RACE / ETHNICITY

RACE / ETHNICITY



[Course Number and Name]

[Name of Instructor]

[Date of Submission]

Race / Ethnicity

Town and Country Lovers by Nadine Gordimer

Introduction

The novel “Town and Country lovers” is written by the racially controversial author Nadine Gordimer. It addresses the racial and ethnic issues in the love affair of a black woman “Thebedi” and a white man “Paulus”. This novel entails many unspoken rules. With all the racism going on in South Africa, it was virtually impossible for a white person and a black person to love each other without being ridiculed and disowned. The unspoken rules were basically to keep their love a secret, and to have secret ways of showing their love. They both understood this, so when Paulus bought Thebedi a belt and earrings, Thebedi told everyone it was from a faraway lover. If anyone found out about the relationship going on between Thebedi and Paulus, Thebedi would get the worse end of it. She would be scorned by both societies, and would never be looked at the same again. Paulus would more than likely be let off easily because it was probably common for white people to do that. Njabulo would probably get teased and looked down upon by his people for allowing his wife to have another man's child. I believe that deep down Thebedi and Paulus still love each other, but they knew they could never be together. They probably decided to poison their child together because they knew the child would always get insulted and teased for being the offspring of a white man and black woman. It also gave them an excuse to "end" their love for each other publicly.

Discussion

The unspoken rules that existed between Thebedi and Paulus were always known but when they were young they did care about the rules. As they grew up, the two started to realize what these rules entailed. As kids there was nothing wrong with them being friends, but the older they got the less acceptable it became. Both of them understood the rules, they gave each other gifts in private and lied to others when they asked where these gifts came from. Thebedi had a lot at stake in this love affair. She could have been kicked off the farm, and she would have lost her family. Paulus would have lost respect from other white men of his community. Njabulo could have left his wife, but he did not. Their situation was resolved the way it was because the baby was against the unspoken rules, just like their relationship was. There are definitely “rules” in this story, but they do not come right out. Racism was a major part of the society in which they were living in during this time. Everywhere you went there was racism and everyone was using it or showing it in one form or another. Due to the fact that the both of them were so young at the time, they did not care about the color of their skin or that ...