A drink in the passageA drink in the passage

By Alan PatonBy Alan Paton

Lesson Four

Contents

Part One: Warm-up

Part Two: Background Information

Part Three: Text Appreciation Part Four: Detailed Study

Part Five: Assignment

Warm up

• . .

Questions: 1. What do you know about South Africa?2. What do you know about the situation in South

Africa at the time the story was written?3. Have you ever heard of the “apartheid”? What

do you know about it?4. What dramatic changes have taken place in

this country since the time this story was written?

5. Has racism been a serious problem in human history? Is the problem resolved?

6. How much do you know about Nelson Mandela?

Background information

1. About the author• Alan Paton (1903-1988)

“I do not like to mention itBut there is a voice I cannot silence.”

—Paton

Paton, craggy old liberal, hater of and hated by apartheid, loved and unloved by the ANC, famous for Cry, the Beloved Country.

Alan Paton was born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. He started his career by teaching  at a school in Ixopo. The dramatic career change to director of a reformatory for black youths at Diepkloof, near Johannesburg, had a profound effect on his thinking. The publication of Cry, the Beloved Country (1948) made him one of South Africa’s best known writers, and by the time he died, it had sold over 15 million copies. Following his non-racial ideals, he helped to found the South African Liberal Party and became its president.

• Cry, the Beloved Country

• Perhaps the most famous novel to come out of South Africa, Paton’s 1948 work brought to the notice of the world the dilemmas of

ordinary South Africans living under an oppressive system, one which threatened to destroy their very humanity. Informed by Paton’s Christian and liberal beliefs, the novel tells of a rural Zulu parson’s heart-breaking search for his son, who has been drawn into the criminal underworld of the city. Cry, the Beloved Country has sold millions of copies around the world

His works

• “Cry, the Beloved Country, —universal, liberal, reforming. Reads like an aloe in the cool morning, reads like the taste of soap in your mouth. His poetry, to my mind, is a truer voice. No breathtaking, romantic landscape: nature, particularly plants and sunlight, forms a spiritual cipher. There is a sense of individual tragedy as history catches up with itself. There is passion and tenderness. There is political comment, but also a flickering uncertainty absent from the mountainous liberalism of the novels.”

• —An anonymous comment

• “Cry, the Beloved Country, however, is also a monument to the future. One of South Africa’s leading humanists, Alan Paton, vividly captured his eloquent faith in the essential goodness of people in his epic work.”

• —Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa

• 1953. Too Late the Phalarope• 1961. Debbie, Go Home• 1968. Instrument of Thy Peace• 1973. Apartheid and the Archbishop: the life and

times of Geoffrey Clayton, Archbishop of Cape Town

• 1975. Knocking at the door• 1980. Towards the Mountain• 1981. Ah, but your land is beautiful• 1986. Diepkloof: reflections of Diepkloof

Reformatory• 1988. Journey Continued• 1995. Songs of Africa: collected poems

Background information2. Apartheid

South Africa was colonized by the English and Dutch in

the 17th century. English domination of the Dutch

descendents (known as Boers or Afrikaners) resulted in

the Dutch establishing the new colonies of Orange Free

State and Transvaal. The discovery of diamonds in

these lands around 1900 resulted in an English invasion

which sparked the Boer War. Following independence

from England, an uneasy power-sharing between the

two groups held sway until the 1940’s, when the

• Afrikaner National Party was able to gain a strong majority.

Strategists in the National

Party invented apartheid

as a means to cement their

control over the economic

and social system. Initially, aim of the apartheid was to maintain white domination while extending racial separation. Starting in the 1960s, a plan of “Grand Apartheid” was executed, emphasizing territorial separation and police repression.

• With the enactment of apartheid laws in 1948, racial discrimination was institutionalized. Race laws touched every aspect of social life, including a prohibition of marriage between non-whites and whites, and the sanctioning of “white-only” jobs. In 1950, the Population Registration Act required that all South Africans be racially classified into one of three categories: white, black (African), or colored (of mixed decent). The coloured category included

major subgroups of Indians and Asians. Classification

into these categories was based on appearance, social

acceptance, and descent. Non-compliance with the race

laws were dealt with harshly. All blacks were required

to carry “pass books” containing fingerprints, photo

and information on access to non-black areas. In 1953,

the Public Safety Act and the Criminal Law

Amendment Act were passed, which empowered the

government to declare stringent states of

• emergency and increased penalties for protesting against or supporting the repeal of a law. The penalties included fines, imprisonment and whippings. In 1960, a large group of blacks in Sharpeville refused to carry their passes; the government declared a state of emergency. The emergency lasted for 156 days, leaving 69 people dead and 187 people wounded. Wielding the Public Safety Act and the Criminal Law Amendment Act

the white regime had no intention of changing the unjust laws of apartheid.

The penalties imposed on political protest, even non-violent protest, were severe. During the states of emergency which continued intermittently until 1989, anyone could be detained without a hearing by a low-level police official for up to six months. Thousands of individuals died in custody, frequently after gruesome acts of torture. Those who were

ried were sentenced to death, banished, or

imprisoned for life, like Nelson Mandela. The

apartheid policy was highly effective of achieving

its goal of preferential treatment for whites, as is

demonstrated by the statistics in Figure 1.

Text Appreciation

• Plot: a well-educated black finds himself cordially • invited to split a bottle with a white man in • the passage of the latter’s apartment • building• Setting: social setting: Apartheid South Africa in • 1960 • story setting: in the passage • Protagonists: “I”—the black sculptor• Writing techniques: go to Writing Devices• Theme of the story: go to the next page

Text Appreciation 1. Theme

The story tells us how racial prejudice can prevent us

reaching, touching and connecting with each other.

This invisible wall exists between the white and the

black and hampers their free communication and full

understanding. It is not just a wall imposed by

apartheid laws, but a wall deeply rooted in their hearts.

Text Appreciation 2. Structure

• Part 1 (Paras. 1-6 ) about:

Against what background and from whom the story comes

• Part 2 (Paras. 7-76) about: How the story goes

Text Appreciation 3. Writing Devices

1. Point of View: Point of view signifies the way a story gets told

—the mode (or modes) established by an author by means of which the reader is presented with the characters, dialogue, actions, setting, and events which constitute the narrative in a work of fiction.

• The first person point of view: This narrative mode limits the matter of the

narrative to what the first-person narrator knows, experiences, infers, or can find out by talking to other characters. We distinguish between the narrative “I” who is only a fortuitous witness and auditor of the matters he relates (Marlow in Heart of Darkness); or who is a participant, but only a minor or peripheral one, in the story (Nick in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby); or who is himself or herself the central character in the story (Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre).

2. Flashback

Now study the following paragraph. What is the function of it?

He said to me. “This is the second cognac I’ve had in my life. Would you like to hear the story of how I had my first?” (Para. 6)

This paragraph serves to introduce a flashback.

• What is flashback?

• Flashbacks are interpolated narratives or scenes (often justified, or naturalized, as a memory, a reverie, or a confession by one of the characters) which represent events that happened before the time at which the work opened. Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman (1949) and Ingmar Bergman’s film Wild Strawberries make persistent and skillful use of this device.

3. Figurative Language• Now study the following sentences and tell us what

figurative speech is used in each and how it contributes to the expressive effect of the language.

1. It’s also the first time I’ve drunk a brandy so slowly. In

Orlando you develop a throat of iron. (Para.5) 2. He sat slumped in his seat, like a man with a burden

of incomprehensible, insoluble grief. (Para. 75) 3. What he was thinking, God knows, but I was thinking he was like a man trying to run a race in iron shoes, and not understanding why he cannot move. (Para. 75)

Detailed study of the Text

1, In the year 1960 the Union of South Africa celebrated its

Golden Jubilee, and there was a nationwide sensation

when the one-thousand-pound prize for the finest piece

sculpture was won by a black man… (Para. 1)

In the year 1960, the Union of South Africa celebrated its

fiftieth anniversary, and there was a great excitement

throughout the country when people heard that the prize

for the finest piece of sculpture was won by a black man.

• Golden Jubilee: Jubilee is the celebration of a special anniversary: silver jubilee (25th anniversary) ; golden jubilee (50th anniversary) and diamond jubilee (60th or 75th anniversary).

• nationwide: throughout the nation

Note that " -wide" is an adjective or adverb suffix meaning throughout,

e. g. nationwide worldwide; communitywide; a sensation: extreme excitement or interest

• 2. His work, African Mother and Child, not only excited the admiration, but touched the conscience or heart or whatever it was that responded, of white South Africa.

His sculpture, African Mother and Child, not only won the admiration of the white people for its artistic merit, but also deeply touched or moved their hearts and conscience because the work made them see the injustice of racial discrimination and the black people's yearning for a better life for their children.

• 3. It was by an oversight that his work was accepted ...

• It was by a careless mistake that his work was accepted, because as a black person, he was not supposed to participate in the competition.

• oversight: a mistake that you make by not noticing sth or by forgetting to do sth, e. g.

• I didn't mean to leave the room unlocked. It was just an oversight.

• By (an) oversight, the letter was sent unsigned.

• 4. The committee of the sculpture section received a private reprimand for having been so careless as to omit the words "for whites only" from the conditions ...

a private reprimand: a private criticism/ a criticism that is not made public

reprimand: a sharp, angry and official rebuke (criticism) so careless as to omit the words "for whites only" from

the conditions: so careless that they forgot to put the words "for whites only" in the conditions for entering the competition

• 5. a very high personage :a high-ranking official; an important person

personage: a person of distinction Compare: person, personage, personnel, personality

6. The committee then decided that this prize must be given along with the others, at the public ceremony which would bring this particular part of the celebrations to a close. to bring sth to a close: to end or conclude sth, e. g.The government was anxious to bring the hostage crisis to a close.The surrender of General Lee's army soon brought the Civil War to a close.7....but in certain powerful quarters, there was an outcry against any departure from the "traditional policies" of the country... ... but in certain politically influential circles, there was a strong protest against this decision as it was not in conformity with the traditional, apartheid policies of the country...quarters: a usually unspecified group of people

• 8. However, a crisis was averted, because the sculptor was "unfortunately unable to attend the ceremony".

A crisis was avoided because to the relief of the authorities Simelane apologized that he would not be able to attend the ceremony personally to receive the prize.

Notice that what is given here in quotes is the official announcement which was probably not true, and everybody knew it.

• 9. "I wasn't feeling up to it," Simelane said mischievously to me. "My parents, and my wife's parents, and our priest, decided that I wasn't feeling up to it. And finally I decided so too."

When Simelane said mischievously to the author that he wasn't feeling up to it, he meant that he was going to pretend that he was sick and therefore he could not go to the ceremony, and he knew that the author would understand that it was only an excuse. The meaning became even clearer when he went on to say that his parents and others "decided" that he wasn't feeling up to it. What they really meant of course was that he should not go to the ceremony

• as it was too risky.

• 10. " boys, I'm a sculptor, not a demonstrator."

Majosi and Sola and the others were obviously well-known anti-apartheid activists. They wanted him to go to the ceremony for political reasons. But his response was that he was only a sculptor and he was not interested in politics. He did not want to make it a political issue.

• boys: my friends

• 11. "This cognac is wonderful," he said, "especially in these big glasses. It's the first time I've had such a glass. It's also the first time I've drunk a brandy so slowly."

Brandy is an expensive drink that was usually consumed by well-to-do white folks in Apartheid South Africa who would use a brandy glass and sip slowly. When a black person like Simelane ever got a chance to drink brandy; he would usually use a small glass and drink it quickly for fear that he might be seen and arrested by the police for breaking the law. A brandy glass is a large one with a wide bowl and narrower top. It is this shape so that the drinker can appreciate the aroma of brandy.

• 12. "In Orlando you develop a throat of iron, and you just put back your head and put it down, in case the police should arrive."

When black folks in Orlando drank brandy, frequently they had to put back their head and drink it up in one gulp in order to avoid police detection, and because brandy is a very strong drink, you gradually develop a very strong throat—like a throat of iron. Notice that according to apartheid laws, blacks could not remain in the big cities after a certain hour at night. Orlando must be a small town where blacks live.

• 13. They gave a window to it, with a white velvet backdrop, if there is anything called white velvet, and some complimentary words.

They gave a whole window to the sculpture with a white curtain at the back and some words in praise of the work. The curtain (backdrop) was made of white velvet, if there is such a thing as white velvet. Velvet is usually soft and smooth. But in this country of apartheid, it was hard for the sculptor to associate the color "white" with such qualities as "softness" and "smoothness". Notice the sharp contrast of the colors of the backdrop and the sculpture. There is something symbolic about it.

• 14.On my way from the station to the Herald office, I ... would only squint at it out of the corner of my eye.

the station: This obviously refers to the railway station. The sculptor lives in Orlando as he is not allowed to live in the big city and therefore has to commute by train every day.

the Herald office: We can assume that the sculptor works for a newspaper called Herald.

to squint at: to look or glance to the side

out of the corner of my eye: Notice in this idiom that it is "my eye", not "my eyes".

• 15. …so I thought I'd go and see the window, and indulge certain pleasurable human feelings.

So I thought I'd go and see the window, and enjoy secretly some pleasant feelings—feelings of pride for example for one's genius.

• 16. I must have got a little lost in the contemplation of my own genius …

I must have become too absorbed or preoccupied about my own genius ...

• 17. And you know, one doesn't get called "mate" every day. In South Africa, a black man does not hear a white man call

him "mate". They are usually treated very rudely. But this white man was very friendly. Therefore he just couldn't bring himself to say no to his invitation.

• 18. Well honestly I didn't feel like a drink at that time of night, with a white stranger and all, and a train still to catch to Orlando. (HSI)

Well, to tell the truth, I didn't like the idea of having a drink at that time of night. It was getting late, and I had to catch a train to Orlando before I got into trouble with the police. Besides I would be drinking with a white stranger and would have to face all the possible consequences.

• and all: the whole thing; including everything or everybody mentioned, e.g.

My boss promised to provide me with a computer and all.

He ate the whole of the fish, head, tail, bones, and all.

• 19. "My flat's just round the corner. Do you speak Afrikaans?"

(just) round the comer: very near Afrikaans: a Dutch dialect spoken mainly

by the white people of Dutch descent in South Africa. The fact that the sculptor had spoken the language since he was a child showed that although he was black he was well-educated. In this passage, there was quite a problem for the sculptor as to what language he should use, as language served as an important social status symbol.

• 20. I couldn't have told him my name. Why did Simelane say he couldn't have told van Rensburg

his name? It might be that Simelane had been acting as if he were

admiring somebody else's work of art and therefore it would be embarrassing to reveal his true identity. He did not want the other person to know that he was indulging in admiring his own genius, esp. after hearing the compliments of this stranger.

• 21. We didn't exactly walk abreast, but he didn't exactly walk in front of me.

Is there any symbolic meaning of the sentence? Would it be a problem for them to walk abreast? A black was not the equal of white so they would never walk side by side as equals.

Gandhi (1869-1948) and Nehru (1889-1964) were both leaders of the Free-India Movement which aimed at winning national independence for India through non-violent, civil-disobedience means. In the course of this struggle, they were jailed by the British government several times. But their efforts finally brought about the independence of India on August 15, 1947.

• 22. "I wanted a bookshop, like that one there, I always wanted that, ever since I can remember. But I had bad luck. My parents died before I could finish school."

Did van Rensburg's background have anything to do with his appreciation of the sculpture?

• 23. I said unwillingly, "Yes." Then I thought to myself, how stupid, for leaving the question open.

Simelane thought it was stupid of him to leave the question open. If he had said "no", that would have ended the subject. Now that he had said "yes", this stranger would naturally want to know how far he had gone. Answer the question in such a way as to lead to further questions.

• 24. I was glad to see that the entrance lobby was deserted. I wasn't at my ease. The lift was at ground level, marked Whites Only.

I was glad to see that there was no one in the wide entrance passage. I was a bit nervous.

• to be deserted: with no one present• to be at one's ease: feeling natural and comfortable;

without any embarrassment or discomfort lift: (chiefly British) an elevator (AmE) Similarly flat is also used chiefly in British English. In

American English, apartment is more often used. English in South Africa is British English.

ground floor: also British English for what the Americans call the first floor

25. ... and looked at me with a kind of honest, unselfish envy.

... and looked at me in a way that showed that he sincerely envied me. He was not jealous of my education.

26. On the other side were the doors, impersonal doors.

– impersonal doors: The doors looked impersonal because for one thing, they looked all the same, this being a cheap apartment building. They had no names or signs on them.

• 27. "Sorry there's no brandy," he said. "Only wine. Here's happiness."

I He was sorry that there was no brandy? for brandy is generally considered more expensive stuff.

Here's happiness: Let's drink to your happiness. Van Rensburg was proposing a toast.

• 28. I wasn't only feeling what you may be thinking, I was thinking that one of the impersonal doors might open at any moment, and someone might see me in a "white" building, and see me and van Rensburg breaking the liquor laws of the country.

You may be thinking that it was an insult to have me drink in the passage instead of inviting me into their apartment, to sit down and drink properly. Yes, I was feeling that way. But there was something else. I was also afraid that one of the cold, unfriendly doors might open at any moment and someone might see me in this "whites only" building, drinking with a white man and breaking the laws on drinking.

• 29. Anger could have saved me from the whole embarrassing situation, but you know I can't easily be angry. Even if I could have been, I might have found it hard to be angry with this particular man.

I could have simply left then and there angrily and thus freed myself from the awkward situation. But you know, I'm not the kind of person who can easily get angry. Even if I could, I might have found it hard to be angry with this particular man. He seemed so nice to me.

• 30. ... "You know, talk out my heart to him." .. You know, talk to him heart to heart; tell him everything in my mind freely and fully; pour out my feelings to him

• 31. ... but not for all the money in the world could I have said to her dankie, my nooi or that disgusting dankie, misses,

Under no circumstances could I have said to her dankie, my nooi or that disgusting dankie, misses.

Apparently, both "dankie, my nooi" and "dankie, misses", something like "Thank you, my lady", were considered proper in this context for blacks. But Simelane would not talk like that. He had his dignity. On the other hand, he could not speak English because the woman was speaking Afrikaans. So finally he took his chance and used an expression so polite in Afrikaans that he could have been knocked down for forgetting his place as polite language was supposed to be reserved only for the white people.

high Afrikaans: Afrikaans spoken by educated white Africaners

• 32. ... so I took the risk of it and used the word mevrou, ..., "Ek is a elankbaar, Mevrou."

Mevrou: Madam, a title of respect, clearly inappropriate for a black person to use

Ek is a dankbaar, Mevrou: This must be a very formal form of address.

Obviously, Simelane was caught "between a rock and a hard place". As an educated person, he had a natural refined manner and was inclined to use more formal form of address, but as a black, he was not supposed to.

• 33. ... and van Rensburg, in a strained voice that suddenly came out of no- where, said, "Our land is beautiful. But it breaks my heart."

Van Rensburg suddenly appeared and, in a worried voice, said, "Our land is beautiful. But it breaks my heart. ”

out of/from nowhere: happening or appearing suddenly and without warning, e. g.

Mr. Jones was driving too fast on the expressway when a police patrol car appeared out of nowhere and stopped him.

A stone came from nowhere and hit him on the head. our land: our country to break one's heart: to make one extremely sad

• 34. And I thought the whole thing was mad, and getting beyond me, with me a black stranger being shown a testimonial for the son of the house,

Why did he say the whole thing was mad and getting beyond him?

testimonial: a formal statement affirming the character or worth of another person

Van Rensburg was the son of the house, and the woman was praising him in front of a black man, and a stranger at that too. This obviously was very abnormal, and Simelane was bewildered.

to get beyond sb: to become difficult for. sb to understand

Assignment:• Oral Work

1. Work in groups. One student acts as the black man, the other the white man. Had the black man told his true name to the white man, what would have happened? Please continue the story.

2. Suppose you were the author, after hearing Simelane’s story, what would you like to say to him?

3. Can we divide the world neatly into the victims and the vitimizers of racism? Is it possible for them to change places?

4. What is the root of racism? Is it merely a problem of color difference?

5. Do you think racism also exists in China? Why or why not?