Characters

The most important characters in the short story “Dead Man’s Shoes” by David Evans are Anne and the seven suitors. Sam is a secondary character who is only relevant for the main characters’ attitude towards him.

Anne Bezuidenhout

Anne is the protagonist of the story. She is depicted from the first-person narrator’s perspective.

Outer characterisation

Her outer characterisation reveals that she came from Ireland to South Africa as a teacher. She was married to Piet who died in an accident. Her physical traits are also conveyed and suggest she is still an attractive woman:

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Inner characterisation

Anne’s inner characterisation reveals that she is a woman of “private amusement and undeclared opinions” (ll. 16-17) which suggests that she is intelligent and has a sense of humour.

The fact that she managed to adapt to the difficult conditions of rural South Africa suggests a strong character. This is further suggested by the fact that she decides to run the farm on her own; she does not feel she needs a man to help her run the business: “Then, when we learnt to our relief that she was staying on, we discovered that she wasn’t hiring a manager (though several candidates volunteered immediately) but taking charge of the staff herself.” (ll. 75-78)

The way she has decorated the inside of her house also suggests she has good taste and does not like opulence.

From the interactions with the seven suitors we find out that she is neither afraid of loneliness nor hard work: “Anne nodded agreement, but replied that she came from a long Irish peasant tradition and was used to hardship.” (ll. 93-95);

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The seven suitors

Although the seven suitors have individual personalities, it is best to analyse all of them in a single section. This is because they share the same desire to marry Anne and because they all are more or less racist in their attitudes towards black South Africans. Furthermore, their personalities are not highly elaborated but stereotypical.

Harry Smith is described in the following way: “the town’s auctioneer, was the oldest and a bachelor, because, so people said, he had been too mean to share his money.” (ll. 54-55). This suggests that he is an avaricious man, although he is probably quite wealthy. At the end he is the only one who refuses to go through the shoe-fitting test suggesting he is also a proud and superstitious man: “Harry Smith left immediately, giving Maritz an ugly look and muttering that it was bad luck to try to step into the shoes of the dead.” (ll. 163-164)

Jamie Roy is “a farmer and recently bereaved” (l. 55) and “the youngest, just forty-five” (l. 56). He is the one who points out to Anne that being alone can make one feel sad and lonely which might suggest that he also suffered from loneliness: “Solitude could be a terrible thing, he remarked, his still boyish face glowing with concern, especially on the long winter nights, such as were beginning.” (ll. 96-98)

He is also the first one to try the shoes which do not fit him, which suggest that he has a delicate physique and small feet: “Jamie Roy tried first, putting his left foot gingerly into the brown shoe as a fussy child might step into a muddy pool - and withdrawing it fast.” (ll. 167-168)

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