| “ | As you know, every Aborigine born in this State comes under my control. Notice if you will, the half-caste child. And there are ever-increasing numbers of them. Now, what is to happen to them? Are we to allow the creation of an unwanted third race? Should the coloreds be encouraged to go back to the black, or should they be advanced to white status and be absorbed in the white population? Now, time and again, I'm asked by some white man, "If I marry this colored person, will our children be black?" And as Chief Protector of Aborigines, it is my responsibility to accept or reject those marriages. Here is the answer: Three generations. Half-blood grandmother, quadroon daughter, octoroon grandson. Now, as you can see, in the third generation, or third cross, no trace of native origin is apparent. The continuing infiltration of white blood finally stamps out the black color. The Aboriginal has simply been bred out. Now, we come too... we come to the Moore River Native Settlement. Ladies, most of you are familiar with our work here: the training of domestic servants and farm laborers. I would like to thank you for your continuing support. Hundreds of half-caste children have been gathered up and brought here to be given the benefit of everything our culture has to offer. For if we are to fit and train such children for the future, they cannot be left as they are. And, in spite of himself, the native must be helped. | „ |
| ~ A.O. Neville explaining his goals to biologically absorb the Aboriginal race into the white population to his audience. |
Auber Octavius Neville is the main antagonist of the 2002 historical drama film Rabbit-Proof Fence. He is the Chief Protector of Aborigines in Western Australia whose goal is to absorb the Aboriginal race into western society.
He was portrayed by Kenneth Branagh, who also played Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Iago in the 1995 film adaptation of Othello, Dr. Arliss Loveless in Wild Wild West, Edmond Burke in the 2003 London theatre play adaptation of Edmond, Viktor Cherevin in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, and Andrei Sator in Tenet.
Personality[]
| “ | We face an uphill battle with these people, especially the bush natives, who have to be protected against themselves. If only they would understand what we are trying to do for them. | „ |
| ~ A.O. Neville explaining his racially ignorant motivations. |
His primary motivations for removing "half-caste" children from their families is because he wanted to prevent the existence of an unwanted "third race" and to assimilate them into western society in order to prevent them from marrying other Aboriginal people. Since it was widely believed that the Aboriginal race was dying out and that they were considered incompatible with living among the white population, Neville wanted to remove the "half-caste" children from their families and "breed the color" out of them through biological absorption until there were no more natives in Australia. He saw the Aboriginal race as inferior and was convinced that his policies were for a greater good. No matter how well-intentioned he may have been, his policies towards the Stolen Generations have caused cultural death and sometimes even physical death with the children. Neville believed that by having "half-caste" people marry white people, this would stamp out their Aboriginal blood and believed that being white makes them more worthy in society, hence the reason why he particularly targeted mixed-race individuals. Ultimately, his policies were causing psychological damage to the children and making them shame themselves over their identity. Although his role as Chief Protector was to protect the "half-caste" children from abuse by white settlers, his policies were inherently self-defeating at best and negligent at worst, as the vast majority of the half-blooded children were often abused by their masters once they were adopted, both physically and sexually, as shown in the scene where Mavis' employer attempts to sexually abuse her.
Biography[]
In 1915, Neville was appointed Chief Protector of Aborigines in the state of Western Australia and pursued a policy of cultural assimilation and biological absorption against Aboriginal children under the Aborigines Act of 1905. He also established the Moore River Native Settlement as a place for children to integrate into the white population.
In 1931, Neville receives a letter from Constable Riggs and signs a decree to remove three girls from their family residing in an Aboriginal community called Jigalong, being fourteen-year old Molly Craig, ten-year old Gracie Fields, and eight-year old Daisy Craig Kadibil. He then hands the papers to his secretary, Ms. Thomas and she heads out to inform Riggs. The girls' mothers, Maud and Mrs. Fields are informed about their proposed removal, but they refuse to turn them over. Riggs arrives at Jigalong and abducts the girls, while their mothers and grandmother try to stop him, to no avail. Meanwhile, Neville gives out his speech to his audience about the removal policy and why the natives need to be "protected against themselves".
The girls eventually arrive at the Moore River Native Settlement and are taken in by Ms. Jessop to be trained for domestic service. The next day, Neville arrives at the settlement and the children are attended to sing his favorite Christian song, "Swanee River". After the song is finished, the settlement's superintendent, Mr. Neal calls over one boy named Tommy Grant and Neville examines his skin to see if he will be accepted in white society, but rejects him for not being light enough. When Molly's name is called, she apprehensively walks over to the adults. Neville assures to Molly that though her new life may seem foreign to her, they will help her get used to her environment. Neville then examines her skin and decides that she's not light enough, meaning she'll stay at Moore River. After an escaped girl named Olive is recaptured by an Aboriginal tracker named Moodoo and punished by Mr. Neal, Neville thanks Moodoo for bringing back Olive and then states that his daughter isn't ready to have a white family yet before leaving with Mr. Neal.
Fed up with this new life, Molly makes up her mind to leave the settlement with her two siblings and they escape during a thunderstorm. When the settlement finds out that the girls have escaped, Moodoo learns of this and heads out to find them. The girls manage to elude Moodoo by having their tracks swept by the rain and they sleep for the night. Neville later receives a call from Mr. Neal and informs Ms. Thomas about the girls' escape. Neville recalls the time he met with Molly and notes that he underestimated her intelligence. The next morning, Moodoo continues his pursuit and comes close to finding the girls, but they manage to elude the tracker once more after crossing a nearby river. Neville is annoyed to hear that the girls have outwitted Moodoo and sends the police to look for them.
The three girls arrive at a farm, where a farmer provides food and clothes for them and gives them directions to the rabbit-proof fence, which will lead them back to Jigalong. The girls eventually manage to find the fence and begin following it. When Neville finds out that the girls are following the rabbit-proof fence, he devises a plan to have the authorities trap them at Yalgoo and recapture them there. The girls come across a local worker and he informs them that they're on the number two fence, causing the girls to realize that they've been following the wrong fence. The camper directs the girls up north to the number three fence, which saves them from getting caught by the search party.
The girls come across a house in Queue and are invited by an Aboriginal housemaid named Mavis, who also happens to be a former Moore River inmate. That night, when the search party arrives after the property's owner discovers the girls hiding, Mavis helps the girls escape and they hide in a nearby bush. The authorities leave after failing to find the girls and the girls continue following the fence. The next day, the search party returns and continues following the girls, but the girls once again thwart them. Neville becomes desperate and comes up with a plan to capture them before they head into desert country, so he sends the police inspector to spread the word that Gracie's mother is waiting at Wiluna and hires a camper to wait for the girls. Riggs decides to continue searching for the girls, while Moodoo gives up on the search.
The girls come across the camper and he informs them about them being in the newspapers. The camper informs Gracie that her mother is waiting at Wiluna and she ultimately parts ways with Molly and Daisy to find her mother. Molly and Daisy eventually arrive at Wiluna, where they find Gracie waiting at the train station. Molly calls her over, but before Gracie can walk over to them, she is captured by Riggs and is taken back to Moore River. Neville sends Riggs to Jigalong to wait there for the two remaining girls to arrive and recapture them. As time passes, Riggs suspects that the girls are up to something and decides to head over to the fence to check out. However, he comes across the girls' mother and grandmother, who scare him away. The two girls finally arrive at Jigalong, where they are happily reunited with their family.
Realizing that he has been defeated, Neville calls off the search for the girls and informs Ms. Thomas to inform Riggs to keep him updated about the girls' whereabouts, so they may be recaptured at some point in the future. While his secretary is writing his letter, Neville states that he wishes that the Aboriginal people would understand their well-intentioned goals and Ms. Thomas sends his letter.
An older Molly states that she eventually got married and gave birth to two children a decade later. Then she and her children were taken back to the Moore River Native Settlement, but she walked all the way back to Jigalong with her youngest daughter, Annabelle. However, when Annabelle turned three, she was taken away and Molly never saw her again. Molly confirms that Gracie is dead and states that she will never return to Moore River again.
An epilogue states that Neville retired in 1940 and that the removal policy remained in place until 1970. The legacy of the removal policy has resulted in the cultural destruction and intergenerational trauma suffered by Aboriginal communities for decades.
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Trivia[]
- Director Philip Noyce stated that he thought that there couldn't have been a better actor for Neville than Kenneth Branagh and that Neville's sense of moral justification for his racist actions could have been lost in a lesser actor's performance. Noyce also concluded that there is nothing more threatening than a villain who believes he's truly doing the right thing and kills with his own kindness.
- Kenneth Branagh stated that he admired the filmmakers in trying to neither judge Neville, nor to excuse him, and to portray a man who may be regarded as a monster, but also as a human being.
- The book the movie is based on, Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence is actually written by Molly Craig's daughter, Doris Pilkington Garimara and wrote about her mother's experience when she was taken to the Moore River Native Settlement by Neville, but escaped with her siblings back to Jigalong.
- The diagram Neville uses in his presentation was actually from Neville's real-life book Australia's Colored Minority, which was released in 1947.
- His speech to a Perth ladies charity society was not based on anything the real Neville said and was solely written for the script by Christine Olsen.
- Despite his role as "Chief Protector of Aborigines", the title of his career is ironic, considering that despite his proclamations of "helping the natives", he was responsible for ruining their lives as part of his eugenics program of cultural genocide, hence the reason the natives call him "Mr. Devil", which rhymes with "Neville".
- In real-life, as an indirect result of Neville's policies towards the Aboriginal people in Western Australia, several half-caste children have died of disease and some have been abused and chained when they were adopted by white families. Others have also been impregnated by their owners after being raped and taken back to Moore River, where their newborn children would be taken away two years later. This is evidenced in the scenes with Mavis, where it's implied that her boss, Paul Evans sexually abuses her.
- One may notice that his his lack of empathy in his facial expressions and the tone of his voice as well as his dimly lit office throughout the film symbolize his oppressive attitude and policy towards Aboriginal Australians.
- Ever since the release of Rabbit-Proof Fence, controversies regarding the film have arisen involving its depiction of A.O. Neville's removal policy towards Aboriginal Australians, with its veracity being dismissed by right-wing journalists and historians such as Andrew Bolt and Keith Windschuttle as being "grossly inaccurate", stating that his policy towards the Stolen Generations was due to welfare reasons and that the girls were sexually involved with white men. However, those claims have been debunked by the filmmakers and by professor Robert Manne, who stated that the reasons for their criticisms on the film were entirely politically motivated, as their attacks on the film were done after the deaths of Molly and Gracie.