Perception Of Death In A Sunrise On The Veld

The Perception of Death in Doris Lessing’s “A Sunrise on the Veld”

“A Sunrise on the Veld”, a short story written by Doris Lessing, looks at a young boy realizing his vulnerability and the presence of death in his world. In the veld of South Africa, the perception he has of himself changes as he sees a buck dying in front of his eyes from the attack of small ants. The author suggests that at some point in life, one realizes how powerless he is compared to the rest of the world. In nature, lives just come and go and that’s how it is supposed to be. Simile, contrast and repetition are used in this short story to support this main idea.
To begin, the author uses many similes to show the likeness between the young boy and a wild animal. In the story, he seems to have a lot of characteristics that are common among animals. In the morning, “he [springs] out [of bed], like a fish leaping from water” (346). Then, when he sneaks out of his house, he is as “alert as an animal” (347). These examples show that he have the energy and the capacity of wild creatures. He likes his lifestyle and also to listen to his primitive senses. When he is walking in the veld, the boy prefers to walk barefoot instead of

There are things we cannot fight with. The reason why the story happens in the veld of South Africa is that people in our modern society tend to have a misleading picture of their own place in the world. Publicity and other medias make us think that we are the center of the world and our least desires are important whereas in nature, we can find out our truly importance. For this reason, the theme of the story is very important since nowadays, we tend to see ourselves as the center of the world and forget about the dangers and also the well-being of other