Analysis Of You Can T Get Lost In Cape Town

To have a place in society is what ultimately determines a person’s direction and purpose in life. Unfortunately, not everyone in this world has the luxury of feeling like they have a place. Some are faced everyday with the internal battle of never feeling like they belong and the fear of the punishments that they will be subjected to if they overstep these unclear boundaries. Zoë Wicomb’s short story “You Can’t Get Lost in Cape Town” powerfully demonstrates to readers the reality of life in a town where everyone is fighting to find their place. Her main character, Sally, is continually tormented by the battle of having to conform to societies standards in order to survive even if it means selling her soul. Sally knew that if anyone discovered …show more content…
She is well educated, she is devoutly religious, and she dared to love a white man. In fact, if skin color were removed from the picture, it would be deceivingly easy to thinking that Sally was white. Sally knows that she does not belong, especially know that she has become pregnant. Sally the murderer will no longer belong in the church but Sally the white man lover will no longer belong in her family. No matter what she chose she could never find relief. For Sally, the choice was already made. Sally was raised a Christian and knew that aborting a child was an unforgivable sin but she was also raised in a country where black women how gave birth to a white man’s child were put into prison leaving the children forever alone and unwanted. If they were not put into prison their fate was surely worse, they were disowned from their families and their communities, ostracized from everything they once knew and loved. Religion no longer had a place in the decision; she must abort the baby. Michael, her white lover, would never understand this. Michael knew his place in society and struggled to understand why Sally could not find hers. After all, in his mind they were in love and about to start a family. Sally could feel his love for her slip further and further away as she continually refused to change her mind. The beauty and spirit that he had once seen in her was no longer there. Michael would never know …show more content…
Racism is very real in our world across all races. Black women in Africa live every day trying to be unnoticed, walking a fine line of invisibility but wishing for freedom. Feeling lost is all they have known and, most likely, all they ever will know. For the whites in Cape Town, life is simple and straightforward. For the blacks, it is a whirlwind of emotions as they try to live each and every day without overstepping the boundaries forced upon them by the whites. There is no escaping their torture. There is no real place for them in the white mans