Fiela's Child Summary

In July of 1986, the year after Dalene Matthee’s Fiela’s Child was published, Francis Levy, a writer, humorist, and critic for the New York Times wrote an article providing a brief background of the novel as well as offering a few of his interpretations the novel. For example, Levy’s thesis argument in the article is to determine how this novel as a work of fiction allegorizes South Africa’s history in relation to the story of Fiela and Benjamin. Essentially, Levy claims that the novel is essentially a parable of the history of South Africa, specifically the apartheid era. Additionally, Levy takes his interpretation of the story a bit further to claim that the humans and animals are allegorized as a type of emergent capitalism in South Africa. While I agree that the novel is essentially an allegory for South Africa’s history during the apartheid era, I believe Levy has gone too far in describing the people and the animals as representing emerging capitalism. Rather, I believe the story is more one of human emotion and …show more content…
Regarding this claim, I agree with Levy since the story clearly portrays the racial segregation that was present during the time by describing the argument of Benjamin’s identity between a white and colored family. It is obvious that the tensions between the Komoeties and Van Rooyens are representing the same tensions that were present on a much larger scale during the apartheid era. Therefore, just as I believe that the story essentially translates the facts of history into the lives of memorable characters, the article describes Fiela’s Child as “a parable that broadens and humanizes our understanding of the conflicts still affecting South Africa today”