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The Man / The Rapist
An elderly woman who finds May living on the street in Sydney and gives her a home. Joyce lives in a crowded urban neighborhood, nicknamed the Block, and populated mostly by people of Aboriginal descent. While the neighborhood is impoverished and substance abuse is rampant, there’s also a strong sense of community, of which Joyce is the center; the old women of the Block frequently gather in her house to drink wine and tell stories. While she faces many of the same hardships, Joyce is a much more capable caregiver than May’s own parents and Aunty, and her example shows May that one can live amid poverty and oppression while maintaining a strong character and a devotion to one’s family.
Joyce / The Old Woman Quotes in Swallow the Air
The Swallow the Air quotes below are all either spoken by Joyce / The Old Woman or refer to Joyce / The Old Woman. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
9. The Block
Quotes
She told me about the history of Redfern, about the housing corporation stealing everyone’s money and homes, about how it used to be a real strong community. “And now,” she says shaking her head, “it’s the young fellas taking our money as well and the drugs stealing our community.”
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“May, you got people that you gotta find, things you gotta learn. You will learn them ere, but I don’t want you to. Luck at Justine, smack the only thing teachin her now!”
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18. Country
Quotes
This land is belonging, all of it for all of us. This river is that ocean, these clouds are that lake, these tears are not only my own. They belong to the whales, to Joyce […] they belong to the spirits. To people I will never even know. I give them to my mother.
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Joyce / The Old Woman Quotes in Swallow the Air
The Swallow the Air quotes below are all either spoken by Joyce / The Old Woman or refer to Joyce / The Old Woman. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
9. The Block
Quotes
She told me about the history of Redfern, about the housing corporation stealing everyone’s money and homes, about how it used to be a real strong community. “And now,” she says shaking her head, “it’s the young fellas taking our money as well and the drugs stealing our community.”
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“May, you got people that you gotta find, things you gotta learn. You will learn them ere, but I don’t want you to. Luck at Justine, smack the only thing teachin her now!”
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18. Country
Quotes
This land is belonging, all of it for all of us. This river is that ocean, these clouds are that lake, these tears are not only my own. They belong to the whales, to Joyce […] they belong to the spirits. To people I will never even know. I give them to my mother.
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