The Lemon Orchard captures the essence of apartheid condensed down into this short story. It focuses on a colored man who is dragged from his home like a prisoner by four white men, who force him to walk through a lemon orchard where they torture, abuse and kill him.
The author has effectively composed character within this passage through their actions, thoughts, dialogue and the narration. The setting provides an accurate backdrop in which the action is played out, he has created it by presenting information about time, place and use of descriptive language to evoke vivid sights, sounds and smells.
La Guma ensures that in the opening of the story we encounter a situation. He weaves details about the setting into the descriptions of action. …show more content…
The moon hides behind the clouds as if mortified to witness what is about to happen but actively participates in the crime by being a spectator. Furthermore, it serves as a symbol for people and society who condoned injustice during apartheid. The complex sentence about nature compares the clouds to “dirty cotton wool”. The simile creates striking imagery that strengthens the idea of the surrounding as “dirty” but also emphasizes the acts that transpire. Additionally, the alliterating words “suspended”, “streamers” and “sky” impress the appearance of the dirty clouds upon the readers …show more content…
The racist words he calls out seem natural to him and expose his skin color and racist temperament. His vernacular reveals the setting to be in South Africa. The writer uses the simile to highlight the racist theme of the Lemon Orchard and exposes the dehumanizing language used by white men during apartheid.
In addition, La Guma subtly presents this text in free indirect style where he further exposes the villainous nature of the leader of the party and his opinion on racism; “He called out softly, as if the darkness demanded silence.” The leader is cognizant his words are shameful hence he calls out “softly” but still utters them out. Personification reveals the authors opinion on racist language “the darkness” (racist words) should not be used and demand silence.
Linguistically, the writer uses external language to illustrate character. The leader of the party is a “big man” who wears “khaki trousers”, “laced up riding boots”, “an old shooting jacket”. His attire is a trademark of a hunter; it implies he is an older man and is accustomed to the practice of violence. This is further enforced by “the shotgun” he carries is a symbol for power. La Guma has effectively constructed the leader of the party as one who is violent and has power over every character within the passage. This character is a symbol of the apartheid government who controlled and had complete supremacy in South Africa.
The author has effectively composed character within this passage through their actions, thoughts, dialogue and the narration. The setting provides an accurate backdrop in which the action is played out, he has created it by presenting information about time, place and use of descriptive language to evoke vivid sights, sounds and smells.
La Guma ensures that in the opening of the story we encounter a situation. He weaves details about the setting into the descriptions of action. …show more content…
The moon hides behind the clouds as if mortified to witness what is about to happen but actively participates in the crime by being a spectator. Furthermore, it serves as a symbol for people and society who condoned injustice during apartheid. The complex sentence about nature compares the clouds to “dirty cotton wool”. The simile creates striking imagery that strengthens the idea of the surrounding as “dirty” but also emphasizes the acts that transpire. Additionally, the alliterating words “suspended”, “streamers” and “sky” impress the appearance of the dirty clouds upon the readers …show more content…
The racist words he calls out seem natural to him and expose his skin color and racist temperament. His vernacular reveals the setting to be in South Africa. The writer uses the simile to highlight the racist theme of the Lemon Orchard and exposes the dehumanizing language used by white men during apartheid.
In addition, La Guma subtly presents this text in free indirect style where he further exposes the villainous nature of the leader of the party and his opinion on racism; “He called out softly, as if the darkness demanded silence.” The leader is cognizant his words are shameful hence he calls out “softly” but still utters them out. Personification reveals the authors opinion on racist language “the darkness” (racist words) should not be used and demand silence.
Linguistically, the writer uses external language to illustrate character. The leader of the party is a “big man” who wears “khaki trousers”, “laced up riding boots”, “an old shooting jacket”. His attire is a trademark of a hunter; it implies he is an older man and is accustomed to the practice of violence. This is further enforced by “the shotgun” he carries is a symbol for power. La Guma has effectively constructed the leader of the party as one who is violent and has power over every character within the passage. This character is a symbol of the apartheid government who controlled and had complete supremacy in South Africa.