Lindiwe has a perceptive nature. She sends money back home and lives sparingly herself, which the reader interprets as kindliness. This kindliness is also showed by the fact that she’s employed at a Centre on Poverty, helping denizens in London. Because of her background in South Africa, she’s not afraid to walk in the streets by herself, even when it’s after dark. Through the story the reader gets the impression that Lindiwe isn’t afraid of too many things. The fact that she’s followed by a stranger doesn’t scare her, and she jokes about it with her boss, whom she seems very garrulous towards.
As mentioned before, Lindiwe is followed by a man through out the story, and in the end this man starts calling her work, and suddenly he shows up at the Centre, and Lindiwe’s boss, Ahmad, knows him. At fist the reader doesn’t interpret that he is of vital importance to the story. John Fortune seems at first like a frightening man who is spying on Lindiwe, but then one senses that he might also have problems. At the point when he starts telephoning the Centre to get knowledge about the economy and the work of the centre, he starts to seem more and more intelligent although very clandestine. It is first at the very end, when it is revealed that he is a missionary, that the reader gets the feeling that he has something on his mind. It is like John Fortune knows that Lindiwe’s soul is troubled, and it seems he knows how to settle her, and that is the reason why he follows her. His strange demeanour seems almost clairvoyant. “”What could be worse,” he asked Ahmad, “than a missionary without a mission?”” (pp. 3 l. 109) This is what John Fortune says in the end of the story, and he quickly adds: “Unless it is a mission without a missionary?” (pp. 31 l. 110) Exactly this terse sentence enlightens Lindiwe and helps her figure out that there is a way for her to let go of the guilt, and that when it is possible for her to help the denizens in London, why shouldn’t it be possible for her to complete a mission in her on country, or at least her own township? She finds out that her money and guilt are not enough to build a general infrastructure in the underdeveloped township Soweto, where she is from. Obviously there is a paucity of missionaries in Africa, and it is absurd that Lindiwe is helping refugees who have come to England, and who are already away from the greater problems, such war and persecution in their own countries, while thousands of indigent families are living in shanty towns in her own country, and who are more likely to need help: “She had thought that she could be of use to the denizens of King’s Cross, but there was nothing she could do for them, they had gone beyond despair…” (p. 1. l. 14-15). When Lindiwe finally finds her call, it is a catharsis for her, because she has been perplexed for quite a while, only knowing that something didn’t feel right.
The title of the story might indicate the fact that John Fortune sees right through Lindiwe. His name Fortune can signify many things, but I believe that in this short story, it is defined as fate, meaning that her ‘fortune’ or ‘luck’ is to be helpful towards others in her own country. That is her condition in life, and therefore he comes into the story as a symbol of destiny that follows and guides her.
The themes of this story are not obvious when you read it for the first time, but after having explained the role of John Fortune it gets easier to describe the themes. One of them could be identity – meaning that life is a process of learning, and that it is not always easy to figure out what one’s vocation in life is. Sometimes you need an older or more experienced person to guide you and sometimes you have to let destiny guide you.
The fact that Lindiwe has seen the world from a different place, seen that not all people live like they do in Africa, and that it is possible to change a place for the better, like John Fortune did it, gives her the courage to do something and makes her realize that the sympathy she feels is no substitute for action. John Fortune plays a big part in this short story, since he is the one who enlightens her and makes her realize the above.
Oversættelse – section 2:
In Denmark the family has become a discussion club, where the children often get the last word. The Danish family counsellor and writer Jesper Juul states that today even quite/very small children are good at negotiating. They dispute so convincingly that parents and teachers can have a hard time keeping up with them.
Children automatically demand an explanation for everything, and they participate in decisions about everything from the choice of dinner to the choice of car. Other experts remind us that it is the parents, who have taught the kids to set demands.
