Alienation and Isolation Depicted in "The Lemon Orchard" and "The Third and Final Continent"

The Lemon Orchard and The Third and Final Continent are about alienation and isolation. The role of the environment and the setting in both stories is very effective and dynamic, which further enhances the impact of the theme and mood within both stories. Throughout both stories, the setting and the environment, plays a huge role and makes both stories much more convincing.

The Lemon orchard is a story set in a dark isolated lemon orchard. La Guma uses the environment and the setting to symbolize the actions of the men and to foreshadow things to come. He does this very effectively and successfully to keep the reader’s attention He makes the reader think about these mysterious images to discover what the writer is really trying to say. La Guma, in the beginning, used negative images but in the end he turned these negative images in to positive. For example the writer used the imagery of the moon in the beginning and in the end very professionally. In the beginning “the moon was hidden behind long high parallels of cloud which hung like suspended streamers”. This imagery foreshadows that something terrible, devilish is going to happen. The writer has made us consider that something awful is going to happen with powerful moon imagery. At the end of his story he again uses the moon imagery to close up his story “moon came from behind the banks of cloud and its white light touched the leaves with wet silver”. The moon light is being compared to stage light which shines onto a stage for a play to begin and this conveys the men’s actions; the men in the story are the actors and moon light symbolizes the beginning of the men’s act which will take place. However the moon is not the only object that the writer uses to foreshadow things.

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...suggests going out but when Mala changes her clothes to go out, he regrets his decision and isolates himself thinking that he is right and she is wrong. “I had no destination in mind” Suddenly he decides to make Mala to Mrs. Croft. It is here that the story has a complete change by Mrs. Croft stating that Mala is "a perfect lady". This makes the man suddenly realize that Mala is a perfect lady but she has to learn and become accustomed to her surrounding which they begin to do together “Together we explored the city and met Bangalis” Both the man`s and Mala`s Isolation and Alienation end.

Throughout the stories the environment and the settings have been used to enhance the theme and mood within both stories. The writers managed to create interesting, imaginative and dynamically strong stories of isolation and alienation, and the impact was powerful on the reader.