Characters

“An Act of Vengeance”  by Rosemund J. Handler includes several characters: Pauline, Miss C. Bester and her baby, and the two rapists who brutally rape Miss C. Bester and rob her.

Pauline is the main character in the story, and she is employed as a maid by Miss C. Bester, a white unmarried mother. Pauline is the most complex character in the story. Her characterisation is constructed by using her point of view on the events and by following her actions and motives.

Miss C. Bester is also central to the plot and the conflict. Miss C. Bester prefers being called “Mrs Bester” or “Madam”. “Mrs” is a word used for married women. Miss Bester is unmarried but has a child; she prefers “Mrs” as if to hide that she is unmarried. She also prefers being called “Madam” by Pauline, a word used to suggest that she is her boss – the lady of the house.

Pauline

Outer characterisation

The story “An Act of Vengeance” by Rosemund J. Handler reveals that Pauline is a black woman working as a maid for a white woman named Miss C. Bester and living in her employer’s house. She has two children who live with her mother, and she struggles with money: “Pauline's two children are at school in Mdantsane, living with her mother. They need money for food and clothes and books” (p. 89, ll. 21-22). This might suggest that Pauline does not have a husband.

In terms of physical appearance, the story only mentions her “angry pink” (p. 88, l. 26) hand and Pauline’s shocked expression when she sees her employer being raped: “Her eyes widen. Her mouth falls open. Pauline pushes carefully at the door. It opens a crack with a tiny click. She stares, unable to move” (p. 90, ll. 2-4).

Inner characterisation

Pauline’s inner charact...