Dawn Raids
Oscar Knightly
Play
Dawn Raids is about a pacific island family who is getting harassed by the Labour Department. It is also about the struggles pacific island families had to go through that time when racism was occurred in New Zealand 1976. The struggles the over-stayers had to go through was hard for them to cope with each other especially trying to hide from the Labour Department.
A challenge a character faced in this play was Fuarosa. She handled it by disobeying rules and orders her family have given her. Fuarosa herself is an over-stayer she was hidden in the house away from the Labour Department where they get the police force to search for over-stayers. But one night Fuarosa went out of the house To'aga let Teresa to take Fuarosa out to look for Sione to tell him the big news she was waiting to tell him privately, when they got back home they are caught by Teresa's dad. In scene 11 page 58 a quotation that explains the way Mose felt towards Teresa is "I've had enough of you treating this place like a hotel. You come and go as you please. You don't care about the rules and when i try and tell you, you laugh like its a big joke." This helps me understand that Teresa disobeys her dad and the rules he has set for her as she is a over-stayer herself but instead of looking after herself she is taking care of Fuarosa instead because teenagers back then had to hide from the authorities where as now we have freedom to walk around the streets of Auckland but there are some Islanders that come from the pacific islands that don't have New Zealand citizenship still have to stay hidden away from the authorities.
The most exciting part was when in the first few scenes it was talking about how they were really careful with Fuarosa setting her rules about not going outside because they don't want her to get caught by the authorities and without the palagi's laughing at her because of the clothes they are wearing. Then when it came to the middle and the ending part of the story it got interesting with the authorities getting more involved with the over-stayers not noticing that their always around watching their every move that they were making. I found it interesting because racism has always been in the story where the islanders get harassed by the palagi's, the police and also the Labour Department especially for them having no freedom to walk the streets of Auckland-Ponsonby. A scene that made me thought of racism is when the police officer says to Bene and Teresa in scene 9 page 51; "Alright. I'll let you off with a warning but can recommend that since you's both don't look like kiwi's, that you get passports and carry them around for when this happens again". This made me feel bad about the islanders because they are always getting picked on by the palagi's and the police because no matter what color they are, they are always gonna be apart of New Zealand and everywhere else where racism is located because they are exactly like everyone else and that is being "HUMAN".
After reading this text it made me think about the way Pacific Islanders has been struggling living in New Zealand and trying to hide from the Labour Department just because they haven't had a New Zealand Citizenship or Passport. It also taught me that in 1976 pacific islanders such as over-stayers were always kept inside away from the Police and the Labour Department because they had no freedom to walk around the streets but when you compare now a days to back then we have freedom to walk around the streets of Auckland. This made me realize that if i was there in the 1970's i would be kicked out of this country in no time but i am really glad to have freedom to walk around because if i haven't i wouldn't of have made many good friends right now without freedom i would be just a joke to palagi's.
The most exciting part was when in the first few scenes it was talking about how they were really careful with Fuarosa setting her rules about not going outside because they don't want her to get caught by the authorities and without the palagi's laughing at her because of the clothes they are wearing. Then when it came to the middle and the ending part of the story it got interesting with the authorities getting more involved with the over-stayers not noticing that their always around watching their every move that they were making. I found it interesting because racism has always been in the story where the islanders get harassed by the palagi's, the police and also the Labour Department especially for them having no freedom to walk the streets of Auckland-Ponsonby. A scene that made me thought of racism is when the police officer says to Bene and Teresa in scene 9 page 51; "Alright. I'll let you off with a warning but can recommend that since you's both don't look like kiwi's, that you get passports and carry them around for when this happens again". This made me feel bad about the islanders because they are always getting picked on by the palagi's and the police because no matter what color they are, they are always gonna be apart of New Zealand and everywhere else where racism is located because they are exactly like everyone else and that is being "HUMAN".
After reading this text it made me think about the way Pacific Islanders has been struggling living in New Zealand and trying to hide from the Labour Department just because they haven't had a New Zealand Citizenship or Passport. It also taught me that in 1976 pacific islanders such as over-stayers were always kept inside away from the Police and the Labour Department because they had no freedom to walk around the streets but when you compare now a days to back then we have freedom to walk around the streets of Auckland. This made me realize that if i was there in the 1970's i would be kicked out of this country in no time but i am really glad to have freedom to walk around because if i haven't i wouldn't of have made many good friends right now without freedom i would be just a joke to palagi's.
Good Work and response Mauola, you have clearly responded to the ideas in this play and have clearly thought about what it was like during the era of Dawn Raids, you have done excellent work. Keep it up! You have one response to go.
ReplyDeleteMs Ah Mau.