The Rabbits by John Marsden and Shaun Tan Analysis

The Rabbits by John Marsden and Shaun Tan is an example of a modern environmental picture book, which critiques the historical environmental disaster which was the introduction of rabbits into Australia. Much has already been said about that. John Marsden has done a couple of interesting things with the traditional story structure, especially in the final two steps, which is what I’d like to write about here.

Shaun Tan writes about his work on his own blog. I highly recommend taking a look at Tan’s entry on The Rabbits if you haven’t already.

M. Canals fish n rabbit shop, Nicholson St Fitzroy Melbourne 1950s
M. Canals fish n rabbit shop, Nicholson St Fitzroy, Melbourne 1950s

STORY STRUCTURE OF THE RABBITS

SHORTCOMING

The native creatures are not very numerous. They are vulnerable to invasion.

DESIRE

At first they want to get to know the rabbits. There aren’t many rabbits. But after a while too many rabbits come.

OPPONENT

Now the rabbits become the opponents.

PLAN

Unfortunately for the native creatures, there is no real plan other than to try and protect themselves.

BIG STRUGGLE

“Sometimes we had fights … We lost the fights.”

The main big struggle page is the double spread in which the children are stolen. The reader has already realised that this tale is an allegory for the white invasion of Australia and the decimation of Aboriginal peoples. The stolen children remains one of the most egregious politically sanctioned crimes in Australia today, so this part is treated very carefully: Each word is separated within the illustration, giving it due weight.

the rabbits internal image

ANAGNORISIS

Instead of a typical anagnorisis, we have a few double spreads of reflection:

Where is the rich, dark earth,

Brown and moist?

and so on.

NEW SITUATION

Unusually for a story, this one ends with a question. “Who will save us from the rabbits?” Despite the question, the new situation is clear: The native creatures are in trouble.

COMPARE AND CONTRAST

Some picture books for children remain classics, but their environmental messages have unfortunately not aged well. A classic example of that is Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney, in which a woman creates beauty in the world by throwing a whole lot of lupins seeds about the place. Individuals seed bombing the environment based on beauty rather than proper understanding of the local ecosystem is not a message we’d likely see in a picture book published today.

Other picture books are more subtly outdated, environmentally. For example, storylines which include a child taking things home with them as souvenirs (e.g. seashells) or stories which focus on picking up litter, which is fine in of itself, but doesn’t even touch the sides of what is actually happening to our environment.

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CONTEMPORARY FICTION SET IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND (2023)

On paper, things look fine. Sam Dennon recently inherited significant wealth from his uncle. As a respected architect, Sam spends his days thinking about the family needs and rich lives of his clients. But privately? Even his enduring love of amateur astronomy is on the wane. Sam has built a sustainable-architecture display home for himself but hasn’t yet moved into it, preferring to sleep in his cocoon of a campervan. Although they never announced it publicly, Sam’s wife and business partner ended their marriage years ago due to lack of intimacy, leaving Sam with the sense he is irreparably broken.

Now his beloved uncle has died. An intensifying fear manifests as health anxiety, with night terrors from a half-remembered early childhood event. To assuage the loneliness, Sam embarks on a Personal Happiness Project:

1. Get a pet dog

2. Find a friend. Just one. Not too intense.

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