was disliked by the white people. Alice was being critical to see through why the white people did not like her carrying her father‘s name because she was an
Aborigine. Even in the camp where Alice was put into, Alice was criticizing the way
they had fed her and the other Aborigines although she did not complain about it directly. Alice thought that the way they fed the Aborigines by giving them
inappropriate food which she could not eat is one way of how the white people degrading the Aborigine‘s level as human being.
I couldn‘t eat the soup before I worked there, but when I saw this I definitely couldn‘t eat it. See, I wasn‘t brought up like that. My mother
was a beautiful cook and we ate lovely meals back home. I think they did things like this to deliberately lower us; well, degrade us really
p. 64.
Alice also had a critical thought about how the inheritance of the Aborigines never passed down to the person who had the right to have the
inheritance. Instead, the inheritance was taken by the Aborigines department. Just like how her father‘s inheritance never got into Alice‘s hands.
[…] I‘ve since found out that when this happened, if Aboriginal people received an inheritance, any money left to them became the property of the
Aborigines department. I don‘t understand that, we are all human beings, we should have been entitled to it. I could have really used that money my
father left me, and it would have made the world of difference to my family p. 179.
Seeing this, Alice thought that the Aborigines were not treated like human beings by the white people
. Alice‘s ways of thinking which are shown through the author‘s explicit explanation, who was Alice herself, proved that she was a critical
person.
6. Hard-Working
Being taken away from her family and was made servant here and there did not make Alice give up. She became a hard-working woman, even after she
became a mother. Alice worked hard in order to survive and to raise her kids. She did not only work hard for people whom she worked for but also at home. As a
mother, Alice gave her best efforts for her children even if it means that much of her energy would always been depleted from overworked every day.
In the end I was working five days a week at this, as well as doing all my own work at home. I used to be flat out, because the kids school clothes
alway s needed washing, and I‘d be up late at night ironing them with a
coal iron so they‘d be ready for the next day. We never had any electric lights at the reserve so I had to do all of this at night with a hurricane lamp.
It was a lot of work, but having the extra money was too great a help for my family to pass it up p. 183.
Alice who worked five days a week did not only stop working when she came back home. At home, she would be continuing to work by washing and
ironing her children‘s clothes. Alice who often stayed up till late night used to be exhausted. She even would take any extra work in order to get extra money to
help her family survive. Looking at how Alice was giving her best even until she used to get exhausted from being over worked, proved that Alice was a hard-
working person who would give her best to raise her children and take care of her family as best as she could.
7. Self-determined
Alice is also a self-determined person. Once she made up her mind to gain what she wanted then she would give her best efforts in order to get what she
wanted. It can be seen when she was first brought to take care of Mrs. Larsen who
was ill, and that not wanting to go back to the camp, Alice said that she would try her best, ―I piped up then and said, ‗Look, Mrs. Larsen. I‘m here now and if
you‘re willing to give me a chance, I‘ll do my best‘ p. 90.‖ Based on what Alice said to Mrs. Larsen that she would try her best, it can be seen that Alice is very
determined not to go back to the camp and that she would do anything so that they would not send her back to the camp. Her determination is what makes Alice
always try her best. [
…] I was humble because I didn‘t want to get thrown out and sent back to Moore River, that would be the last straw. I was just glad to get out and I
was determined not to go back p. 91. Alice knew that if she does anything wrong then there is a chance for her
to be sent back to the camp in the Moore River. Saying that she was determined not wanting to go back to that place, made Alice would want to do anything so
that she could remain staying at Mrs. Larsen‘s place. Without self-determination, Alice, who had no experience before of taking care of people on a wheeled-chair
like Mrs. Larsen, would have given up from the beginning when she saw Mrs. Larsen‘s condition.
It was also at Mrs. Larsen‘s place, where Alice learnt to write. She had the determination to be able to write. With her strong determination to be able to
write, Alice practiced at nights in the kitchen. Even if it took her hours to write a page, Alice did not give up because she was determined that she must be able to
write. On the nights the
Larsens played bridge, I‘d sit in the kitchen and practice my handwriting. Doris and I were writing letters to each other but it used
to take me hours to write one page… I wanted to keep writing to her so I‘d take every opportunity to try and get my hand going p. 92.
Alice even learnt to write from the jam tins which would have some words written on it. Because of that, Alice said that she got her education from the jam
tins. […] I‘d get jam tins and milk tins and copy all the words out. Some people
say to me today, ‗Where did you get your education?‘ And I always say, ‗I learnt it off jam tins.‘ They laugh at me but that‘s the truth. I‘d get the
golden syrup and write, G O L D E N S Y R U P. I‘d wear one page out
writing Alice Isobel Basset, Alice Isobel Basset, to get it right. And it was only through doing that I learnt to write p. 122.
Alice‘s efforts were not in vain, because at the end she could write.This proved that Alice
‘s strong self-determination made her achieve her goal which was to be able to write.
8. Responsible
Alice is a responsible person that she would always do her chores which were scheduled for her. She never neglected her responsibility even if it is
scheduled right one after the other. After I‘d finished up in the store in the mornings I‘d go straight down to
the sewing room. Then at around five o‘clock I‘d be finished there, and I‘d go up to the
office to trim the lamps. I used to do the lamps for the girls‘ dormitory
– they had to be trimmed every night and put in each wing before tea p. 71.
Alice‘s chores started in the mornings which mean Alice had to wake up early in the morning to get to work. Right after she finished another work, then
she would start with the other right after. Her tight schedule right from morning till night hardly put Alice at rest. However, Alice always finished all the works
she was given. Based on what she did, it can be seen that Alice was a responsible person that would always do her duty. Even Mr. Larsen whom Alice worked for
praised Alice for having done a good job, ―[…] Later on Mr Larsen said to me,
