Richard Frankland s Digger J. Jones - 1650 Words

Richard Frankland’s Digger J. Jones (2007) is a novel which bridges the gap between children’s literature and literature for young adults. Frankland’s novel makes mention of the challenges faced by Indigenous Australians specifically during the 1967 Referendum and to a lesser extent, the Vietnam War. The passage, situated in the first few pages of the novel, immediately after the implied readers discover the origin of the name Digger, but prior to the first mention of Aboriginal people not being considered â€Å"proper citizens† (Frankland, 2007, pp 12) In the passage, Digger’s family learn of oldest son and big brother, Paul’s death. Through a close reading of the passage, this essay will explore the narrative and language features and how†¦show more content†¦This is first made evident in the title of the journal entry from Tuesday, February 7th: â€Å"The army comes to my house†. The use of first person narration allows for the implied readers to be positioned to relate to Digger and aspects of his life, to understand when he is sad and sympathise with him and to agree that the idea that â€Å"Paulie and Pop and the uncles and Mum couldn’t [be counted as Australian citizens] ‘cause they are black.† (Frankland, 2007, pp12) was both senseless and unreasonable. Digger’s diary entries are written in a ‘gentle’ manner, however ‘the background against which [the story] unfolds is deadly serious’ (Scholastic Press, 2007, pp2). The novel adopts a candid, childlike tone which is emphasised through Digger’s poor grammar, naivety and the lack of emotion or emotive language throughout the text, especially in the set passage. Other than the brief mention ‘I wonder if you can see the tears on the page’ (Frankland, 2007, pp7), Digger shows very little emotion. This suggests that Digger doesn’t fully understand the severity of or implicat ions of his brother’s death. The use of the child-like tone works to position the implied readers to see Digger as a reliable and trustworthy character and narrator which provides the entire novel with a degree of credibility. The protagonist’s child mind and simplistic understanding of his world highlight the complex nature of the 1967 Referendum and the Vietnam War. For Digger, both historic eventsShow MoreRelatedAssessment 2: Digger J. Jones Close Reading. Jackie Miller-1553 Words   |  7 Pages2: Digger J. Jones Close reading Jackie Miller- MillerJA Digger J. Jones written by Richard J. Frankland (2007) is a historical fiction text written by a 11 year old character in a Diary s form .Set in 1967 during the Vietnam war is about the protagonist Digger J. Jones (D.J.J) and his experiences as an Australian aboriginal child during the time of the Vietnam war as well as during the national referendum. The select passage on pages 7-9 contains a letter from the main protagonist Digger to his