Characters

There is only one main character in the short story “The Park” by James Matthews: the unnamed boy. Narration mostly focuses on him, and we experience events through his perspective, thoughts, and emotions. There are a few other episodic characters, such as the main character’s mother, the white lady and her maid, and the Indian shop owner, but they are more symbolic and serve to create a clearer social context for the main character’s story. 

The young boy

The young boy can be seen as a representative of the way in which all children of color were affected by the social situation in South Africa during apartheid. His main trait is his fascination for the park, which is what drives his actions throughout the story.

Outer characterization 

The main character from James Matthews' short story "the Park" is an unnamed boy. In terms of outer characterization, we know very little about the main character. We are told at the beginning that he is a young South African boy of color, which we learn through an insulting phrase spoken by one of the white boys playing in the park: “‘What are you looking at, you brown ape?’ he said” (l. 9). However, his racial ...