Race and Gender in Gordimer's and Walker's Short Stories

Introduction: Race, Gender, and Two Literary Perspectives

Race and gender have been shown to be major social issues throughout the world, as demonstrated through short stories by Nadine Gordimer, who writes from a South African perspective, and Alice Walker, who writes from an American perspective. Gordimer's Country Lovers (1975) examines South African apartheid and offers the reader insight into the discrimination that was prevalent in society. Likewise, Walker's The Welcome Table (1970) examines discrimination within American society. Both short stories analyze racial discrimination and the impact it has on the female protagonist in each narrative.

Nadine Gordimer was born in South Africa on November 20, 1923, and lived there her entire life (Nadine Gordimer, 2005). Gordimer published her first work at fifteen years old and went on to write numerous short story collections and novels. Although Gordimer maintained that she was not a political person, 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 imagined during the rise and fall of apartheid (Bazin & Gordimer, 1995, p. 571). Gordimer was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1991 (Nadine Gordimer, 2009).

Nadine Gordimer and Alice Walker: Author Backgrounds

Alice Walker is an American novelist, poet, and essayist born in Eatonton, Georgia on February 9, 1944 (Alice Walker, n.d.). Walker is one of the few Black writers of the mid-1960s to remain steadily productive for the two ensuing decades; as a poet and a novelist, Walker has always had a small but enthusiastic following, while her many essays have kept her name current, albeit in rather limited circles (Petry, 1989, p. 12). Walker was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1982 for The Color Purple (Alice Walker, n.d.).

Country Lovers (1975) analyzes the relationship that develops between a white man named Paulus Eysendyck and a Black woman named Thebedi. The two develop a relationship early in childhood, and it deepens as they move through adolescence into adulthood. The story also highlights the racial discrimination that arose through apartheid in South Africa. Racial discrimination was formally institutionalized through the passage of a series of laws beginning in 1948, which touched every aspect of social life, including a prohibition on marriage between non-whites and whites — an issue hinted at throughout the story (The History of Apartheid in South Africa, n.d.). Gordimer often focuses on the effect of apartheid on the lives of South Africans and the moral and psychological tension of life in a racially divided country, frequently exploring these themes through oppressed non-white characters. She was an ardent opponent of apartheid and refused to accommodate the system, despite growing up in a community in which it was accepted as normal (Writers: Nadine Gordimer, 2011). Gordimer's opposition to apartheid is evident in Country Lovers as she focuses on the injustice that Thebedi suffers at the hands of a white lover and a white judicial system.

In Country Lovers, Gordimer explores how Paulus and Thebedi came together and the forces that drove them apart over time. Writing from an omniscient perspective, Gordimer (1975) observes: "The farm children play together when they are small; but once the white children go away to school they soon don't play together any more, even in the holidays" (p. 44). It is during this period that the difference in race becomes more pronounced, and Black children must adjust how they interact with their white counterparts. Eventually, Black children learn "to call their old playmates missus and Basie — little master" (Gordimer, 1975, p. 44).

Apartheid and Racial Injustice in 'Country Lovers'

Despite the social and racial differences between them, Paulus and Thebedi begin to develop a relationship that appears to defy the odds, particularly given that Paulus has been sent away from the Eysendyck family farm to complete his schooling. Initially, when Paulus returns home during a holiday, he brings her "a painted box he had made in his wood-work class" (Gordimer, 1975, p. 44). Over time, however, Paulus stops bringing gifts and instead returns with experiences he wishes to share with her. Because of her social status and race, Thebedi is not afforded the same opportunities to learn and experience what Paulus does, and it may be argued that Paulus takes advantage of this during his visits. Among the experiences he seeks to share is a sexual one; he not only engages in sexual activity with women at school but draws on that knowledge in his encounters with Thebedi.

It is evident through the behavior of both characters that they understand their relationship is socially forbidden. Paulus and Thebedi attempt to keep it a secret, and Thebedi often sneaks to the main house when the Eysendyck family is away. Notably, Paulus never engaged in sexual activities in his own bedroom; he preferred an unoccupied room, as though ashamed of her presence. Gordimer (1975) writes:

"It was in one of these that she 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 presence if he took her to his own bedroom, although she had looked into it many times when she was helping out in the house and knew well, there, the row of silver cups he had won at school." (pp. 46–47)

As time passes, Paulus increasingly treats Thebedi as an object and as someone inferior to himself. He ultimately fathers her illegitimate child. The baby is born while Paulus is away at college, and the newborn is kept hidden because it is obviously half-white. Thebedi must conceal her son from the community because she knows there will be consequences from both the community and the Eysendyck family if the child's parentage is revealed. Paulus' reaction upon learning about the child underscores his awareness that their relationship, and the resulting child, was socially unacceptable. Rather than accepting responsibility, he takes matters into his own hands and moves to destroy all evidence of their relationship. The need to erase evidence is apparent when Njabulo, Thebedi's husband:

"[B]uried the little baby where farm workers were buried, in the place in the veld the farmer had given them… He was going to make a cross but before it was finished the police came and dug up the grave and took away the dead baby: someone — one of the other labourers? their women? — had reported that the baby was almost white, that, strong and healthy, it had died suddenly after a visit by the farmer's son. Pathological tests on infant corpse showed intestinal damage not always consistent with death by natural causes." (Gordimer, 1975, p. 49)

Given the evidence, Paulus was accused of murder. At trial, Thebedi testified that Paulus had threatened to shoot her if she told anyone what she had witnessed: him pouring an unidentified liquid into the infant's mouth (Gordimer, 1975, p. 49).

It is during the trial against Paulus that the reader is able to observe society's treatment of Black people during that era. This is also the only time the reader sees Thebedi interact with white people other than Paulus, with whom she shares an intimate history. Thebedi's isolation from white society is underscored by Gordimer's note that traveling into the country town was the first time Thebedi had ever ventured away from the Eysendyck farm — and the first time she personally experienced overt racial discrimination.

Racist attitudes are visible in how differently Thebedi and Paulus are treated throughout the proceedings. The first illustration of racial discrimination occurs when the defense attacks Thebedi's character, arguing "there had been a love relationship between the accused and that girl, or that intercourse had taken place, but submitted there was no proof that the child was the accused's" (Gordimer, 1975, p. 49). The judge appears to favor Paulus, declaring there was "strong suspicion against him but not enough proof that he had committed the crime" (Gordimer, 1975, p. 49). The court also attempts to implicate Thebedi herself, as Gordimer (1975) notes: there "was the suggestion in the mind of the Court that she might be an accomplice in the crime, but, again, insufficient proof" (p. 49). By citing insufficient proof, the court attempted to discredit Thebedi on the basis of her race, gender, and social status.

The court's declaration that it "could not accept the girl's evidence because it was clear she had committed perjury either at this trial or at the preparatory exam" further demonstrates how the legal system sought to undermine Thebedi's credibility through insinuation rather than evidence (Gordimer, 1975, p. 49). The court eventually dismisses the charges against Paulus, revealing its bias. Yet it is Paulus' own reaction that betrays his guilt: he refused "to accept the congratulations of press and public and left the Court with his mother's raincoat shielding his face from photographers" (Gordimer, 1975, p. 50).

Conclusion: Racism as a Global Phenomenon