another out. And the natural world that surrounds the harsh environment of the school continues to provide medicine for the children’s bodies and souls. Nancy’s determination to run proves yet again how pointless and cruel the system is: despite years of incarceration at the school, Nancy hasn’t forgotten who she is, where she came from, or what she’s worth as a human being. And she intends to make good on those memories by running away.
Themes
One day, Janey and Annie tell each other their real names, their “most secret secret[s].” They each know the other will keep their precious secret safe.
Janey and Annie seal their friendship by trading their most precious possessions—their real names. Importantly, these names remain hidden from readers because neither girl is yet free from the colonial authorities.
Themes
Although the days get warmer and the children continue to catch gilgies at the creek, Janey doesn’t get better. In fact, she gets so sick that Nurse takes her to the hospital ward. At night, Annie lies awake in bed worrying about her friend. She squeezes the laughing stone, but it can’t make her smile. She wishes she were home, where she and Mum and her aunties could help and comfort Janey.
Annie’s intuition that Janey needs love and comfort more than anything else offers an uncomfortable reminder of all that the authorities have stolen from the children in their care. Thus far, Annie has relied on Janey to make her feel at home in the school, but now she’s realizing that it’s her turn to support her friends.
Themes
Three days after Janey enters the hospital ward, Annie and Tim try to visit her, but Nurse turns them away. She explains—angrily—that Janey and the other children in the ward have influenza and are highly contagious. No one can go in there without risking getting sick. She tells them to go away and not try to visit again. Annie and Tim both promise to obey—but they’re both lying. As soon as they’re out of Nurse’s earshot, they make plans to sneak back in.
Nurse wants to protect the healthy children from becoming ill, but in her limited focus on illness and contagion she misses the very important emotional aspects of the children’s lives. And she continues to impose her will on theirs—Annie and Tim want to see Janey despite the risks because they love and care for her. But Nurse’s decision denies them the ability to act on his love.
Themes
The next day after classes, Tim and Annie sneak back to the hospital ward where Tim taps out a secret code on the window. Inside, Janey pops up her head then holds her hand in the air to show them that she has her laughing stone. But then, Nurse catches Tim and Annie in the act. She waves her arms and shouts at them to leave. Then she tells on the children, and for punishment they receive extra chores. Annie tries to do some of Tim’s work, but Nancy warns her that that plan will backfire. If anyone figures out what she’s doing, they’ll just give Tim more chores to make up for it. And she tries to tell Annie not to worry about Janey. But Annie can’t stop worrying about her friend.
Nothing—not even sickness or the fear of Nurse’s wrath—can keep Annie, Tim, and Janey apart because they love each other like a family. Their shared bond confirms their humanity and stands as a powerful testament against the abuse and mistreatment they have suffered. Nancy gives voice to what readers have already seen in action: Annie has become a sister to Janey and to Tim. And nothing—neither her own exhaustion, nor fear of punishment—can or will stop her from helping her friend.
Themes
Every night, Annie tries to send some of her strength to Janey through “moonlit messages” that say, “Stop coughing,” and “Be brave,” and “Come back!” She sings in her own language for her friend. In the dark, Nancy warns her to be quiet, especially if she’s not using English. Annie says she doesn’t care. But Nancy explains that some of the other girls will tattle. Teacher offers gives out candies to children who tell on each other.
Just as distance from her family hasn’t stopped Annie from loving them (or feeling connected to them), distance from Janey doesn’t diminish the connection the girls share. When Annie arrived, Janey gave her strength and support until she discovered her own inner reserves; now Annie draws on her own strength to encourage Janey’s resilience. Importantly, she does this in her own language, despite the risks. Her love is stronger than any fear of punishment the teachers might have given her.
Themes
After a few days, Tim can’t stand it anymore and he comes to Annie at breakfast in tears. He has to see his sister. They sneak back to the hospital ward and knock on the window. It takes Janey a long time to rise from her bed, and she doesn’t look good at all. She stumbles to the window and places her palm on it. Tim and Annie touch the other side of the glass, and the three friends stand there until Janey crumples to the ground. When Nurse comes into the room and sees Annie and Tim standing outside the window, she yells at them to go away.
In this moment, Tim and Annie’s actions claim that nothing—no fear of punishment or physical distance—can diminish their familial love for Janey. It doesn’t matter if that family is biological or chosen—love and care are part of what makes human beings human. And this, in turn, casts those who would interrupt those bonds—like Nurse—as insufficiently in touch with their own humanity.
Themes
That night, Annie wakes up to find Janey standing by her bed. She smiles and jumps out of bed, moving toward her friend. Janey wants to know that she’s a good big sister to Tim, and Annie tells her she is. Then, Nancy touches Annie on the shoulder and asks who she’s talking to. Janey isn’t there; Annie was dreaming. She crawls back into her bed. When she wakes up in the morning, she’s happy because she is convinced her dream means that Janey is getting better and will be coming back soon.
Janey’s appearance in Annie’s dream—or, possibly, her vision—confirms the bond between the two. Notably, Janey’s main concern is to know that she’s been the best sister possible to Tim. This is because the thing she most values in the world are the bonds of kinship the government tried to sever between her and her family (and the other children and theirs). And while Annie is convinced this is a good message, Janey’s long stare and otherworldly quality also hint that she might not be coming back at all.
Themes
Nurse comes into the classroom to speak with Teacher, then she takes Tim to see Janey. Tim asks if Annie can go too, but Teacher says no. As she begins the math lesson, Teacher chides Annie for failing to pay attention. But Annie is too excited to focus. She wriggles in her seat with impatience. Teacher rushes to her desk and smacks her with the ruler. As she does so, her ugly new glasses slip from their ribbon. They crack when they hit the floor. Annie can’t wait to tell Janey about this turn of events.
The fact that Tim saw Janey in his dreams, too—coupled with Nurse’s unexpected visit to class to fetch him—strongly implies that Janey is dead, even though Annie holds out hope for her friend’s recovery. It seems hard to believe that the cruel world would take even more from Annie than it already has.
Themes
After lessons, Annie ducks into the bush intent on finding a welcome back gift for Janey. Instead, she finds Tim curled into the crying tree, weeping. She climbs in beside him and asks him what’s wrong. He opens his hand. He’s holding Janey’s laughing stone. And in that moment, Annie realizes that her friend is dead.
Circumstances—aided and abetted by the cruelty and unconcern of the school authorities—break Annie’s and Tim’s family up once more. Janey’s preventable death thus maps onto the equally preventable tragedy of family separations and reminds readers pointedly of the cruelty visited on Aboriginal children in the name of European civilization.
Themes
Nurse finds Tim and Annie weeping in the crying tree. She is apologetic. Now that it’s too late, she wishes she had let them see Janey before she died. She tells them she was worried about them getting sick, too. What she doesn’t understand is that Annie and Tim wouldn’t have cared about getting sick if it meant they got to comfort Janey. Tim becomes angry. He demands to know what Nurse did with Janey’s body. He wants to see it, to say goodbye to his sister. Nurse suggests that it might be nicer to remember Janey as she was before she got sick, but Tim isn’t buying it. Annie knows now is the moment to be strong for herself and for her friend and for Tim. She grabs Nurse’s arm and demands in her loudest voice that Nurse let Tim say goodbye.
Unlike Teacher, Nurse still seems to have some humanity left. She feels bad about what happened to Jane, and she feels guilty about her role in preventing the friends from having the chance to say their farewells. Although the book doesn’t let Nurse off the hook for her role in the tragedy, this moment also shows how she is trapped and limited by her own point of view and thinking in ways that negatively impact her. To her credit, although she tries to dissuade the children, the book’s ending strongly hints that she ultimately does allow them to say goodbye.
Themes
