Jumping Mouse
In July’s People, Nadine Gordimer gives a very detailed and knowledgeable explanation of the political turmoil within South Africa. By expressing the emotions of a family involved in the deteriorating situation and the misunderstandings between blacks and whites, she adds a very personal and emotional touch, which allows the reader to understand the true horror and terror these people experienced. Gordimer writes of how the Smales family reacts, survives, and adjusts to this life altering experience. She makes obvious throughout the book that prejudice plays a major role in uncovering the reactions of Bamford and Maureen Smales.
The Smales were a suburban, upper middle class, white family ...
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no other options, accepted July’s offer and ran in haste and confusion to the dearth village. They knew little of the drastic adjustments they would have to make in order to survive in July’s rustic village. These adjustments would soon threaten their relationships with one another and their family’s structure.
The three Smales children, Victor, Royce and Gina, had not experienced, and therefore had not expected to live a life of luxury amongst people of their "own" kind. This innocence contributes greatly to the rate and comfort in which they adjust to living in July’s village. Bam and Maureen may not have felt prejudice towards the black race, but were certainly prejudice about the lifestyle in which they must now live, a lifestyle completely stripped of any and all luxuries they once enjoyed. All of the family members, facing a new way of life, adjust to their situation in radically different ways. Each one drifts in their own direction in search of comfort and ...
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clearing, among other convenient rocks"(26).
Bam and Maureen react to their situation in extreme ways, some similar and some not. The most radical adjustment in which the couple has the greatest trouble accepting is their newfound subservience to July. He has become their host, their savior, and their keeper. When July realizes the power he now holds, he takes advantage of the situation. Whether it is done innocently or with deliberate intent, it is hard to decipher. July ends up taking control of the bakkie (the Smales’ car) and it’s keys, which greatly upsets the Smales. The keys symbolize power in this novel. This lever of power gives July greater control over the Smales who are ...
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Jumping Mouse. (2007, January 23). Retrieved April 20, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Jumping-Mouse/59181
"Jumping Mouse." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 23 Jan. 2007. Web. 20 Apr. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Jumping-Mouse/59181>
"Jumping Mouse." Essayworld.com. January 23, 2007. Accessed April 20, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Jumping-Mouse/59181.
"Jumping Mouse." Essayworld.com. January 23, 2007. Accessed April 20, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Jumping-Mouse/59181.
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