Wandering girl, what insights
Wandering girl, what insightsFrom your study of "Wandering Girl", what insights have you gained about the challenges Glenyse faced as a young person?
"Wandering Girl" by Glenyse Ward tells her story of a young Aboriginal girl living a life of many challenges. She was taken away from her mother at the age of three and was brought up in a Catholic mission called "Wandering" until the age of 16. From there Glenyse went to work for the Bigelows, a white family who lived on a farm in the remote outback of Western Australia. The Bigelow's house was very grand and luxurious compared to her home at the mission. She thought she would really enjoy living on the farm, however she did not realise how much she would eventually come to hate the place. She was to face many challenges living at the Bigelows including loneliness, discrimination, the loss of her identity and living in unfamiliar and unfriendly surroundings.
Living in the Bigelow's house was very lonely. It was a kind of loneliness that Glenyse had never encountered. At the mission she always had friends, and nuns and a priest who valued children and lovingly brought her up. However, it was not the same at the Bigelow's property. Each day felt like years, as Glenyse had no one to talk to. Mrs Bigelow never spoke to Glenyse unless it was to give her orders. Glenyse had very little contact with the Bigelow children and Mr Bigelow, the Mayor of Ridgeway, never spoke to Glenyse. She was their "dark slave" and was to do all their household chores. For a while Glenyse did not have anyone to talk to or to joke with. However, Glenyse did have a sense of humor and guts to pull her through the time. This was evident when Glenyse accidentally killed a turkey. She felt disheartened by the whole affair but was able to think if she was with a friend, the episode of the turkey would not be so bad. They would look at the funny side of things and have a good laugh. However she did find a friend in Bill, one of the Bigelow's farm hands. He was a kind and caring old man who treated Glenyse as a person.
"I felt very happy that I found a friend… he told me to call him Bill and not to forget - If I ever needed him I knew what to do." (Pg.66)
Glenyse lived in an unfamiliar environment where she was not familiar with the equipment the Bigelow family had in their house. Glenyse had never used equipment like a telephone or a percolator when she lived at the mission and as a result she did not know how they worked. Glenyse was never taught what to do but she was just expected to know. However, if she did not do it correctly Mrs Bigelow called her "A very stupid girl!" On one occasion Glenyse had to...
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