The Things She's Seen

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses racism against Indigenous Australians.

Some Aboriginal people consider birds to be “carriers of story” and important messengers with critical lessons about how to conduct relationships respectfully (“First Nations Storytelling.” Australian Museum). The crow, in particular, is seen as a powerful bird; it is an ancestral being, a trickster, and a cultural hero that is featured in many traditional stories. In one Taungurung story, for example, Crow is in charge of the winds, and in a Wurundjeri story, Crow steals fire and gives it to humans (“Creation Stories.” Taungurung Land & Waters Council).

Throughout the novel, Michael and Beth express concerns about how the children were treated in the home, and in Catching’s story, the children are represented as “[b]irds of all colors” who are trapped in a cage by one of the Feeds (166). They beg Crow and Catching to free them, and the message conveyed by these symbolic captive birds is that the government is neglecting their welfare, for as an entity, the government is insufficiently respectful of the needs of living beings.

Sarah Blue, in the form of Crow, uses fire to destroy the children’s home, making use of the destructive but ultimately necessary “gift” of fire, and this act deliberately mirrors the Aboriginal legend stating that the figure of Crow once gave fire to humans.