Literary analysis of "Country Lovers" by Nadine Gordimer

Gordimer's Country Lovers

Issues of race and gender have been considered to be popular subjects in literature and allow individuals to express how these issues have affected them and how they have affected society. "Country Lovers" (1975), by Nadine Gordimer, allows the reader to understand how issues of race and gender are universal. Gordimer also uses "Country Lovers" as a platform to show how these issues impacted her personally and the lasting effect that they have on people living in South Africa, where she was born and raised. "Country Lovers" (1975) analyzes how racial discrimination and gender influence how the story's female protagonist, Thebedi, is treated.

Despite the fact that Gordimer herself is not involved in politics, "her writings document, decade by decade, the impact of politics on personal lives and what an increasingly radical white South African woman felt, thought, and imaged during the rise and fall of apartheid" (Bazin & Gordimer, 1995, p. 571). One of the issues Gordimer writes about is apartheid, which is an underlying issue in "Country Lovers." In South Africa, racism was formally institutionalized through laws first passed in 1948. These laws "touched every aspect of social life, including a prohibition of marriage between non-whites and whites" (The History of Apartheid in South Africa, n.d.). Gordimer's disdain with apartheid is evident in the subject matter of "Country Lovers" as she demonstrates how poorly Thebedi is treated when she is forced to testify against Paulus and how the judicial system favors Paulus based on the color of his skin rather than his character and the evidence.

"Country Lovers" explores the relationship that is formed between a white man, Paulus Eysendyck, and a black woman, Thebedi, and the lasting consequence of their relationship. Paulus and Thebedi's relationship begins in early childhood as Thebedi's family works for the Eysendyck's and lives on their land. Gordimer (1975) asserts, "The farm children play together when they are small; but once the white children go away to school they soon don't play together anymore, even in the holidays." While the farm children are not aware of any differences among themselves, differences become apparent through their intermittent separations and black children eventually learn "to call their old playmates missus and Basie -- little master" (Gordimer, 1975). Despite the fact that Paulus and Thebedi are expected to change how they live their lives after they are separated as children, they appear to defy the odds and continue to develop and strengthen their relationship. Paulus not only brings home gifts for Thebedi, such as "a painted box he had made in his wood-work class," but he also shares his experiences with her (Gordimer, 1975). Thebedi is left at a disadvantage because unlike Paulus, she is not allowed to leave the farm and pursue an education and/or socialize with people of different backgrounds. Because of this, it can be argued that Paulus begins to take advantage of Thebedi's institutionalized ignorance and introduces her to concepts, such as sex, that she would otherwise not be inclined to explore with him. However, despite the closeness Paulus and Thebedi have, they appear to subconsciously know that their relationship is prohibited because Paulus never engages in sexual activities in his own room and Thebedi will sneak out of the Eysendyck after she and Paulus have been together. Gordimer (1975) writes, "It was in one these [other rooms] that [Thebedi] and the farmer's son stayed together whole nights -- almost: she had to get away before the house servants, who knew her, came in at dawn. There was a risk someone would discover her or traces of her presences if he took her to his own bedroom."

The longer Paulus is away at school, the more his views and behavior begin to resemble those of the white people he associates with at school. As his views change, Paulus begins to treat Thebedi more like an object that he can discard than the person he knew as a child. Paulus not only took advantage of Thebedi sexually, because she truly did not know any better, but she also ends up having his illegitimate son, which Paulus almost immediately kills in an attempt to destroy any evidence that he and Thebedi ever had a relationship.