 |
| Neb English Support Class 12 |
A Black Grandmother Summary | Sally Morgan | Major English Class 12 Summary by Suraj Bhatt
A Black Grandmother by Sally Morgan
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A Black Grandmother by Sally Morgan
Sally Morgan is an Australian aboriginal author. She was born in Perth, Western Australia, on January 18th, 1951. She is an Australian dramatist and artist. She was raised by her mother and grandmother. During her childhood, she was questioned by other students about her family background. Her mother told her that she was an Indian. Her most famous work is her own autobiography, "My Place," which was initially published in 1987 and won the Human Rights Literature and Other Writing Award.
"A Black Grandmother" is the fifteenth chapter of her autobiography, "My Place."
MAIN CHARACTERS
A Black Grandmother by Sally Morgan
▪︎ Nan or Grandmother
▪︎ Sally Morgan
▪︎ Mum or Sally's mother
Aunty Judy, or Sally's mother's friend
▪︎ Jill, a sister of Sally Morgan
▪︎ Lee, Jill's best friend
MAIN SUMMARY
A Black Grandmother by Sally Morgan
This narrative essay, "A Black Grandmother," begins on February 14, 1966. That particular day, the Australian authority changed its currencies from the pound, shillings, and pennies to dollars and cents. Due to that change in currency, people in Australia struggled a lot.
At the home of Sally Morgan, there was a great discussion about changing money. In the discussion, Nan (the grandmother) remarked, "There is no money like old money." She started collecting all the old money in a jar and kept it on a kitchen shelf. When Sally asked her grandmother the reason why she was collecting all the old money instead of handing it to the government, Nan replied that one day this money would be more valuable. The aboriginal people always had hope that the old things would revive once again.
Sally discussed things with her mom. She came to know that mom and grandmother were frightened of the government authority. Nan even said, "You never trust anybody who works for the government."
Later, Sally Morgan discussed her academics. Apart from art and English, Sally failed in every other subject in the second term of her third year in high school. Actually, Sally didn't want to continue at her school. She wanted to leave the school. Sally's ambition was to be an artist. When her mom knew about her decision, she said, "You will leave the school over my dead body." She also added that the artist only earned money after they died and were gone. But Nan believed in Sally's drawing. She allowed her to paint the pictures over the asparagus seeds that were covered on their back veranda.
Aunty Judy, the friend of Mum, advised Sally not to be an artist. Sally became absolutely furious because someone from outside the family spoke to her about this. Even the art teacher at school discouraged Sally. She always had the belief that drawing was her only talent. After hearing all these discouragements, Sally collected all her drawings and paintings and burned them in the backyard.
One day, when Sally came from school, she saw that Nan was crying at the dining table. When she asked the reason, Nan said, "You bloody kids don't want me. You want a bloody white grandmother. I am black. Do you hear black, black, black?"After this, Sally became conscious of her grandmother's colour. At night, she discussed it with her sister, Jill. From Jill, Sally realised that they were aborigines. Jill knew that they were aborigines, but she was not at all willing to say it to her sister because aborigines were not at all accepted in society. Jill wanted to be accepted in society, whereas Sally Morgan wanted to uphold her own aboriginal identity.
Jill explained to Sally how aborigines were not acceptable in society. There was a friend of Jill named Lee who almost took two years to accept that Jill was an Indian. Jill said to all that she was an Indian because she wanted to be socially accepted. Jill heard from her other friend Susan's mother that the aboriginal people were a bad influence. Jill remarked, "In Australia, you can be Indian, Dutch, Italian, anything but aboriginal!" After this, Sally started pestering Mom and Nan regarding aboriginal origin, but they didn't provide her with answers. Sally didn't get any answers to her questions.
Sally always thought about her aboriginality, and an old memory came to her about how her grandmother was good at tracking the food prints of kangaroos and emu. After remembering this incident, she confirmed that they were aborigines because most of the aborigines are hunters and gatherers. Again, Sally Morgan discussed her academics. In the junior exams, Sally passed every subject. She even scored marks close to distinction in English and art. It was Sally's pride that made her pass her exam.
READ 👉 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Thanks for Visiting my Website: Suraj Bhatt
Post a Comment