Dalene Matthee in Fiela's Child

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Recommended: Racism in literature

HOW DOES DALENE MATTHEE PORTRAY RACE AND IDENTITY IN FIELA’S CHILD THROUGH CHARACTERISATION?
On one side of a mountain in the Long Kloof, there is Fiela Komoetie who is devoted to her child – a three-year old boy she finds one night, crying on her doorstep like a castaway lamb. On the other side of the mountain, in the Forest, are the Van Rooyens. Many years ago, the three-year-old son of Elias Van Rooyen, a woodcutter, and his wife Barta disappeared. In Fiela’s Child, Dalene Matthee passionately portrays ideas about identity to the reader. She uses the story of Benjamin, a white boy who is brought up by a coloured woman, to communicate her thoughts about the nature of identity, not only in the situation of Benjamin, but also everyday life.
Identity is popularly regarded as a combination of personality, feelings and beliefs. Basically, identity defines who a person is. It is used to describe and distinguish the personality of people. It is what makes people unique. Some may believe that identity and personality are similar or the same, but personality is simply an insincere impression and does not involve a person’s hidden feelings and beliefs. That is, the way we are brought up is what defines us; it is what we become or what we are and that cannot be changed in any way until we embrace a different culture or decide to change our way of doing things.
By describing how Benjamin struggles between the Komoetie’s and the Van Rooyens, Matthee effectively says that identity can be acquired after birth, but cannot be replaced once it has been instilled in a person. The main character, Benjamin is found as a small child who is lost in an African tropical forest; he is found and cared for by a black family for nine years and literally...

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...that white racism is not completely confined to South Africa. It is possible, for instance, that some whites in America might gain in humanity if they could say with an open heart: "My mother is Africa." Here are some quotes by readers: “Everything a novel can be: convincing, thought-provoking, upsetting, unforgettable, and timeless."—Grace Ingoldby , “Fiela’s Child is a parade that broadens and humanizes our understanding of the conflicts still affecting South Africa today."—Francis Levy

Works Cited

(1992, September 1). Retrieved february 26, 2013, from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Fielas-Phoenix-Fiction-Dalene-Matthee/dp/0226510832
Garg, R. (2008, November 7). Retrieved February 26, 2013, from Marked By Teachers: http://www.markedbyteachers.com/international-baccalaureate/languages/fiela-s-child-identity.html
Matthee, D. (2010). Dalene Matthee's books. 1.

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