Nadine Gordimer on South Africa

To show first hand to the whites the inequality’s and hardships that the blacks face, the entire first section is in a narrative and a descriptive format. The use of these types of essays lets the readers feel more involved in the story and feel things for themselves. Split into two sections within itself, this first paragraph juxtaposes two stories — one about a “young Negro boy” living in Harlem, and the other about a “young Negro girl” living in Birmingham. The parallelism in the sentence structures of introducing the children likens them even more — despite the differences between them — whether it be their far away location, or their differing, yet still awful, situations. Since this section is focused more towards his white audience, King goes into a description of what it was like living as an African American in those times— a situation the black audience knew all too well. His intense word choice of describing the boy’s house as “vermin-infested” provokes a very negative reaction due to the bad

Gordimer also uses the symbolism of “the suburbs” and “fence” to emphasize the racists mindsets and the fear of integrating and coexisting with those of different skin complexions. The wife suggested that they increase the intensity of their current security system due to the ongoing violent acts, but her husband tried to ensure her that the rioters wouldn’t be able to invade the suburbs by telling her, “... these people were not allowed into the suburb...so there was nothing to fear” (2). The suburbs symbolize the separation of races; whites reside in the suburbs, while those of any other race inhabit areas beyond the suburbs. Families are separated based on racial associations, further suggesting the idea that fear may led to a group separating themselves from others based on opposing views. Racial discrimination was the primary theme and idea of Apartheid. The heightened level of anxiety shared by the family members drove them to increase their security system. They increased the height of the fence, and reinforced it with “razor-bladed coils all round” (19). This symbolizes their fear, anxiety, and worry

Each person in this life has a role and a goal. The majority take more than they deserve . They enjoy more power than they can bear . They give themselves more rights . The minority struggle to perform this role and get their rights . During his life time , a person of the minority should fight to deliver his message despite the conflicts that he may face . In the story ,the black people , a generation following a generation , do their best and advise their descendents to continue the battle of existence . they suffer a lot . They are made fun of . they struggle to be a respected part of the society , even when they try to express what is inside themselves "equality " , it is considered a crime . It must be said ONLY by mistake . the white men know that one day the black ones will be a great power but they don't want to witness such a day . they can only let them live to entertain them and to be mocked of

Thesis Statement: Apartheid may have been a horrible era in South African history, but only so because the whites were forced to take action against the outrageous and threatening deeds of the blacks in order to sustain their power.

Since 1955 James Baldwin’s essay “Stranger in the Village” has become a legendary work which raises questions about racism, its history and nature. It is usually understood as a classic model which maps the obstacles that African Americans have encountered in white society; also the essay can be interpreted as a lens through which American blacks could perceive the world around them as a result of American slavery. Yet, these speculations fail to take into account the groundlessness of “white supremacy” which is evident from the author’s description of a godforsaken village where people are ignorant and literally entrapped. Moreover, it is unjustified for the protagonist to feel villagers’ dominance since it is inconsistent with circumstances that he presents to readers as well as the apparent advantages that he has over the villagers. And so, if we continue to see the story as simply discriminatory against blacks, we miss an important message of that there is something (values) beyond racial advantages, what the nature of genuine supremacy is (which could be based on other values rather than on color of the skin), (what are the things that are more important than the race) and we fail to make objective judgments of one’s unfeigned domination. In his essay “Stranger in the Village” Baldwin forces readers to confront their cultural assumptions about racial superiority and come to a new understanding of genuine supremacy through extoling contemporary American society over

On his deathbed, the grandfather gives a speech telling his family, “[he had] been a traitor all [his] born days, a spy . . . Live with your head in the lion’s mouth” (180). In this time period one cannot blatantly oppose the whites and so one must follow and secretly undermine them; this is the thought that the narrator is haunted with. He dislikes to acknowledge the influence those last words has had on his current progress towards acceptance into the white community. His true attitude is publicly revealed through a Freudian slip during his speech, he says social “equality” instead of “responsibility” (190). Social responsibility refers to the African American people accepting their position in society; social equality alludes to them attempting to climb the social ladder towards the whites. In addition to the narrator botching his speech, the superintendent then begins to praise him although the majority of people were not even paying attention until he mistaken a word. He tells the audience, “[S]ome day he’ll lead his people in the proper path” (190). Because this directly follows the narrator mistake, what the superintendent says indicates that the proper path may be social equality. But for today, he is partly still a member of the struggling youth in search of acceptance that is unacquirable, as well as aiming to manage the future which cannot be

Nadine Gordimer’s “What were you dreaming?” is known to be a very sensitive, open account of her private and social relationship in South Africa. Gordimer witnessed the difference between the white minority, and their continuous efforts to weaken the rights of the black population. Gordimer made it her duty to promote the consequences of the apartheid, the problems that oppression inflicts on both the colonized (settled) and the colonizers (immigrants), its effect on daily life, and the division it caused between the black and white races. As a result, she wrote the short story, “What were you dreaming?” to show the readers her view, not explain it.

Can you imagine having all your basic rights stolen from you, being an outsider in the land of both you and your ancestors? The possible hurt and anguish you just felt was a daily occurrence for millions of people in South Africa, brought on by the apartheid. The apartheid system ruled over South Africa for nearly 50 years, and limited the possibilities for many young black children to receive an education and lead happy lives. The strict rules of the apartheid are a major theme in the autobiography, Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane, and continually shapes the main character’s life, usually for the worse. Throughout the course of this essay I will be highlighting the tolls the apartheid took on the lives of many black, coloured, and Indian South Africans.

Everyone is going to come across some kind of conflict while trying to achieve their goals in life. For the Younger family, race discrimination played an enormous role. While trying to move, they were confronted with, their soon to be neighbor, Karl Lindner. He began to say that their neighborhood should be safe and crime free.

The story happens on an unbearable hot day in an economically depressed neighborhood in Brooklyn. There are some critical scenes suggesting that the characters become more identified with their own racial group to gain the conformity and protect their prides. We can try to understand how these scenes finally lead to violence among different racial groups by analyzing each character carefully. We can separate these characters in terms of generation. In the younger generation, there are some

In the Novel “Cry the Beloved Country” by Alan Paton, two fathers are trying to put the pieces of there families back together while also keeping themselves together. They each go through a variety of struggles, with one learning his sister is a prostitute and his son is a murder while the other deals with his sons death and tries to move passed it. Throughout the novel, racial tension is a theme frequently seen from the beginning of the book til the very end. Paton uses the setting of South Africa to underscore racial tension associated with the apartheid movement to illustrate these themes. The concept of racism is prevalent during the story as it is used by the government to caused both blacks and whites to fear each other which eventually tears apart Kumalo’s family.

Many of the contemporary issues in South Africa can easily be associated with the apartheid laws which devastated the country. The people of South Africa struggle day by day to reverse “the most cruel, yet well-crafted,” horrific tactic “of social engineering.” The concept behind apartheid emerged in 1948 when the nationalist party took over government, and the all-white government enforced “racial segregation under a system of legislation” . The central issues stem from 50 years of apartheid include poverty, income inequality, land ownership rates and many other long term affects that still plague the brunt of the South African population while the small white minority still enjoy much of the wealth, most of the land and opportunities

Ever since the beginning of time, fear has been haunting the lives of human beings. The passage “Once upon a time”, by Nadine Gordimer, the characters within this text shows how fear is seen and what actions are done to stop “threats”. In this text, there was a family in a quartered area , mom, dad, and a little boy. only trusted maids and etc. were allowed into the area. In front of the family house is a warning sign that says one could be an invader even though the homeowners are covered by security systems. Towards the end of the passage the homeowners house was broken into. In “once upon a time” Gordimer uses imagery and symbolism to justify that apartheid was a fearful time to live in.

I have always thought that Nelson Mandela has been one of the most important people in history. I find it very fascinating that one man could end the Apartheid and that is why I want to find out more about this. South Africa is a country with a past of enforced racism and separation of its multi-racial community. The White Europeans invaded South Africa and started a political system known as 'Apartheid' (meaning 'apartness'). This system severely restricted the rights and lifestyle of the non-White inhabitants of the country forcing them to live separately from the White Europeans. I have chosen to investigate how the Apartheid affected people’s lives, and also how and why the Apartheid system rose and fell in South Africa.

Next, I’d like to discuss the ways in which the conditions of “Living, Loving, and Lying Awake at Night,” and the roles that were plagued amongst the women in South Africa and how forced migrations affected their situations. Due to the Apartheid era, and men's non existence in their families life because of forced migration, women began to feel as though they could only do for themselves causing for their acceptance without man's presence. In an early reference to the chapter, leaving, the author shows the ways that apartheid affected the women. For instance, “As year went from the woman had come to