Her finder du hjælp til analyse af novellen “The Bench” (1963) af den sydafrikanske forfatter Richard Rive. Vi giver dig også et summary af teksten og input til tema og budskab. Du finder også forslag til perspektivering.
Social setting
The social setting of “The Bench” deals with the relationship between whites and blacks in South Africa during apartheid. Apartheid was a system of racial discrimination in South Africa and involved the whites having better opportunities than the non-white population.
The first speaker presented in the story talks about the oppressive society which “condemns a man to an inferior position because he has the misfortune to be born black” (p. 213, ll. 4-6). The man’s speech continues with ideas on racial discrimination (p. 213, ll. 24-31), which make Karlie think about the idea of equality: “I am as good as any other man, even a white man” (p. 213, ll. 33-34). Later on, as Karlie decides to challenge the discriminatory law by sitting on the bench reserved for the whites, the narrative highlights the differences between whites and blacks.
The social setting then focuses on the speakers that encourage black South Africans to challenge the laws and end racial segregation. Karlie notices that the speakers are “both white and black” (p. 213, ll. 46-47) and that they get along because they share the same reformist ideas.
While the narrative shows that the views in the city are more progressive, it also focuses on the more traditional views found in the villages. According to Karlie, the people in his village believe that “God made us white or black and we must therefore keep our places” (p. 215, ll. 20-21).
