Sally Morgan's Inner Journey

“The concept of inner journey is represented in spiritual enlightenment, self-discovery and the gaining of wisdom” Sally Morgan, throughout the story of my place embarks on an inner journey of discovering who she is. By piecing together her families past, she slowly and unwillingly discovers who she is, understands who she is and is responsible for her families inner journey too. From a young age Sally was asking questions. She was curious of her heritage. When asking Nan and Mum what she was, they replied “Tell them you’re Indian.” From a young age, Sally had been told a lie, as it was thought that it would protect her. This white lie begins an inner journey of self-discovery as Sally tries to discover who she really is.
Sally at a young
age felt like an outcast, even though she was told that she was just like every other child by her parents. This is because she is being raised white. In chapter 3 Sally says: “I felt different from the other children in my class. They were the spick-and-span brigade, and I, the grubby offender.” She feels isolated, but has no explanation to why she is. This is where Sally subconsciously starts her inner journey. From this moment she begins to wonder why she is different. She realises that her life is lacking meaning; she is low on self-confidence and self-worth. She is still trying to understand western culture or a ‘white lifestyle’ as this is how she is being raised. In chapter two, Sally draws her family in the nude, as “It hadn’t occurred to me you were meant to draw them with clothes on.” There is still a strong sense of Aboriginality in her instinctive actions, although she is too young to realise at this age. In chapter five she begins to pretend she is sick to avoid going to school because: “All my lessons seemed unrelated to real life.” Sally wants to learn about practical things that are a part of the culture she does not know about within her. This is why school seems pointless to her.
As Sally begins to mature, she begins to notice remarks from others that wouldn’t have meant much before.
For example, I know what it’s like to be hungry, it’s a terrible thing.” This was a hint at Nan’s past and “We expect of the Milroys, but not of girls of your calibre” showing that societies general view of Aboriginals at the time was that they were inferior. Sally begins to piece these remarks together and gets to the realisation that Nan is black. This brings up hidden secrets that Nan and Mum had tried to supress all this time, about their past which had scared them both for life. Nan then has a sense of denial and rejection. She believes that now that Sally knows what she truly is, she is not wanted. “You bloody kids don’t want me, you want a bloody white grandmother, I’m black” Sally cannot understand why Nan reacts the way she did. Nan lacks a sense of self actualisation at this moment and needs to go through the inner journey which will be dangerous and confronting to get over her horrendous and scarring past have a sense of personal triumph. For the first time in Sally’s life Sally is conscious of Nan’s colouring. “For the first time in my fifteen years, I was conscious of Nan’s colouring...if she wasn’t white, then neither were we. What did that make us, what did that make me?” This is a moment of epiphany for Sally, as she is lost. She has no sense of belonging anymore, so sense of self and most importantly is lacking any identity. This is the true start to
Sally, Morgan and Gladys’ journey. They now embark together to accept the past and find a sense of meaning to life.
In The Final chapter of the book, Sally, Nan and Mum visit Corunna downs to finally understand what their past consists of.
This physical journey is the catalyst to the inner journey, which results in the discovery of the families past, identity and meaning. Nan is still reluctant to accept the past and Sally and Mum help Nan through the pain of accepting her history. “She didn’t want me to come. She just doesn’t want to be Aboriginal.” It is necessary for the whole family to succeed in this inner journey as it is also Sally’s goal to ensure Nan makes peace with the past. It requires Nan to become terminally ill to allow her to open up. This was the completion of Nan and the Morgan families inner journey, which they took together. “We were different people now...We had an Aboriginal consciousness now, and were proud of it.” At Nan’s deathbed a sense of togetherness and belonging which was not present is Sally’s earlier came along. “We all knew something more than Nan’s body was dying. She was a symbol. Part of us was going, too.” Nan had faced a great struggle, but was received with a great reward, happiness and peace in her
death.
In conclusion, Sally’s inner journey to discover who she is got the best out of her and her family. Through facing the hardships and struggles of the past together, they gained spiritual enlightenment, wisdom and a sense of belonging. Together they understand the importance of their past and find a new sense of self-worth. Their lives have benefited greatly from the journey which Sally embarks on.