practices of the racial discrimination acts that the Aborigines received from the whites, as in this case towards Alice as an Aborigine. Then the review on the
resistance of the Aborigines taken from Unsettling the Empire Resistance Theory for the Second World by Selwyn Cudjoe and Barbara Harlow in The Post-
Colonial Studies Readers by Bill Ashcroft and friends, Eric Selbin in Revolution, Rebellion, Resistance, Amal Ibrahim Madibbo in Minority within Minority, and
Invisible Resistance to Tyranny by Jefferson Mack, was used by the writer in analyzing how Alice Nannup resisted the racial discrimination. The review on the
background of the Aborigines Society was used in helping the writer to understand more about the situation in the past during the white colonization and
how it has impacted the lives of the Aborigines as it is also revealed in Alice Nannup‘s When the Pelican Laughed. After the writer understood the
autobiography well, then the writer decided the problem formulation which is the focus of this study.
After all of the questions in problem formulation is answered, the writer drew conclusions based on the analysis.
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CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS
In this chapter the three questions stated in the problem formulation in the first chapter are answered. As there are three questions in the problem
formulation, this chapter would be divided into three parts. The first part discusses the characterization of Alice Nannup as shown in the autobiography. Then the
second part would discuss the practices of the racial discrimination towards the Aborigines. As for the last part of this chapter, it would show how Alice resisted
the racial discrimination acts she received from the whites.
A. The Characterization of Alice Nannup
This study focuses on the characterization of Alice Nannup who is also the main character in the autobiography When the Pelican Laughed. As the character
should possess certain personalities and physical attributes Rohrberger and Woods 1971: 20, Alice Nannup certainly possesses personalities as well as
physical attributes that make her different from any other characters. Furthermore, when a person in a narrative work could be identified by its readers to have
certain moral, intellectual, and emotional qualities, then the person is the character of that work Abrams, 2012: 46. Alice is also a character that is represented in
her own writings in the form of narrative work.
In this section the character of Alice Nannup is described. To identify the characterization of Alice Nannup in details the theory of characterization is
applied. As Holman and Harmon suggested that there are three ways to present a character which are: 1 through the author‘s explicit explanation, 2 through the
character‘s action, 3 and through the character‘s inner thoughts which are the character‘s representation from within Holman and Harmon, 1986: 81, the
characteristics of Alice Nannup then also is described through the author‘s
explicit description, her actions, and her thoughts in her mind. Another theory of characterization that would be applied is the theory by M. J. Murphy. Out of nine
ways that Murphy suggested on how to understand how a character is presented in a story, five of it would be used to analyze the character of Alice Nannup, they
are: a Characters seen by another, b Speech, c Reactions, d Thoughts, and eMannerisms Murphy, 1972: 161- 173. With the help of the theory of
character and characterization the writer is able to identify and analyze the characteristics of Alice Nannup.
1. Persistent
Alice Nannup is a persistent person. Her persistence could be seen in her strong personality that sh
e does not simply follow other‘s will. If she believes that she is on the right position then she would firmly hangs on to her belief that she is
right. When Alice was working for Mrs. Larsen, Miss Ryan who i s Mrs. Larsen‘s
niece spilt the water on the floor after Alice had cleaned the floor. Miss Ryan told Alice to clean it up but Alice refused. Believing that she has done nothing wrong,
Alice went to Mrs. Larsen and complained about Miss Ryan.
I was that annoyed, I went into Mrs Larsen and told her what had just happened. Mrs Larsen called out, ‗Kathleen,‘ and Miss Ryan came in. Mrs
Larsen said to her that if she‘d spilt the water on the floor then it was for her to wipe it up.
‗No,‘ she said, ‗she‘s the servant, she‘s got to do it.‘ ‗Well, I‘m not doing it,‘ I told her pp. 102-103.
It can be seen through the quotation how Alice persistently refused Miss Ryan‘s order to clean the floor. Miss Ryan as part of the white society wanted to
treat Alice in an improper way. The way she intentionally spilt the water on the floor shows that she was looking for an opportunity to order Alice around. Even
by saying that Alice is the servant was another way of saying that Alice as the servant should know her duty and how to serve her master. Knowing that Miss
Ryan was intentionally looking for an opportunity to order her around, Alice did not give up to Miss Ryan, she persistently refused what she was told to do.
Another proof that shows Alice persistence characteristic was when she refused to apologize first to Miss Ryan.
‗Will you apologise to Miss Ryan?‘ she said. ‗You make her apologise first. I didn‘t start the trouble.‘
Miss Ryan was crying and she came over to me and said sorry, I apologized back to her, and I apologized to Mrs Larsen.
Lady Dugdale said, ‗There‘s nothing I can do, because I can see Alice is in the right.‘ p. 103.
Alice persistently refused to apologize first to Miss Ryan because she believes that it was Miss Ryan who did wrong to her at first-hand. Furthermore,
seeing how Miss Ryan reported to Lady Dugdale, she was indeed looking for justification that it was alright to order Alice around. So even though Alice has a
persistent characteristic, she has no power to protect herself like what Miss Ryan did. On the other side, even if it was the white person who did wrong, they still
