Theme and message

The main theme of the short story “Dead Man’s Shoes” by David Evans is the racial discrimination by white South Africans against black native South Africans. The theme is enhanced by the motifs of greed and racial pride. The author’s message with the short story is that South Africans remained a racially divided society even after the apartheid regime ended. The story also suggests that people should be valued for their personal qualities and not according to their race.

Racial discrimination

The theme of racial discrimination is not obvious at first in the short story. We first find out that a wealthy widow begins to be courted by various men in the area. Here the motif of greed plays an important role. The men that court her are more aware of her wealth than of the woman’s qualities. Their interest in her is financial (she is rich) and practical (she managed to adapt to the harsh conditions of rural South Africa).

However, the repetitive mentions of the new South Africa (post-apartheid) and the description of Sam Pitso who is a native foreman in the woman’s farm already hint at the main theme.

When Ann decides to run the farm on her own with Sam’s help, the way the suitors view Sam suggests that they appreciated that the man never claimed to be equal to the whites and acted as a respectful employee: “This bit of education hadn’t spoiled him as it did so many. He knew his place: bossboy among...