English Assigment                01-05-2008

Ah, Woe Is Me!

(A South African short story published in 1952)

In South Africa in the 1950s apartheid and segregation were words that described the conditions under which the native Africans lived. They nearly had no rights, and they were being suppressed by the white minority. Black women and men often had to choose between living with their families in the Townships and earning money at white residents. The themes of oppression and the constant struggle of giving your children a better life and making them understand that the world belongs to the white man are what influence this story.

The story “Ah, Woe Is Me” starts in medias res and is about a coloured woman, Sarah, who chose to earn money in hope of giving her children a proper education. It is told by an explicit 1st person narrator who knows the main character well. The narrator is a white woman who employed Sarah for a long time, and even though she describes many things about Sarah, the lack of omniscience is obvious, because she leaves many questions for the reader to reflect on.

Join now!

The main character, Sarah, was employed as a servant by the white narrator and her family before her legs got too bad. The narrator portrays her as having yellow brown skin and glasses, and she tells that Sarah is a good cook, but very fat. The obesity and years of hard work might be the reasons for her bad legs. The narrator knows Sarah quite well when you think of the fact that she was only an employee. She tells that Sarah wants her children to be brought up religiously, and that she doesn’t let naiveté and hope ruin ...

This is a preview of the whole essay