Country Lovers

Country Lovers

Jessica McFadden

ENG125: Introduction to Literature

Instr. Cicely Young

October 29, 2012

Country Lovers

The short story, “Country Lovers”, was written by a native South African author, Nadine Gordimer. As an author, Gordimer showed the true meaning of great literature. Literature is known to be a way for readers to experience the imaginary aspect of reading because it allows you to be taken to a new world outside of your everyday life. Therefore, while reading this story I was very pleased how she used many methods to describe the meaning of this story. So in this paper I will explain how she uses these methods to enhance her story and turned it into a wonderful reading experience.

This story is reflections of the consequences that may have happen under the Apartheid rule in South Africa. During the 1970’s the Apartheid rule enforced the rule of segregation. Apartheid is a system of racial segregation where the whites, even though they are the minority, are above the blacks. The government believed that the mix of races was unacceptable. The main theme the readers may pull from this story is how racial prejudice and social differences can affect the lives other people. So in the short love story “Country Lover”, Gordimer allowed the readers to see the challenges that are faced in South Africa towards inter-racial relationships.

In the story it starts with a childhood love between a black woman and her white male friend that continued to grow into adulthood. The two developed a great bond as children when Thebedi worked on Paulus’s parents’ farm. They later began to develop romantic relationship that was frowned on and could never be talked about. However, with the consequences of inter-racial dating, the couple began to have secret meetings. While having secret meetings they became intimate and Thebedi ended up pregnant. So while knowing that this was not allowed in their country, Thebedi vowed to withhold this secret from Paulus....