Reading Reflection - Essay Example

READING REFLECTION (COUNTRY LOVERS) Nadine Gordimer’s fictional work is one of the best examples of literary piece that offers a detailed account of the pathetic process of racism in the colonial South Africa characterized by social severance and alienation. The Country Lovers are actually an indication of how her work traced the dynamics in the social history that was taking place in the then apartheid South Africa. The problem of apartheid that entailed the unwelcome policy of forceful separation of whites and blacks is the main feature in the short story.

Oppression was the order of the day and as brought out by Gordimer, the Country Lovers brings out the issues of apartheid, alienation, displacement, sex, love as well as illegal relationships. Country Lovers is an interesting fictional story that revolves around illegal love between a black woman named Thebedi and a son of her colonial masters, Paulus. It gives detailed account of how childhood friendship was able to blossom into adulthood culminating into sexual escapades. At the end, fortunately or unfortunately, Thebedi conceived without the knowledge of Paulus.

Going back to college meant that there was physical separation between the two lovers and the result of it was that when Paulus went back to see Thebedi, he found that he was already married to a man named Njabulo. Interestingly enough, with all the contrasting features of a child born with a black woman and white man, Njabulo accepted all the oddities and took the child as his own. Although the child succumbed mysteriously through injuries inflicted by Paulus, as indicated by Clugston (2010, 44-50), the short story uses a historical approach in its analysis and criticism of the theme of racism in the story.

The story by Gordimer is essentially very engaging owing to its scandalous nature and intensity of the ironical topic. It is ironical to expect intimate relationship to thrive between a black woman and a white woman at the heightened period of racial prejudice that was in fact the order of the day in South Africa during the early twentieth century. Further more, romance between different races was considered a big social taboo. And interestingly enough, it is hard to imagine how Gordimer considered penning down a literary piece touching on this thorny and jealously gurded issue.

It was therefore an eye-opener to the oppressed blacks that even though they were not allowed to have any relationships with the whites, human dignity transgresses all boundaries, and to those who are aware of black South Africans struggle during the period of apartheid regime. This narration can be said to have been very unpopular and offending to so many whites of the time, but in essence portrays social reality as it was (Huggan 1994, 61-74). Another thing that adds merit to the popularity of the fictional story is the credibility of Gordimer.

The author was born in South Africa when apartheid was at its best and therefore had a very strong conviction on laying bare societal injustices that befell mainly the black portion of the population. As mentioned by Rubel (1998, 141-147), the social and economic injustices formed the dominant themes of her literary works, which have since in a way made inroads in improving racial relationships among different races. Country Lovers central theme balances on the double experience of Thebedi as a black person, thus being colored and a woman.

Being black, she was not under any obligation to enter a relationship with a white man. The story of Country Lovers can be said to have achieved a lot in relation to exposing the sorry state of things during the period of racial segregation in South Africa as it exposed the harsh reality that black women were subjected to in form of racial oppression. Thebedi is a wake up symbol for women to have self-dignity and be focused to rise above societal injustices.BibliographyClugston, R. W. 2010.

Journey into Literature. California: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.Huggan, G, 1994. "Echoes from Elsewhere: Gordimers Short Fiction as Social Critique," in Research in African Literatures, Vol. 25, No. 1, Spring, pp. 61-74.Rubel, D, 1998. "Nadine Gordimer," in The Reading List of Contemporary Fiction: A Critical Guide to the Complete Works of 110 Authors, Agincourt Press, pp. 141-47.