Character Portrayal of Thebedi We are first introduced to Thebedi as a child. In the beginning of "Country Lovers", Thebedi, and Paulus Eysendyck were two children

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

“Country Lovers” by Nadine Gordimer

Character Portrayal of Thebedi

We are first introduced to Thebedi as a child. In the beginning of “Country Lovers”, Thebedi, and Paulus Eysendyck were two children playing together on a farm. Thebedi is the daughter of a farm worker and is black and Paulus is white and the son of the farm owner. Normally once the white children go to school things change, and they no longer play together, but this time it was different. Due to schooling they were not allowed to socialise and meet up, as the black people were inferior to the whites. Thebedi remained friends with Paulus during his schooling. She did not understand her place, and with childhood innocence, thought they were no different. In the second paragraph Thebedi received a box that Paulus had made himself in his woodwork class, in return she gave him a bracelet she had made herself, from thin brass wire and grey and white beans. She believed she could show fondness between them having exchanged gifts still confident with her place in his life. She may have been upset to learn that Paulus’ friends were amazed by the gift and he denied the importance of it, saying “the natives made them on his father’s farm”. Then in the third paragraph, when Thebedi was about 14 years old, she receives another gift fro Paulus. He had bought her a pair of guilt hoop earrings and a red plastic belt. But this time when the other girls in the kraal asked her about them, she told them “she had another sweetheart nobody knew about, far away, away on another farm”; the girls “giggled and teased, and admired her.” Which proves that she had inner confidence and could keep a mysterious air about her. She lied about the gift, and where she got it from as she was getting older and was realising that there was a strong bond between them.

This is a preview of the whole essay

Thebedi wandered far from the kraal alone and knew that when Paulus was home from school, he went for walks alone. They had not arranged it but they still meet, she had the confidence to go and meet him without being asked to, or being told to go and meet him. When they met she was relaxed with his company and was at ease, they met at a place with childhood memories. There she would listened to all of his stories about school, and as she didn’t have any of her own stories she asked him questions about school and all of his “adventures” to check her understand. He ‘exaggerated’ all his tales, and boasted, he was trying to impress her and make her like him. She laughed and listened contently to all his tales and never got bored of hearing about them. When they were sat at the lake, you get the image that she is not scared of him, and she is attentive. We know she was not scared of him as “They were not afraid of each other, they had known one another always” . Later when it was a hot day she went into the river “her dress bunched modestly and tucked into the legs of her pants.” So when Paulus saw this he felt something he had never felt before, even though he had seen girls in bikinis, and the sight of their “dazzling bellies and thighs in the sunlight.” She continued to behave the same way in the presence of Paulus confident with her place. We also know that there is a feeling of lust between them, “he did with her what he had done that time in the storeroom at the wedding, and this time it was so lovely, so lovely he was surprised… and she was surprised by it.” From this we can perceive that the feelings were mutual and that Paulus was not taking advantage of his position. After that day they met quite a few times down on the riverbed. She was also perceptive, as one day when she saw the farmer and his wife leave the farmhouse she went up to it, and quite a few times she spent the night there with him.

Thebedi married Njabulo, a young labourer who worked alongside her father on the Eysendyck’s farm whilst Paulus went to a veterinary college. Thebedi, did not tell him that she thought she was going to have a baby. She did not tell him any of this, as she did not want him to know, as it was wrong for a white man to have a relationship with a black women and that would probably ruin her life if anybody found out. Two months after the marriage she gave birth to a son. This was not thought of as wrong as in Africa it was normal for the man is to make sure that his future wife is not barren.

Thebedi was getting on with her own life fine, until two weeks after the baby’s birth Paulus returned. Whilst in his home he over-heard his mother and a house-servant discussing “where they could get a reliable substitute to help out now that girl Thebedi had had a baby”. For the first time since she was a child Paulus had come into the kraal and into her house. She was aware that his father or mother could appear any when so greeted him politely, and he ordered to see the baby. She knew that he would know it was his baby but did not realise what he would do to the baby. A few days later he returned to her house and killed the baby, she did not do anything about it. The police became involved and they had to go to court. The first time she was in court, she gave evidence against Paulus and said: “yes, yes, she saw the accused pouring liquid into the baby’s mouth. She said he had threatened to shoot her if she told anyone.” You could tell she was scared, as whilst she was in the witness box she was “crying hysterically”. Another year went past before the case was brought to trial. But this time she changed her story and said that she had not seen what the white man had done in the hut. We do not know why she changed her story, but we can only imagine, given that during the later trial she had another baby.

Thebedi throughout the short story was a very strong character, she was perceptive, attentive, loyal, a listener, and confident.