Country Lovers
Alesha Adkinson
ENG125: Introduction to Literature
Instructor Victoria Schmidt
April 17, 2014
ENG125: Introduction to Literature
Instructor: Victoria Schmidt
Nadine Gordimer’s Country Lovers is the story of two young lovers having to deal with racial issues between being black and white. It is set in South Africa in 1974 where black and white people lived separate lives under apartheid. Because of the heightened sense of racial prejudice during the early 1900s, a forbidden interracial romance was forbidden. Interracial relationships and race relations are such that society has certain rules about what it considers normal and lawful. Whether society considers the mixing of races as normal, lawful, or even acceptable is not always relevant in the face of a pursuit of love. Although the characters are aware of the dangers of being together, they choose to get involved anyway.
This story takes place on a farm where Paulus Eysendyck, the son of the white farm owner, and Thebedi, a black worker, grow up playing with each other and their friendship turns into a forbidden love affair as they get older. Eventually, he goes off to college and Thebedi learns she is pregnant with his child; a fair skinned, hazel eyed, little girl. When he finally returns home, he finds out that Thebedi has married Njabulo and had a child. Njabulo has accepted the child as his own but Paulus is still overcome with fear that his family will discover the child is his. The very next day, the child mysteriously dies, after he visits. There is a trial and Paulus is found not guilty for lack of evidence. Thebedi goes on with her life. The two themes of this story are are love and racism. Although love is not something which shou...
... middle of paper ...
...es on the feelings and attitudes of the characters. The setting let the reader know the dangers of their love but enticed them to continue reading for the outcome. Whether society considers the mixing of races as normal, lawful, or even acceptable is not always relevant in the face of a pursuit of love. The heart wants what it wants and we are powerless to change it.
References
Clugston, R. W. (2010). Journey into literature. San Diego, California:
Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Lund, G. (2003). 'Healing the Nation': Medicolonial Discourse and the State of
Emergency from Apartheid to Truth and Reconciliation. Cultural Critique. Vol.
54 Issue 1. p88-119. Retrieved from Project MUSE database
McLeod, A. L. (2004). Town and Country Lovers. Masterplots II: Short Story
Series, Revised Edition, 1-3. Retrieved from EBSCOhost database
In conclusion, both of these pieces of work were written in their cultural and historical context. I attempted to compare the two in reference to plot, character, morals/values, and themes and explain them in their cultural and historical context. Dangerous Liaisons was considered to be a condemned piece of literature and Cruel Intentions emphasized this immorality as a modernized version of the story.
In “Citizens: An American Lyric” by Claudia Rankine the audience is placed in a world where racism strongly affects the daily American cultural and social life. In this world we are put as the eyewitnesses and victims, the bystanders and the participants of racial encounters that happen in our daily lives and in the media, yet we have managed to ignore them for the mere fact that we are accustomed to them. Some of these encounters may be accidental slips, things that we didn’t intend to say and that we didn’t mean yet they’ve managed to make it to the surface. On the other hand we have the encounters that are intentionally offensive, things said that are
Robinson, Charles F. Dangerous Liaisons: Sex and Love in the Segregated South. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas, 2003. Print.
...pared because of the infidelity and betrayal to their loved ones, and contrasted because of the different emotions that each of the main characters from feeling regretful and very indifferent.
Just 2 human beings existing in the same society. Nowlan demonstrates how everyone is different, but everyone is equal. Everyone wants to love and wants to be loved. “We are lovers.” The grown man was understanding acceptance. Love is love regardless if you’re different from one another. Referring back to love doesn’t have to be intimate, it’s just a feeling that everyone need from friends and family. Feeling some emotion is a part of being human. This is what makes human nature. The “fire” is what separate every human being, but it also connects
Kimberlé Crenshaw’s assertion that the advancement of racial equality is not attainable without the advancement of gender equality is supported with adequate evidence throughout her article, “Black Girls Matter.” Crenshaw’s argument is founded upon the biases woven into government-funded initiatives focused on bettering the lives of the nations underprivileged youth while turning a blind eye to the marginalization of the female colored youth. In particular Crenshaw focuses on President Obama’s initiative, My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) and Michelle Obama’s global initiative Let Girls Learn. Furthermore, the article emphasizes the shortcomings of the nations female colored youth in terms of education through the presence of sexism and racism.
Fairytales and modern day movies project a stereotypical portrayal of love, idealizing it and ignoring the not so happy ever after when the prince and princess go back to their castle. Walker and Salinger in their respective novels present the idea of love with much more verisimilitude without the traditional symbols of castles and titles. Instead, opting for a warts and all exploration of love, focusing on its utopian and dystopian elements. Walker’s ‘The Color Purple’ is a tale of a black woman who is driven to lesbian love due to the abuse undertaken by men. J. D. Salinger’s ‘The Catcher in the Rye’, similarly speaks of a sexually frustrated young man not able to fulfill his desires due to societal constraints. Both the novels encapsulate realistic elements of love like the healing and harmful effects it can have on humans; we see all the pure forms of love as juxtaposed through the plot line with the absence of parental love, love between siblings and homosexual love. But, through all of the toils begotten by both Celie and Holden, love is a constant. ‘’Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres’’.
Moran, Rachel F. "Interracial Intimacy: The Regulation of Race and Romance." History Today. 52:11 (2002): 75.
“Desiree Baby” by Kate Chopin is a very thought provoking short story that deals with racism, prejudice, and love. The story takes place in southern Louisiana, where Armand, a prominent landowner, marries a girl of unknown origin named Desiree. The story has a twist when their baby is born and is discovered to be of mixed race. Armand knew all along that he was OF mixed race, and I will prove it by analyzing characterization, diction, and imagery.
...e allows violent language to drive the characters. Yet at the same time, the violent language ends up proving to be not as harsh and actually leads these sets of characters to courtship.
...it up to each reader to draw their own conclusions and search their own feelings. At the false climax, the reader was surprised to learn that the quite, well-liked, polite, little convent girl was colored. Now the reader had to evaluate how the forces within their society might have driven such an innocent to commit suicide.
Sexism is still a prevailing problem in the world today. Unfortunately, this contributes to other forms of discrimination. In the article, Black Girls Matter, the author, Kimberlé Crenshaw, brings this to light. Young girls of color are often ignored by national initiatives in regards to both racism and sexism combined. The author supports her criticism with the use of personal stories of young girls of color, namely, Salecia, Pleajhai, Mikia, and Tanisha along with numerical data as examples.
Racism presents itself in many ways in the town of Maycomb. Some are blatant and open, but others are more insidious. One obvious way that racism presents itself is in the result of Tom Robinson’s trial. Another apparent example is the bullying Jem and Scout had to endure as a result of Atticus’s appointment as Tom Robinson’s defense attorney. A less easily discernible case is the persecution of Mr. Dolphus Raymond, who chose to live his life in close relation with the colored community.
Sergio Sanchez English 10 Ms. Tran May 14, 2014 Dont Be Told How To Live Your Life, Choose And Stand Up For Your Freedom Being African American in the 1930’s, how free you were was determined by the half you lived in - the North or South. In that time period there was a significant amount of racism, segregation, and prejudice occurring. However, racism was on a whole different level in the South than it was in the North of the United States. In the North, colored people had rights like freedom of speech, but in the South they had no rights. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird, the author, Harper Lee, did a wonderful job of vividly portraying how Negro’s lived in the South, particularly in the state of Mississippi in Maycomb County.
Racism Exposed in Cry, the Beloved Country. The purpose of Cry, the Beloved Country, is to awaken the population of South Africa to the racism that is slowly disintegrating the society and its people. The. Alan Paton designs his work to express his views on the injustices and racial hatred that plagues South Africa, in an attempt to bring about change and.