The Man from the Board tells the story of Mr. Isaac Jacobs who is a coloured teacher. He lives in a white neighbourhood which is forbidden
by
sforsberg (student)
Simone Forsberg Greve Gymnasium 22/10-2012
The Man from the Board
”The Man from the Board” tells the story of Mr. Isaac Jacobs who is a coloured teacher. He lives in a white neighbourhood which is forbidden and therefore Mr. Jacobs is forced to move by the white man from the Board. However, the confrontation between the white and coloured men is very uncommon as Mr. Johannes Bredenkamp doesn’t quite perform his job to what he was actually supposed to.
The conversation takes place a Saturday afternoon in late January in Isaac Jacobs’ flat. Jacobs lives in a white area which isn’t the norm for a coloured man and that is why the white man from the Board knocks in his door. Mr. Bredenkamp has been given the task to make Jacobs move to another proper area than what he lives in. Jacobs expected a defensive confrontation because of the 1980’s, which he found himself in. At the time the rules were restricted of where you could live. But it turns out another way and what Jacobs expected of the conversation wasn’t what he experienced. Bredenkamp greets Jacobs and even though Mr. Johannes Bredenkamp is a man from the Board he seems to be very polite towards Mr. Isaac Jacobs. E.g. p. 67, l. 21: “Excuse me?” (…) He extracted one and ran his fingers down a column. ‘Jacobs, Isaac Vernon?” His manners are expressed in his choice of words and “excuse me” is a polite saying. Bredenkamp shows an interest in his hobbies and enjoys hearing about Jacobs’ life phiosophy and job as a teacher. Already from the beginning Jacobs notices a change in the conversation from what he expected to be full of hatred. E.g. p. 68, l. 6: “His annoyance had changed to curiosity. Who was this man?”. Bredenkamp begins to ask Jacobs all of these personal questions about his life instead of a straight confrontation to force Jacobs to move. Jacobs begins to become more and more confused and can’t seem to find an end to the conversation. It gets really tricky as Bredenkamp changes the subject and going in circles for example where he starts to talk about Jacobs’ SONY. Near the end Jacobs is convinced that Bredenkamp is trying to threaten him to move. E.g. p. 74, l. 4: “He gave no indication whether this was a threat or not.” But all he seems to do is making a last statement on how Jacobs’ should stick to SONY and punches him in the ribs. Bredenkamp never really gets to the point and Jacobs is only waiting for the bomb to explode but Bredenkamp just seems to want a chat.
