The Things She's Seen

Catching’s story continues to represent her traumatic experiences through allegory. When her account is paired with Beth’s, it is clear that Flint and Cavanagh are likely the “Fetchers” and were in reality tasked with abducting young women on behalf of the as-yet-unknown “Feed.” It is important to note that because Catching’s story refers to the Feed as singular, the author creates uncertainty over whether Sholt or Bell is the true perpetrator of the implied sexual violence against the women and girls. However, this detail is actually a subtle form of misdirection, for subsequent chapters will reveal that there are actually two distinct “Feeds,” indicating that both men are equally guilty.

Significantly, Catching does not describe the violence against her as rape; instead, her poetic and fantastical account blurs these details, and she represents the experience allegorically by stating that her attacker was eating the “colors” that live inside her. This scene therefore intensifies the novel’s use of color symbolism by explicitly tying the idea of bright colors to the hope and strength of women and equating the “grayness” that they accumulate with hopelessness and victimization. This dynamic also links to the novel’s examination of The Impact of Colonialism in Australia, for the colorful imagery of feminine strength and hope is particularly tied to the experiences of Aboriginal women. Specifically, Catching and Blue are both of Aboriginal descent, while the Fetchers and the Feed are clearly associated with whiteness. Thus, the crimes against these women take on the underlying taint of colonialism, and the hopelessness of Catching’s situation is represented by the grayness that begins to overtake her after the first rape she experiences.

Crow—who will later be revealed to be the missing Sarah Blue—is first introduced in Catching’s account as a completely “gray” girl who no longer has any hope at all. Her dialogue reinforces this interpretation, for she repeatedly assures Catching that the only escape is to become a “dead girl.” Likewise, Crow becomes angry at Catching’s continued expressions of hope, and Catching’s description of Crow as a “girl” rather than as a “woman” hints that Sarah herself never lived to become a woman. In the real world, twenty years have passed since Sarah’s abduction, and this time difference is hinted at when Crow tells Catching that she has been in the underground room “Since the Feed began” (103). Although Catching does not understand why the Fetchers ignore Crow’s presence, it can be inferred that Crow, like Beth, is a ghost. Catching also characterizes Crow as birdlike in her mannerisms as well as her name, for she engages in a hopping motion and sports unnaturally long nails and unusual feet. These descriptive details reinforce the image of Crow as a bird—thereby hinting that Crow is not just an ordinary human girl.

This section also emphasizes Catching’s innate spiritual strength and determination, both of which are rooted in her Aboriginal background. Despite the apparent hopelessness of her situation, Catching refuses to give up and fights to recall the names of her ancestors. In keeping with Aboriginal customs, she does not speak the names of the dead aloud, but because Catching’s mother has explicitly identified these women with strength, Catching draws on these names to reinforce her own strength and retain her hope in effecting both escape and vengeance.

Catching’s inner strength revolves particularly around her recollection of her mother’s stories about Grandma Leslie Catching, for the woman’s tale embodies the authors’ broader purpose of examining The Impact of Colonialism in Australia. This ancestress was unable to avoid abduction or escape from the government school to which she was taken, and the parallels with Catching’s own situation are clear. Catching’s grandmothers were sometimes able to escape their oppression, but in no case were they able to avenge their own suffering; the white men who abused and oppressed them were simply too powerful. However, the invocation of these stories in the midst of Catching’s predicament foreshadows the fact that Catching’s story will end differently. This impression is strengthened in Chapter 13, for she vows to make the Feed feel the kind of fear that the Feed has inflicted upon her, and her determination foreshadows the solution to the novel’s central mystery. By working together, Catching and Crow will eventually find a way to kill the men responsible for their pain.