1722AOS Essay - Band 6

Area of Study – Essay. Paper One Section Three The evolution of each individual is fertilised by their experiences of and response to discovery. The extent of discovery is determined by the willingness to embrace the process of discovery and the connections made with places and people. Discoveries may be planned, as was the journey undertaken by the participants of Ivan O’Mahoney’s documentary Go Back To Where You Came From (2008). Else, discoveries can be unplanned and evoked by curiosity, as was the experience of Fat Maz in Tim Winton’s short story Distant Lands (1987). Discoveries have the ability to be intensely meaningful and transformative of one’s perspective. The evolution of human perceptivity may begin in an environment that stimulates new experiences with the potential to impel discoveries. O’Mahoney’s documentary opens with archival footage of Australian television reporting on the issue of asylum seekers, involving prejudices and opinion. The purpose of this is twofold. The archival footage gives contextual information to a responder about the circumstance that stimulates the necessity of discovery, but also makes this particular issue appear grounded in reality. Each participant is introduced through indirect interviews and they each hold some form of political or ideological stance. Jump cutting between participants reveals how each of their opinions conflict. This juxtaposition reflects a cross section of society. This way a responder may be able to identify with a participant and experience the discovery as it occurs. Racial prejudice is also a platform for discovery in Distant Lands. “The girl they call Fat Maz” is reminded of the regularity of her day as the greyhound bus passes daily “going North to the city.” The bus is a metaphor for the banality of routine in her life, thus describing the situation that has stimulated her consequent discovery. Furthermore, the bus going to the city indicates that she lives in the country, stereotypically sheltered from the modern acceptance stimulated in metropolitan areas. The introduction of a Pakistani character encourages the protagonist to fear that if her racist father knew, “he would have thrown him out.” Both Fat Maz and the participants of Go Back To Where You Came From are sheltered and unchallenged in their Australian environment, thus the foundation of their growth as individuals and the platform for discovery is revealed. The influence of discovery may not necessarily be determined by the level of planning involved. The willingness of one to be ideologically receptive and to make connections with places and people determines more directly the degree to which a significant discovery influences the evolution of the individual. The discoveries experienced in Go Back To Where You Came From were evoked by a careful planning process. The voice of God narration provided by Colin Friels follows the journey of the participants and explains the significance of any given scene. At the beginning of the documentary, Adam Hartup is introduced in a close up shot and indirect interview. The mise-en-scene of the beach background supports Adam’s claims to being a “shire boy” before stating that 1

all boat people are “criminals.” Similarly, a close up shot of Darren introduces him as a believer that “all people who arrive here by boat, without documentation should be immediately expatriated.” The high modality indicates that Darren is not very willing to be ideologically receptive to ethnographical discoveries. Conversely, although Adam calls asylum seekers “criminals” he does admit through dialogue that he is “apprehensive.” His word choice indicates that he recognises that he is not above the situation and is receptive to the way the carefully planned journey may affect him. The difference in willingness to make connections between the two participants is highlighted in the Malaysian night raids scene. Cinema verite, militaristic music, handheld camera and night vision allow the responder to appreciate the circumstances that gave rise to discoveries. A close up shot of Adam’s face reveals the devastation he is witnessing and indicates how the discovery of the treatment of asylum seekers in Malaysia has both surprised and challenged him. Contrary to Adam’s experience, Darren only makes a direct comment on how impressed he was by the size of the convoy, he remarks, “3040 vehicles in this convoy…pretty pumpy.” The close up shot reveals his smile. Adam makes a discovery that challenges his views far earlier than Darren because he was ideologically aware and willing to make connections with people and places. Through dialogue, he states “if I were one of them…I’d get on a boat.” Darren only begins to appreciate the complexity of the asylum seeker issue after speaking with Wasmi’s grandmother. A close up shot reveals the surprising truth he speaks with about the discovery that challenged his original stance when he states of the question of what to do about the Australian asylum seeker issue, “it is a difficult question to answer.” The difference in response to the surprising and challenging discoveries made by Adam and Darren is determined by their initial willingness to make connections. An intensely meaningful discovery is revealed in Distant Lands, which was not evoked by a careful planning process, but of a spontaneous eruption of wonder and curiosity. The evolution of Fat Maz’s perception of circumstance is directly influenced by her attitude towards making connections with people. The Pakistani man enters the newsagency at lunch time to read the paperback book, “Distant Lands.” The books becomes a motif for the intensely meaningful yet mute relationship between Fat Maz and the “Nescafe coloured man.” The book is symbolic of the distant lives that the two characters come from, yet it is the symbol that unites them. The third person limited omniscient narrator can reveal the attitudes of Fat Maz before and after the meeting of the Pakistani man. Before the man is introduced, “she could feel herself getting fatter every day.” This unhappiness explains the platform from which the discovery eventuates. After the man becomes regular, the narration admits that “she had never felt this tacit understanding with anyone before.” The discovery of the connection she makes is surprising because something so challenging to the way of thinking is fostered in such a sterile environment. The $50 note that he gives her at the end of the short story is symbolic of the discovery she has made that Fat Maz has reason to speculate about future possibilities. Fat Maz 2

was always willing to make connections with the Nescafe man, because he was introduced as an element that would fragment her banal environment. Although the discovery of Fat Maz was not evoked by a careful planning process, the intensity of her discovery was significant due to her attitude towards the discovery process as her human perspective evolved. The evolution of an individual is owed to experiencing discoveries. The intensity of the surprise and challenge that comes with significant discoveries is not determined by the process of planning or the unexpected nature of a situation. Rather, the willingness of one to make connections with places and people opens opportunity for discovery, to which Go Back To Where You Came From and Distant Lands are both a testament to. From a point of initial existence that provides a platform for discovery, individuals make discoveries that are transformative of themselves and their perspectives.

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