{"id":163,"date":"2019-05-13T10:32:01","date_gmt":"2019-05-13T10:32:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/engp06.epgpbooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/?post_type=chapter&p=163"},"modified":"2019-05-15T06:50:14","modified_gmt":"2019-05-15T06:50:14","slug":"nadine-gordimer-julys-people","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/engp06\/chapter\/nadine-gordimer-julys-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Nadine Gordimer : July\u2019s People"},"content":{"raw":"
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\"epgp<\/a>\r\n<\/span><\/div>\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n

About the author and Background:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

In this module we will be learning about Nadine Gordimer\u2019s biographical details, her works, influences and the background in which July\u2019s people is situated<\/p>\r\n

About the Author:<\/strong>\u00a0The beginnings<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

\u201cWhite South Africans in a way are born twice, they have the white world which they are born into and then as they grow up, they develop an understanding of the real South Africa, the real Africa. She further adds, \u201cIf you had any intelligence, you began, even as a child to question everything about the way you were living.\u201d(said Gordimerin a BBC interview Hard Talk ,Part 1).This helps us in positioning Nadine Gordimer and provides insights into the socio-political influence on her writings.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

Born in a racially divided South Africa on 20 November,1923,at Springs near Johannesburg to immigrant parents (Nadine\u2019s mother, Nan Myers, born in England, and her father, Isidore Gordimer, was a Jew, who emigrated from Lithuania at the age of thirteen),Gordimer grappled with the question of identity from early on. She grew up in a small mining town in Transvaal, amidst late-colonial world social conventions.<\/p>\r\n

The world at Witwatersrand<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

She attended the University of Witwatersrand in Johanessburg in 1946, where she met young, South African black males, who were like-minded, black writers, who like her had just begun writing. For the first time, she met blacks, who were not servants, whom she could identify with, more than the whites in her small town. (My paraphrase of excerpts of interview - Hard Talk\u2013Part 1,BBC)<\/p>\r\n

\u2018Becoming\u2019 a writer<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\r\n

She credits her \u2018becoming\u2019 a writer to the privilege that only white kids could enjoy. Her enrolment as a six year old at the local municipal library by her mother,introduced her to the world of books. Dominic Head further draws our attention to one event in Gordimer\u2019s child hood that received much attention- the heart condition in young Nadine that restricted her childhood activities ,that led her to find company and consequently self -identity in books.<\/p>\r\n

Influence of marginality on fiction<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

Born in South Africa, she was not the same kind of stranger as a European from Europe. Her marginalised position, influences the Africa that she creates. Susan Greenstein echoes these thoughts when she states that,\u201cGordimer\u2019s fiction inhabits a very different Africa\u2014the barren world of white colonialism and the even bleaker terrain of the modern apartheid state which superseded it.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

About her works<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

In June 1937, at the age of thirteen, Nadine Gordimer\u2019s first published fiction appeared2. Since 1949, Gordimer has published across genres3 .Literary recognition for her accomplishments culminated with the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1991.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

\u201cThroughher fiction, she has become \u2018the interpreter of South Africa\u2019, as over the years, her country has marched down its doom-ridden slope of apartheid.\u201d (Clingman -Introduction-The Essential Gesture<\/em>)<\/p>\r\n

Activist and Teacher<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

She travelled widely,especially in Africa, but Johannesburg remained her home.She was a visiting lecturer at many universities including Harvard and Princeton(Head, Chapter 1). In South Africa, she joined the African National Congress when it was still listed as an illegal organization by the South African government. (W\u00e4stberg, Per,2001).Gordimer saw the ANC as the best hope for reversing South Africa's treatment of black citizens.<\/p>\r\n

Censored ,Banned,Gagged<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

An activist and writer throughout her life,several of her works were banned,censored under the apartheid and post-apartheid era. She has written extensively on this issue in several of her essays,especially,Censored,Banned Gagged <\/em>in the collection The Essential Gesture(1988)<\/em>.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

July's People <\/em>was also banned under apartheid, and faced censorship under the post-apartheid government as well ( BBC News , 22 April,2001), a provincial education department temporarily removed July's People from the school reading list, along with works by other anti-apartheid writers,(News24.com, 19 April 2001),describing July's People as \"deeply racist, superior and patronizing\"(The Hindu<\/em>, 1 August 2004.)\u2014a characterization that Gordimer took as a grave insult, and that many literary and political figures protested.(News24.com, 19 April 2001)<\/p>\r\n

Activism<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

In the 1990s and 21st century, Gordimer was active in the HIV\/AIDS movement, addressing a significant public health crisis in South Africa.5<\/p>\r\n

Gordimer\u2019sNon-fiction and July\u2019sPeople:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\r\n\r\n\u00a0Living in the Interregnum <\/em>and July\u2019s People<\/em>:<\/strong>\r\n\r\n \r\n

Gordimer\u2019s fiction is accompanied by an extraordinary body of non-fictional writing.6July\u2019s People(1981)<\/em>,has its roots in the essay titled \u2018Living in the Interregnum\u2019<\/em>. The novel was published thirteen years before the official demise of apartheid. The questions that Gordimer concerns herself with in the essay are expoundedin great depth in the novel.<\/p>\r\n

Questions like:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

What would happen to the whites when the apartheid regime goes away? How could the miniscule section of society of whites, that plans to stay on,be of help to the new collective life within new structures? Also,how the whites need to discard their racistlenses and perceive the world afresh,while the whole society is being restructured in black consciousness.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

She felt that the attitude of the white South Africans had to undergo a sea change: As the South African poet, Mongane Wally Serote wrote:<\/p>\r\n \r\n

Blacks must learn to talk; whites must learn to listen. (Gordimer, Living in the Interregnum<\/em>, pg. 261)<\/p>\r\n

White Liberals and Material well-being<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

It\u2019s interesting to quote Ali Erritouni\u2019sobservations in this context, where he perceptively,presents Gordimer\u2019s stand on the white liberals , \u201cGordimer criticizes the white South African liberals for failing to recognize that their material well-being owes a great deal to the discriminatory policies of apartheid. Although they reject the color bar, white liberals, she finds, resist redistribution of South Africa\u2019s material resources.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

The intertwining of personal and political:<\/strong>Personal is political<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

Dominic Head remarks that, Gordimer\u2019s career is one where the \u2018private and public realms are intertwined.\u2019<\/p>\r\n \r\n

Her creations are not a mere response to the political events taking place in South Africa ,but reflect her on-going development and innovation in literary form, the reader benefits as he gets a clear picture of the historical episode in the 20th century political history.<\/p>\r\n

Robert Greene states:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

\u201cFinally, when the history of the Nationalist Governments from 1948 to the end comes to be written, Nadine Gordimer\u2019s shelf of novels will provide the future historians with all the evidence needed to assess the price that has been paid.\u201d(Head,Chapter 1).<\/p>\r\n

Novel as a representation of history<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

Gordimer herself says that the novel \u201ccan present history as historians cannot\u201d(Gugelberger, para 6,line 12)\u00a0The political background to July\u2019s People:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Soweto Revolt, Afrikaans and July\u2019s People<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

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It would be judicious to note the specific political milieu in which, Burger\u2019s Daughter <\/em>(1979) and July\u2019s People <\/em>(1981) were set. These works appeared after the terrible children\u2019s crusade of 1976, the Soweto uprisings led by school-age protestors seeking to purify the consciousness of their elders. The proverbial last straw on the camel\u2019s back, proved to be the government decision of using Afrikaans instead of English as the language of instruction in some African schools, thus restricting the access of the blacks to the wider world and forcing them to learn the native language of apartheid. Thus, both the novels are influenced by these developments,consequently, translating in a major shift in Gordimer\u2019s view of her situation\u00a0 as a South African and a writer. (Greenstein, Susan pg.228)\u00a0Political and historical reflections in Gordimer\u2019s works-<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Move from liberalism to radicalization:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

Gordimer\u2019s progression along history,providing an insider\u2019s view has been captured by Stephen R.Clingman.He demonstrates the author\u2019s progression from liberalism to radicalization.<\/p>\r\n

Gordimer\u2019s Realism<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

Clingman refers to the realism in Gordimer\u2019s fiction as \u201csettler or fractured realism\u201d, as the dilemma of a white progressive writer who is unable to join the forces of the oppressed bears on the kind of realism that Nadine Gordimer masters.<\/p>\r\n

The final movement:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

A tireless crusader, Gordimer died in her sleep on 13 July 2014 at the age of 90. (Smith, David ,The Guardian<\/em>)<\/p>\r\n

Nadine Gordimer - July\u2019s People<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\nIn this quadrant we would be introduced to the important characters in the novel July\u2019s People:\r\n

July:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

The caretaker, host and provider<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

July is the black house boy serving the Smales. It is after him that the novel takes its title.19July accommodates theSmales familyat his native place, when a civil war rages in Johanessburg.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

He takes good care of the Smales family. He keeps flitting between huts with food, provisions and other requirements,however, with anattitude of service not servility.<\/em>A witness to the events \u2018back home\u2019,July is aware,thatthings are not the same anymore. The whites\u00a0 have lost whatever they have.<\/p>\r\n

Switching roles<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\r\n

He is able to switch roles dextrously. At his native place,he is called Mwawate, he has responsibilities towards hisfamily, which are fulfilled by the money that he sends home.The restricting rules of apartheid have forced people like July, to lead a circumscribed life,where every month their existence is validated by their white master\u2019ssignatures on their passes.<\/p>\r\n

July\u2019s working relations<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

The liberal Smalesare solicitous and are sure that their servant is content.Julykeeps referring to himself as their boy, especially during his confrontations with Maureen, as he doesn\u2019t wish to break the hierarchy and he doesn\u2019t wish to enter any \u2018other relationship\u2019 with the whites. As he has recognisedthat the base of their relationship is purely materialistic.<\/p>\r\n

Power Play<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

TheSmalessquirm at the thought of relinquishing one of the symbols of power i.e. the bakkie to July, who actually uses it to fulfil their needs.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

The apparent shift in power from Smaleses\u2019 to July forms the crux of the narrative and the incessant mental and verbal battles between Maureen and July serve as the \u2018new battle ground\u2019. The confrontations between Maureen and July finally end with July expressing his innermost self in his mother tongue which although she doesn\u2019t follow, paradoxically,force her to confront the real July in a language incomprehensible to her.<\/p>\r\n

2.1.5: Duty bound<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

The movement from Johanessburg to his native place reveal an entirely new side to July. Here,he learns to drive the bakkie as he knows there are no white policemen to regulate his behaviour. He does his duty of taking care of the Smales untiringly, all through.<\/p>\r\n

BamfordSmales:<\/strong>The interregnum and Bam<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

An architect by profession,BamfordSmales is pushed into passivity in the interregnum. Unlike Maureen who visits the past to make peace with the present,Bam doesn\u2019t feel he has been guilty at all. He vainly tries to consolidatehis male role as defined by patriarchy by rigging up the water tank and by killing the wart hog family thus providing a feast to the entire village.He is horrified by the smashed pig\u2019s skull. He is able to identify with the disfigured animal as we see in the novel he experiences a similar loss of face and self.<\/p>\r\n

Symbols of Power<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

The bakkie and the shot-gunwhich are the focus of power belong to Bam.The keys to the bakkie, prove to be the \u2018boneofcontention\u2019 and at the same time bare their true selves in the interregnum.<\/p>\r\n

Moral and spiritual vacuity<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

It is convenient for Bam to show academic interest in African town life and present scholarly papers on it, but it is difficult to adjust in the position that black South Africans have lived for ages. The dissonance and complete breakdown in the Smaleses\u2019 relationship especially during the testing time,bares the moral and spiritual vacuity in their lives.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\r\n

Bam\u2019s fall from grace<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Bam\u2019s shivering hands at the loss of his guncapturehis helplessness and resigned acceptance of the situation,which further lower himin the eyes of his wife and children.<\/p>\r\n

Towards the end when he feeds the kids in Maureen\u2019s absence,it is the final acceptance of his inadequacy. Andre Brink states that all that is open to him is the in this final breakdown is to assume the role the \u201csystem\u201d has allocated to the female. Bam\u2019s story in the narrative thus comprises a fall from masculine grace.<\/p>\r\n

Maureen Smales:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

2.3.1:\u00a0Maureen\u2019s predicament<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

Maureen Smalesis the major consciousness of the narrative and the most interesting character. In the interregnum there is an \u2018explosion of roles\u2019. This is difficult for Maureen to accept as previous titles do not hold any longer,due to which a loss of power and a resultant vacuity is experienced.The daughter of a shift boss, wife of an architect,Maureen has a respectable social standing. \u201cMaureen is a white female, liberalas limited as all liberals are in Gordimer\u2019s view.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

2.3.2. Shattering illusions<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

Maureen shares a formal relationship with July. She feels she is very democratic with July. However, this illusion is broken by July through all the confrontations that take place between them.Andre Brink suggests that Maureen derives power from the fact that she is white. (pg.167)She treats July like a child. The language that she uses to communicate with him is very objective and to the point.<\/p>\r\n

Re-visiting Guilt:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

The period that she spends at July\u2019s native place forces her to revisit her past guilt, including, all instances of improper behaviour with the blacks,be it by her father,when he speaks disrespectfully to the boys in the mines or by her when she gives July the ugly things that she doesn\u2019t require.She repents not having learnt Fanaglo<\/em>.In the course of the novel,we witness Maureen introspecting that takes her through a gamut of emotions ranging from anger,jealousy, fear, hatred and love.<\/p>\r\n

The final escape<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

However, this doesn\u2019t help in accepting her situation,on the contrary, it disconnects her from all her relations thus reflecting a lack of inner strength in handling crisis. Finally,she runs like an animal, working on instincts towards an uncertain source of hope that arrives in the form of a helicopter.<\/p>\r\n

TheSmaleses\u2019 Children:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

2.4.1: The only ray of hope:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

The Smaleses\u2019 children do not face an identity crisis as the seniors. They are the only ray of hope \u2013providing hints of possibility of a post-revolutionary rebirth. They make friends, learn local expression ,mannerisms and learn to eat with their hands.Their love for July, remains constant.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\r\n\r\nJuly\u2019s wife Martha and hismother:<\/strong>Martha has accepted July\u2019s absence, in fact,finds his presence strange. She has adapted to the situation. July\u2019s mother is wary of the whites, she feels they are not to be trusted. She leads a life of harmony with nature.\r\n

Nadine Gordimer - July\u2019s People<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

In this quadrant we will be analysing the plot:<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\r\n\r\n3.1. Plot Construction<\/strong>:\r\n

\u00a0The position of the Smales:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

\u2018Caught between two worlds, one dead and the other powerless to be born.\u2019<\/p>\r\n \r\n

These lines from The Grand Chartreuse<\/em>, by Mathew Arnold aptly sum up the state of the white Smaleses\u2019 family,that has fled Johannesburg and has sought refuge in their black male servant, July\u2019s, native place. With the civil war raging in Johanessburg,the position of the white South Africans is precarious.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

\u201cIt\u2019s (July\u2019s People) setting during an imagined revolutionary war of the future offers a context in which white power is tottering,if not already fallen.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

The journey<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

The family leaves in a yellow bakkie.Armed with money and basics liketoilet paper rolls, Malaria pills(that are looted from a pharmacy by Maureen, when the shops are attacked), the shot-gun and radio,the family sets out on a \u2018forced quest\u2019.<\/p>\r\n

July\u2019s loyalty<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

July has served the family for over fifteen years. The Xhosa cook ,Nora ,who has been with the Smaleses\u2019 leaves them when misfortune visits, however, July, decides to be their man Friday.He suggests spontaneously: \u2018\u2014We can go to my home.\u2014\u2018(July\u2019s People<\/em>pg.11)<\/p>\r\n \r\n

The Smalesare accommodated in July\u2019s grandmother\u2019s hut. The well-to-do Smales find it difficult to adjust in the utterly unhygienic and impoverished conditions.<\/p>\r\n

\u00a0Maureen\u2019s coping mechanism<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

Maureen Smales resorts to visiting her past to make sense of the present as that is what is certain. July, in spite of mild remonstrations from his family, continues to be the host and provider to the Smales.<\/p>\r\n

An explosion of roles<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

Nevertheless, things are not the same. \u2018An explosion of roles\u2019, has taken place.The three days and three nights journey in the bakkie, with Maureen and the kids cowering on the floor, prove that the whites are indeed powerless. July knows this fact very well. For instance, when his grandmother asks him to be wary of the whites, he tells her that, \u201c\u2014They can\u2019t do anything. Nothing to us anymore.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\r\n\r\nThe white male<\/em>:<\/strong>\r\n\r\n \r\n

Bam Smales, an architect by profession tries to establish his superiority by rigging up a water tank and shooting a wart hog family with his gun, thus providing a small feast to the villagers.However, this is all the \u2018white male\u2019 can do there. He lives in the constant fear of being spotted by the villagers or outsiders. As days pass by,he slips into passivity as he has failed as his family\u2019s provider.<\/p>\r\n

The bakkie<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

The first thing that July does, is take charge of the bakkie to visit the Indian grocery stores that is at a distance.The keys remain with him, this is what becomes the bone of contention,due to which cracks start appearing in the ideal relationship that July shares with the Smales.<\/p>\r\n

Bam\u2019s reaction:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

The first time, he keeps the keys with him and takes the bakkie without informing the Smales, Bam remarks: \u201c--I would never have thought he would do something like that. He\u2019s always been so correct.\u201d\u2014 (pg.58) Up to this point in the narrative there is no dissonance intheir relationship with July,although Bam feels the slow slipping of power, Maureen is not hit by it yet.<\/p>\r\n

The confrontations<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

This is followed by confrontations between Maureen and July, wherein the veneer of liberalism that Maureen wears ,is brutally torn asunder. With each confrontation she experiences the peeling of the layers of sophistication,goodness that she has worn all along.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

characters. In Maureen\u2019s case the progression is from having to being. In July\u2019s case the progression from July to Mwawate.Ironically,their attempts at redefining themselves are conditioned by the role-playing of patriarchy.Two of the confrontations are triggered overtly by the loss of possessions(the bakkie and the gun),both strongly identified with male power, which have become crucial to the self- definition of the white family.(Brink,pg.170)<\/p>\r\n

Maureen\u2019s accusations<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\nThe first confrontation between July and Maureen takes place, she experiences a sadistic triumph when she asks one of her children to ask July to see her. \u201c\u2014Go and say I want to see him.\u2014\u2018\u2019(pg.68)\r\n\r\n \r\n

She finds that July\u2019s gestures have changed. When Maureen calls him to give the keys, firstly his hands stretch in a gesture of receiving, later they recall themselves and thumb and fingers of the right hand simply hook the bunch with a jingle from her fingers.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n\u2014 \u201cYou don\u2019t like I must keep the keys. Isn\u2019t it? I can see all the time, you don\u2019t like that.\u2019\u2019(Pg.69)\r\n\r\n \r\n

Maureen accuses July of having deserted Ellen, July\u2019s town woman. July in turn,accuses Maureen of not understanding and trusting him. Maureen uses simple and concrete language while communicating with July8.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

July gives a fitting reply about Ellen to Maureen and walks away with the key.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nFrom here on small cracks turn into big fissures.<\/span>\r\n\r\n \r\n

\r\n\r\nJuly a house boy<\/em>:<\/strong>\r\n\r\n \r\n

The next confrontation takes place, when Maureen wanders towards the vehicle that July is working on. Maureen questions July, whether he is scared that she would reveal to his wife about his town woman, Ellen.July is infuriated and says there\u2019s nothing to tell, as he was her houseboy of fifteen years and she was satisfied with him.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

By now Maureen is unsteady with the subservient relation that she is entering with her servant. This kind of a relation she didn\u2019t share even with Bam. It is then that Maureen tells him directly:<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n\u2014You don\u2019t have to be afraid. He won\u2019t steal it from you.\u2014(pg.101)10 3.12: The revelation<\/em>:\r\n\r\n \r\n

The final confrontation is when, the gun along with the cartridges, get robbed from the thatched roof of the house, Bam\u2019s hands start shivering at the loss of the last symbol of authority about which Maureen feigns ignorance and she sets out to question July.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

Their last confrontation takes place, when she accuses him of having designs on the bakkie. She gets hysteric and there is high drama. July for the first time, speaks in his own language which although she doesn\u2019t understand, she follows what he means. He speaks from where he is seated, from his own place. He accuses her of not having recognised him, she couldn\u2019t, as she was not his people. Also that, 'his measure as a man was taken elsewhere' and that she has no grasp on his real identity.\u2019<\/p>\r\n

The titular head<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

The meeting with the chief is an unnecessary element .The chief is a titular head, with no tangible powers. The chief wants a white vantage point of view on what\u2019s going on in \u2018Jew burg\u2019.<\/p>\r\n

\u00a0Maureen\u2019s past<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

This novel ,situated in the interregnum, forces Maureen to introspect, she is reminded of the guilt that she bears in mind.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

Maureen backtracks to her childhood as she enters a hut with medals and medallions, received by Boss Boys, on the settlement. Maureen is then transported to her past, where she enjoys a privileged position as the shift bosses daughter.<\/p>\r\n

The breakdown in relationships<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

The novel witnesses break down of several relationships; Maureen and Bam, they completely stop communicating, the intimacy shared at Johannesburg is lost, in fact, at a point in the novel , they are described as \u2018divorced people meeting on a regular day to keep up a semblance of a family life\u2019.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\r\n\r\nPhysical repulsion<\/em>:<\/strong>\r\n\r\n \r\n

Physical ugliness perhaps is a reflection of themind. We witness Maureen in the rawest forms, unhappy with her physical looks. Similarly, the coarse andunpleasant side of life is revealed, the test - which Maureen is unable to pass, she finally buckles under pressure and is ready to give herself up to unknown forces present in the helicopter, that appear at the end of the novel.<\/p>\r\n

Children,a solace<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

The only ray of hope in the novel is the children who adapt well to the situation. They make friends, also learn the local expressions and language. Their love for July, remains constant all through, since their love is of the purest form untainted by capitalist and materialistic forces.<\/p>\r\n

The political situation in the background<\/em>:<\/p>\r\n \r\n

All through the novel Gordimer doesn\u2019t refer to the actual violence that takes place at Johannesburg. It is only through,bit and pieces of radio coverage,that we come to know about the unstable political situation.<\/p>\r\n

Apartheid akin to Hiroshima bombings:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

Gordimerpresents the violence done to individual human identity by the apartheid system and to highlight the cruelty of it all through July's tormented mutations. July is caught between\u00a0 his conflicting roles as Johannesburg servant and as dominant male in his own village society,where he is the father of a family and his mother's only provider. In fact, July\u2019s real, native name is not known to the Smales.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

Gordimer\u2019s work \u2013 July\u2019s People, is complex, a scathing commentary on the white liberals,indeed powerful!<\/p>\r\n

Nadine Gordimer - July\u2019s People<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

In this quadrant,we will be evaluating themes that are central to the discussion of the novel:<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\r\n\r\n4.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Themes and Concerns in July\u2019s People<\/em><\/strong>:\r\n

Communication as a theme:<\/strong>The centrality of communication<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

Several critics of the novel have remarked on the centrality of the theme of communication and language in July\u2019s People. Language occupies a major role in any revolutionary change. Head suggests however, \u201cno blue print for a common language emerges from the events of the book- indeed, the focus is consistently on the failure of language; but the emergence of the need for change does, at least, emerge from an analysis of the failure.\u201d<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\r\n\r\nCommunication \u2018re-defined\u2019:<\/strong>\r\n\r\n \r\n

The inadequacy of language is revealed , when Maureen realises how baseless her belief in having \u2018understood\u2019 July in the past is, as when she finally seems to have understood him, it is in a language that is completely unknown to her. The final confrontation reveals the absolute need for communication where Mwawate lashes out at Maureen in his own mother tongue, which she although doesn\u2019t follow,she understands.<\/p>\r\n

Learning Fanaglo<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

Maureen realises that it would have been more pragmatic to have learnt Fanaglo (the black lingua franca of the mines), than having learnt ballet (pg.45) that could have helped her assimilate well with July\u2019s the people. She reiterates this fact towards the end of the novel , where she curses herself for not having learnt the \u2018despised Fanaglo\u2019.<\/p>\r\n

Death of<\/em>communication <\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

The break -down in communication between the Smales is also one of the main concerns of the novel that is the ultimate signifier of the death of their relationship. 12 More than having a common language ,it is the desire to communicate that is dead, that signals the fossilization\u00a0 of the relationship.<\/p>\r\n

Disconnected<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

Martha and July don\u2019t really share anything common. They lead disconnected lives, both are used to each-others absences. In the midst of the conversation with July, she finds that he has trailed off, however, she doesn\u2019t know, where to find him. His other life is known to her only through pictures, the context to which remains unknown.<\/p>\r\n

\u00a0Connections<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

On the other hand children offer some hope , they assimilate the culture along with the language, something that has not been attempted by the elders. Gina makes friends with Nyiko and learns their language and uses it in the form of a private talk between Nyiko and herself. (pg.106)<\/p>\r\n

Gender roles in July\u2019s People:<\/strong>Patriarchy and apartheid<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

Andre Brink has carried out a perceptive study on the gender roles in the novel. According to him the roles assigned to the white and black,male and female,have been predefined by patriarchy. In the South African context present in July\u2019s People, <\/em>patriarchy coincides and goes hand in hand with apartheid.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\r\n\r\nDual displacement<\/em>:<\/strong>\r\n\r\n \r\n

At the very outset in the novel there is not only a territorial displacement but also two gender displacements. (Brink, pg. 169) Gender roles are blurred wholly and so are the boundaries between white\/black and male \/female. As the narrative unfolds and its space becomes more and more clearly defined by patriarchy, we witness an uneasy gendering.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

\u201cWhat July performs is not just the function of a servant (a man reduced to a boy) but of a female within patriarchy; if Maureen appears unsexed with her association with \u201ctheir kind\u201d it is only through her association with the male in the couple, her female function assumed\u00a0 by black male, she is herself (temporarily) admitted to the status of power of maleness.\u201d (Brink, pg.169)In fact, the race and gender card are used by Maureen and July out of desperation to get even with each other.<\/p>\r\n

\u00a0Absence filled by matriarchy<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

The subservient role played by black male characters as the Madam\u2019s \u2018good boy\u2019, deprive the male of much authority is explored well by Bailey. (Brink, pg.167)This role playing by the black man creates a vacuum of power which can be filled by matriarchal, rather than the traditional patriarchal interventions. July\u2019s women carry out the roles assigned to them by patriarchy, at the same time , they establish a separate identity challenging patriarchy in their own terms. The presence of male only in the form of money sent every month, forces the women to fulfil their otherwise latent potential. July still wields power among his women but his status is increasingly precarious. His wife, for instance ,wants to know to whose bidding he moved around, whose orders he followed at Johanessburg.<\/p>\r\n

Purposeful choice of gender<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

Sheila Roberts has observed that the choice of black male servant is a purposeful choice on part of Gordimer.As it adds another dimension of race and gender, to the already complex relationship between the blacks and whites .<\/p>\r\n

Stripping of roles in the interregnum<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

Situated in the interregnum, the novel undertakes a study of stripping of roles.Bam\u2019s story in the narrative comprises mainly \u201ca fall from masculine grace\u201d.Maureen\u2019s resides in her attempts painfully to break out of the female constraints patriarchy has assigned to her.16The interregnum poses a new challenge for July\u2019s black women as they have to get used to July\u2019s presence and have to redefine their roles accordingly.Brink suggests that Maureen power\/authority,is derived from the fact that she is white.July\u2019s women derive power from the fact that they are women.<\/p>\r\n

Growth or regression<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

All the old roles of class and race, of sex and gender have been exploded.That is the end of the interregnum and its morbid symptoms. The depressing impossibility of defining a new naked self is demonstrated.The helicopter is interpreted as an extremely aggressive male sexual symbol as a sign of optimism is outrageous.<\/p>\r\n

Materialism in July\u2019s People:<\/strong>Commentary on materialistic whites:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\r\n

July\u2019s People<\/em>is a scathing commentary on the liberal materialistic whites. Gordimerexpesses: Nothing made them so happy as buying things; they had no interest in feeding rabbits. (July\u2019s People,pg.6)Maureen finds it difficult to accept the impoverished conditions of the rural South Africans.The Smaleses\u2019 fail to acknowledge that their material well -being is due to the discriminatory policies of apartheid. They vainly clutch on to the vestiges of power even when they have lost everything.<\/p>\r\n

Uniform erosion of values<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

DominicHead ,however draws our attention to the equal dependence on commodity culture by both whites and blacks. Gordimer points that a simple post-revolutionary re birth cannot be provided by a simple return to the values of ethnic African communities as even they are tainted by the effects of capitalism,that has co -opted them into it for their selfish ends.July\u2019s interest in the bakkie or the chief\u2019s interest in Bam\u2019s shot gun vouch for this.The bakkie initially represents ,white bourgeois power,is now a symbol of corruption,destructive of community action.<\/p>\r\n

The Novel\u2019s end:<\/strong>Flight from impasse<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

The novel\u2019s ambiguous end reflects the obscurity of the situation in which characters lose their moorings as \u2018historical co-ordinates don\u2019t fit life any longer\u2019 (Gordimer,Living in the Interregnum<\/em>). In the absence of past structures, the characters display a range of morbid symptoms. Rowland Smith suggests that flight from impasse is a common feature at the end of Nadine Gordimer\u2019s fiction.<\/p>\r\n

\u00a0Desperation<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

Confronted with denial of values assumed in the past to define herself and her marriage, Maureen Smalesflees,headlong,irrationally in the final pages of the novel towards the undefined and possibly illusory escape of a lone, unidentified helicopterthat lands near the village. She has lost everything.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

Maureen\u2019s flight from her family,her past and July reveals an even more radical collapse of identity. (Pg.97,Smith).She runs away from the scene of her humiliation.<\/p>\r\n

Reactions<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

Andre Brink draws our attention to the fact that it is not only running that is important but what she runs from,what she runs towards, how she runs is important. Various critics have interpreted Maureen\u2019s act of running differently. To Margaret Lenta \u201cshe is leaving,not joining\u201d To Clingman, on the contrary \u201cshe is running from old structures and relationships<\/p>\r\n \r\n

\u2026towards her revolutionary destiny\u201dTemple-Thurston concurs: \u201cRunning is Maureen\u2019s first authentic action\u201dBailey suggests\u201cWhat Maureen runs to is a return to the illusion of identity created by a world of privilege and possession. What she runs from is her failure to find any creative source for re-birth\u201d (Brink, pg.174)<\/p>\r\n

Ultimate affirmation of being<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\r\n

Running is her ultimate affirmation of being. She runs away from the roles assigned to her by patriarchy.This is her choice,the choice offered by the interregnum.<\/p>\r\n

Nadine Gordimer - July\u2019s People<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Glossary:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n