Shaun Tan The Rabbits Analysis

In what ways is “The Rabbits” an allegorical text?
The Rabbits is an allegorical text as it’s a representation for the British colonisation of Australia along with the segregation and devastation which took place, from the perspective of Indigenous people. Marsupial like creatures are dispossessed of their community, country and families by invading rabbits who took drastic actions to civilise them. The rabbits arrived associated with all the accessories of European culture, including their clothes, agriculture, industry and economy and proceeded to abuse the land to the extent of devastation, which references the negative impact European settlers had on Australia’s environment, and steal the marsupial’s children, which refers to the stolen

Tan introduces the text with a serene environment, illustrating the red, earthy tones and deep blue sky, with the image mirroring the text ‘The ancestors came many grandparents ago’. However, as European invasion progresses, the vibrant tones fade out to dull, dark colours symbolising the harm colonisers caused through the use of technology and vehicles along with the negativity and devastation they inflicted upon Indigenous people. Throughout the text, white was a frequently used colour which portrayed the invasion and multiplication of the rabbits in their land e.g. ‘Rabbits, Rabbits, Rabbits, Millions and millions of rabbits, Everywhere we looked there were rabbits’. Tan finalises the tone of the last page through the use of dark, dirty brown colours and the strong use of adjectives within repeating rhetorical questions about what is to come in the future “Where is the rich dark earth, brown and moist? Where is the smell of rain dripping from the gum trees’, ‘Who will save us from the rabbits?’ reinforcing the idea that there is no hope left for the

Personal pronouns such as ‘them, we and us” are emphasised heavily to show a segregation between the Indigenous people and the European settlers. In addition to this, it’s included to inflict an accusing tone upon the rabbits, portraying that the rabbits are the only ones at fault to the audience. Tan emphasises the idea that in their efforts to learn, European settlers are destroying the land in which aboriginals lived in with harmony for generations by juxtaposing an illustration of cows attached to milking machines and labelled what parts of meat they will be together with branded sheep, with a barren piece of land and an empty pond full of dead fish. Tan uses size and position to convey the power of the European settlers with their guns and weapons in comparison to the Indigenous people with only their spears for protection. He chooses to use a double spread to construct a picture of the European settler arriving during the beginning of the text. The exaggeration of the size of the ship and rabbits in their white uniform is used to portray the lack of power and helplessness the miniature numbats on the shore