It is written in 1981 by Nadine Gordimer. Its genre is racism. It is about the white Smales family: Maureen and Bam and their three children Gina, Royce and Victor. They live in Johannesburg in South Africa, but in the whole continent cities are battlegrounds. The blacks and the whites are in a state of war, and the blacks seem to win, so most of the white people have to escape. The Smales family luckily have a servant who wants to help them escape.
July is a black man, and he has worked as servant for the Smales family for several years. After they are saved by July, they have to travel four days by car, a so-called yellow bakkie, before they arrive at July’s village. Here, they are safe. The life in this south African ‘black’ village is a shock to the Smales family. They are not used to the things which are normal here, for example they have to find their own food, they live in a hut, they don’t have electricity and they have to be aware of certain diseases caused by water from the river. They find out, their servant July lives very primitively unlike their own luxury life.
In the village there are many children, so Gina, Royce and Victor have no problems getting used to their new life. Sometimes, they do ask for drinks like Coca-cola, but they accept the fact there are no shops in the neighbourhood. Their parents have more problems getting used to their new life. They are glad they brought the car, the radio and the gun with them. The radio to listen to the news, the car to escape, and Bam’s gun to protect the family. It’s all they have,
One day, Bam finds out the car keys are gone. He’s upset, because the car is very important in this situation. He finds out July has the keys, and July keeps them. It used to be a part July’s job to keep all the keys. This is important in the story, because the white man, Bam realises he is dependant. The black man July seems to be in charge now, but Bam won’t accept it.
Bam and Maureen make a habit of listening to the radio so they can follow the latest news about the black people attacking the white people. They still have hope to go home some day and they realize July runs the risk of getting killed himself for hiding them.
One day, the chief send someone out to ask July who he keeps in his house. July tells it to Maureen and Bam, but they don’t understand. July always said he was the boss of the village and he could do what he wants to do. July explains he is the boss of this village, and the chief is the boss of all the villages. The following day they go to the Chief’s Great Place. July explains to the chief why he keeps white people in his house. Bam explains to the chief he and his family fled for the war between blacks and whites and that July helped him, but the chief doesn’t belief him. Bam convinces the chief and Bam has to promise he will help the black people. The Smales family have permission to stay.
The next day a man visits the village, he carries a red box on his head. It is a battery-operated amplifier, that could be used to play music. The whole village come to have a look, but when the Smales family arrive at their hut, they find out the gun is gone. They accuse Victor, their son, because he was interested in the gun. Maureen speaks to July, maybe he knows where the gun is, but July doesn’t know it. Maureen wants him to find out where the gun is, and he gets angry because she always causes problems. Its seems Daniel stole the gun, he is a ex-milkman and a friend of July. But he was not around any more.
One day, when Maureen is ‘home-alone’, she sees a helicopter flying over the village. She can’t see whether the helicopter is from the enemy or not. She runs into the bushes and keeps running. She hears the sound of the engine of the helicopter, and she wants to find it. Sshe won’t come back. This is the end of the story.
(let op, er zitten spelfouten in!!!)
July is a black man, and he has worked as servant for the Smales family for several years. After they are saved by July, they have to travel four days by car, a so-called yellow bakkie, before they arrive at July’s village. Here, they are safe. The life in this south African ‘black’ village is a shock to the Smales family. They are not used to the things which are normal here, for example they have to find their own food, they live in a hut, they don’t have electricity and they have to be aware of certain diseases caused by water from the river. They find out, their servant July lives very primitively unlike their own luxury life.
One day, Bam finds out the car keys are gone. He’s upset, because the car is very important in this situation. He finds out July has the keys, and July keeps them. It used to be a part July’s job to keep all the keys. This is important in the story, because the white man, Bam realises he is dependant. The black man July seems to be in charge now, but Bam won’t accept it.
Bam and Maureen make a habit of listening to the radio so they can follow the latest news about the black people attacking the white people. They still have hope to go home some day and they realize July runs the risk of getting killed himself for hiding them.
One day, the chief send someone out to ask July who he keeps in his house. July tells it to Maureen and Bam, but they don’t understand. July always said he was the boss of the village and he could do what he wants to do. July explains he is the boss of this village, and the chief is the boss of all the villages. The following day they go to the Chief’s Great Place. July explains to the chief why he keeps white people in his house. Bam explains to the chief he and his family fled for the war between blacks and whites and that July helped him, but the chief doesn’t belief him. Bam convinces the chief and Bam has to promise he will help the black people. The Smales family have permission to stay.
The next day a man visits the village, he carries a red box on his head. It is a battery-operated amplifier, that could be used to play music. The whole village come to have a look, but when the Smales family arrive at their hut, they find out the gun is gone. They accuse Victor, their son, because he was interested in the gun. Maureen speaks to July, maybe he knows where the gun is, but July doesn’t know it. Maureen wants him to find out where the gun is, and he gets angry because she always causes problems. Its seems Daniel stole the gun, he is a ex-milkman and a friend of July. But he was not around any more.
One day, when Maureen is ‘home-alone’, she sees a helicopter flying over the village. She can’t see whether the helicopter is from the enemy or not. She runs into the bushes and keeps running. She hears the sound of the engine of the helicopter, and she wants to find it. Sshe won’t come back. This is the end of the story.
(let op, er zitten spelfouten in!!!)
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