Commencing this assignment an attempt at a detailed analysis of Karen Press’s poem Glimpses of Women in Overalls will be made. Following such an analysis I shall articulate how the poem raises comparable concerns with that of Mrs Plum written by Es’kia Mphahlele. I have selected this particular story due to the face that it I believe both works communicative similar themes, therefore I shall explore the comparison below.
In order to provide a detailed analysis of the poem Glimpses of Women in Overalls it is vital to first establish the context in which it is written. Karen Press was born during the Apartheid era in South African and it can be said that she was therefore much influence by what she witnessed first-hand. To begin one should first observe the title of the poem and note the usage of the word “Women” – meaning more than one woman. Therefore the word choice expresses an observation of not only one, but numerous women throughout the poem.
The first stanza of the poem titled “live-in” begs the question live in what? Within the context of Apartheid answers such as fear or perhaps oppression come to mind. In accordance with the first stanza, within lines three and four there is both a literal and figurative meaning of the following quote “the taste of your own burnt tongue immediately going cold” (Chapmen, 2002: 446). The literal meaning is of a woman burning her tongue on hot food, but the more interesting is the figurative meaning that the burnt tongue may refer to harsh words she wishes to express. With regard to any further meaning the sentence may hold the word “cold” in line four may mean to remember ones place and bite back on the harsh words one wishes to express. The “Coagulation of fat” may denote a...
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...h a feeling that the future is unknown, but ones place in an Apartheid system is very much set according to race.
Both Mphahlele and Press use the concept of Apartheid to bring to light various comparable concerns within their two pieces of prose. Above is an analysis and comparison of how they achieve this by means of a poem that intends an observation of women who in order to sustain a living are subjected to antagonism, and a short story that subtly interrogates White liberalism in a Black woman’s world.
Works Cited
• Chapman, Michael, ed. 2002. The New Century of South African Poetry. Johannesburg and Cape Town: AD Donker Publishers.
• MacKenzie, Craig, ed. 1999. Transitions: Half a century of South African Short Stories. Cape Town: Francolin Publishers.
• http://southafrica.poetryinternationalweb.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module/index.php?obj_id=5378
The readers are apt to feel confused in the contrasting ways the woman in this poem has been depicted. The lady described in the poem leads to contrasting lives during the day and night. She is a normal girl in her Cadillac in the day while in her pink Mustang she is a prostitute driving on highways in the night. In the poem the imagery of body recurs frequently as “moving in the dust” and “every time she is touched”. The reference to woman’s body could possibly be the metaphor for the derogatory ways women’s labor, especially the physical labor is represented. The contrast between day and night possibly highlights the two contrasting ways the women are represented in society.
Anne Moody’s Coming of Age in Mississippi and Mark Mathabane’s Kaffir Boy are both coming-of-age narratives that were written through the eyes and experiences of young people who grew up in a world of apartheid. Although, it should be noted that they both have parallels in their stories as well as distinctions one should take into account the times and places in which each occurred. While Coming of Age in Mississippi occurred during a Jim Crow era in the American South, between 1944 and 1968, Kaffir Boy’s autobiographical narrative occurred in the regime of South Africa’s apartheid struggle from 1960 to 1978 in the town of Alexandra. During the late 20th century both narratives offer a framework of racism, a value and yearn for education and the struggle and will to survive. This essay will compile how both narratives experienced their areas race-relations given the time and place that they are in.
Stoltzfus, Ben. “‘Sartre, Nada, and Hemingway's African Stories.’” Comparative Literature Studies. New York: Garrett, 2005. 205-28. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Jelena Krstović. Vol. 117. Detroit: Gale, 142 vols. 214-21. Print.
The influential roles of women in the story also have important effects on the whole poem. It is them that press the senses of love, family care, devotion, and other ethical attitudes on the progression of the story. In this poem the Poet has created a sort of “catalogue of women” in which he accurately creates and disting...
The Boer War has continued to be a popular subject for escapist fiction. Whereas the writers at the height of the Empire were overwhelmingly British, with the decline of imperialism the field is now dominated by South African writers
Massey, Douglas A. and Nancy A. Denton. American Apartheid. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993.
As Amadla! focuses on, non-whites who were affected by the apartheid laws created a large amount of songs of various categories during the National Party’s rule. These songs were used during marches and protests, such as the burning of the passbooks, as a more peaceful revolt against segregation laws. The songs each expressed their views and thoughts of the National Party, for example the lyrics in Ndodemnyama that specifically called against Hendrik Verwoerd (2), the South African Prime Minist...
These women authors have served as an eye-opener for the readers, both men and women alike, in the past, and hopefully still in the present. (There are still cultures in the world today, where women are treated as unfairly as women were treated in the prior centuries). These women authors have impacted a male dominated society into reflecting on of the unfairness imposed upon women. Through their writings, each of these women authors who existed during that masochistic Victorian era, risked criticism and retribution. Each author ignored convention a...
This creates a despair, of hopelessness and of downheartedness. The woman, on multiple occasions, wrote down, “And what can one do?” This lets the reader know that women as a whole were very oppressed in ...
Polsgrove, Carol. Ending British Rule in Africa: Writers in a Common Cause. Manchester University Press, 2009.
The young man’s predicaments all revolve around his need to satisfy those that will judge him and he becomes trapped between the apartheid rule and humanity’s desire for equality and respect towards others. This is purely a personal issue that can be resolved solely by him, but should take into the consideration of those involved. We see glimpses of this coming through the young man, but being raised in an era of apartheid it overpowers his common understanding of respect.
In today’s advanced societies, many laws require men and women to be treated equally. However, in many aspects of life they are still in a subordinated position. Women often do not have equal wages as the men in the same areas; they are still referred to as the “more vulnerable” sex and are highly influenced by men. Choosing my Extended Essay topic I wanted to investigate novels that depict stories in which we can see how exposed women are to the will of men surrounding them. I believe that as being woman I can learn from the way these characters overcome their limitations and become independent, fully liberated from their barriers. When I first saw the movie “Precious” (based on Sapphire’s “Push”) I was shocked at how unprotected the heroine, Precious, is towards society. She is an African-American teenage girl who struggles with accepting herself and her past, but the cruel “unwritten laws” of her time constantly prevent her rise until she becomes the part of a community that will empower her to triumph over her barriers. “The Color Purple” is a Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Alice Walker which tells the story of a black woman’s, Celie’s, striving for emancipation. (Whitted, 2004) These novels share a similar focus, the self-actualization of a multi-disadvantaged character who with the help of her surrounding will be able to triumph over her original status. In both “The Color Purple” and “Push”, the main characters are exposed to the desire of the men surrounding them, and are doubly vulnerable in society because not only are they women but they also belong to the African-American race, which embodies another barrier for them to emancipate in a world where the white race is still superior to, and more desired as theirs.
Bibliography w/4 sources Cry , the Beloved Country by Alan Paton is a perfect example of post-colonial literature. South Africa is a colonized country, which is, in many ways, still living under oppression. Though no longer living under apartheid, the indigenous Africans are treated as a minority, as they were when Paton wrote the book. This novel provides the political view of the author in both subtle and evident ways. Looking at the skeleton of the novel, it is extremely evident that relationship of the colonized vs. colonizers, in this case the blacks vs. the whites, rules the plot. Every character’s race is provided and has association with his/her place in life. A black man kills a white man, therefore that black man must die. A black umfundisi lives in a valley of desolation, while a white farmer dwells above on a rich plot of land. White men are even taken to court for the simple gesture of giving a black man a ride. This is not a subtle point, the reader is immediately stricken by the diversities in the lives of the South Africans.
As with many surface readings I have performed as a student of literature, however, my perspective on The Joys of Motherhood began to evolve. First, I realized and accepted Nnu Ego's failure to react against oppressive forces in order to bring about change for herself and the daughters of Africa; I consoled myself, reasoning that the novel still deserves the feminist label because it calls attention to the plight of the African woman and because its author and protagonist are female. Rereading the novel, however, also triggered the silencing of my initial response. I focused on such passages as the dying wish of Ona, Nnu Ego's mother, who implored Agbadi, Nnu Ego's father, ...
Bottaro, Visser and Nigel Worden. 2009. In Search of History Grade 12. South Africa Oxford University Press.