One Night the Moon Essay Guide (HSC Common Module)

1Introduction

Today, we’ll be looking at Rachel Perkins’s film One Night the Moon (2001) in the updated HSC Texts and Human Experiences Module. Below is an unpacking of the new syllabus description for HSC Common Module and how we can link this to the ideas in the film.

From NESA: “Students deepen their understanding of how texts represent individual and collective human experiences. They examine how texts represent emotions and qualities related to these experiences. By responding to a range of texts, students explore how texts provide insight into emotional, intellectual, physical, cultural and lived experiences. They explore the ways texts represent identity, culture, acceptance and growth, invite the reader to see the world differently, and challenge assumptions. Students explore how texts can represent the tension between agency and conformity in our human experience, while examining the paradoxes of motivation and behaviour. Through critical and creative responses to texts, students consider the ways that texts encourage them to reflect personally and challenge their assumptions about the nature of human experience.”

Important things to note:

• individual and collective human experiences
• emotions and qualities related to these experiences
• emotional, intellectual, physical, cultural and lived experiences
• identity, culture, acceptance and growth
• invite the reader to see the world differently, and challenge assumptions
• tension between agency and conformity
• paradoxes of motivation and behaviour
• texts encourage students to reflect personally and challenge their assumptions about the nature of human experience

2Links to the human experience syllabus

A key tip to answer questions for the Common Module is to analyse how the composer’s portrayal of the human experience has allowed them to ______, or, alternatively, invites the responder to ______.

Also, a common pitfall is to focus too much on themes, e.g. language, historical revisionism. When doing your paragraphs, make sure to focus on what the HUMAN EXPERIENCE is rather than thematic concerns.

3Applying the syllabus to One Night the Moon

• Individual and collective human experiences: Perkins presents the collective human experience of loss suffered by Rose and Jim. She also juxtaposes the collective search party of white men that Jim gathers in contrast to Albert’s individual experience of watching the search party from afar. Also, patriarchal assumptions that women should be confined in the domestic sphere are reflected through Rose’s individual experience of waiting at home, passively waiting for Jim’s search party to find Emily.
• Emotions and qualities related to these experiences: Albert is unfairly alienated by the white community due to racial prejudice. Yet, he does not retaliate, and his innate human compassion prompts him to help with Emily’s search after Rose comes to him for help despite her initial exclusion of him. Jim and Rose respond to the grief of losing their daughter in different ways. While Jim responds with stubborn refusal to engage Albert’s assistance and uses alcohol as a distraction from his failure to find Emily, Rose has the humility to approach Albert and begs him for help in desperation. She also retains a deeper emotional bond with Emily, highlighted through various vignettes of her and Emily in the domestic sphere.
• Emotional, intellectual, physical, cultural and lived experiences: initially, Rose and Emily see the Australian landscape with curiosity and something to be ventured. Jim sees the landscape as something to be conquered and owned. Yet, upon Emily’s disappearance, Rose undergoes an emotional experience of grief and desperation to reunite with her daughter. She also sees the Australian wilderness as hostile, as it takes away her daughter.
• Identity, culture, acceptance and growth: Albert sees the land as integral to his identity, a coexistence that gives him deep knowledge of it and makes his search for Emily very efficient. Jim sees Albert’s identity as the cultural other to be threatening and excludes him from the search. While Rose passively abides by Jim’s prejudices, she eventually undergoes personal growth to recognise that Albert’s assistance is crucial in finding Emily, after being disillusioned by Jim’s lack of progress with his search. When confronted with Emily’s death due to their stubborn refusal of Albert’s assistance, Jim finds it difficult to accept his role in preventing Emily’s death, leading him to abuse alcohol and commit suicide as an escape. Rose is seen with Albert and his wife mourning Emily’s death, highlighting her acceptance of her failure to save Emily and reconciling with the Aboriginal Australian community as they stand in solidarity.
• Tension between agency and conformity: Rose initially conforms to Jim’s stubborn refusal of Albert’s assistance due to racial prejudice. She also conforms to patriarchal expectations of women remaining in the domestic sphere while men dominate the social sphere, reflected by Jim’s search party actively pursuing signs of Emily while Rose passively stays home doing housework. Jim’s failure to find Emily leads to a tension between him and Rose. Therefore, she transcends these social boundaries by first seeking Albert’s help and then following him in the Australian landscape to search for Emily.
• Paradoxes of motivation and behaviour: while Jim desperately wants to find Emily, his stubborn racial prejudice against Albert limits him by refusing the person who has the greatest insight into the Australian landscape. Furthermore, when confronted with Emily’s death, he refuses to amend his prejudices, instead committing suicide within the Australian landscape, which symbolises his defeat by the landscape, despite initially claiming that he owns the land.

4Final thoughts

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