Personal Reading Study - "Cry Freedom" by John Briley
Personal Reading Study - "Cry Freedom" by John Briley
Q: Choose a novel in which a relationship between two different characters is developed.
Show how the developing relationship between Steve Biko and Donald Woods explores the theme of racism and how the novel portrays the effects of racism in South African society.
In your answer you must refer closely to the text and to the themes explored, characterisation and Key incidents.
"And towards that day, when the isolation that creates hostility becomes the closeness that permits friendship, let us join in the song of South Africa..."
As the above quotation suggests 'Cry Freedom' by John Briley, is a fascinating study of the real life relationship between Donald Woods and Steve Biko. The author employs a variety of literary techniques to demonstrate how two very different men with disparate lifestyles become close, and how their relationship develops under complex circumstances. In my essay I will show how the relationship between Steve Biko and Donald Woods develops and I will also explore the portrayal of the theme of racism and the effects it has on the society in which it exists. Briley portrays this through his characterisation, the themes explored and the key incidents throughout the novel.
John Briley has successfully engaged my interest in the developing relationship between the two protagonists. Before their first meeting I believe that Donald Woods was not very sure of what he thought of blacks in South Africa and how much freedom they should be allowed to have. It seems to me that Donald Woods, as a white liberal and an editor contradicted himself many times. An example of this is,
"He did not believe blacks should be given the full right to vote."
But a few sentences later there is a quotation saying,
"When he caught the Government violating those basic ethical premises, he struck at them with a pen so sharp and so precise that his paper was quoted from one end of South Africa to the other."
I believe that in these quotations Woods contradicts himself as he believes blacks should not be given the full right to vote yet when he caught the Government violating those 'basic' ethical premises he would argue with them. It seems to me that Woods is not too sure what he believes is acceptable for blacks, and how far they should be allowed to go in the justice system.
Furthermore, before their first meeting Woods did not approve of Biko's black consciousness principles. He believed that Biko's principles were all about black prejudice and that he did not want everything to be fair in South Africa but instead to be the way the blacks want it to be. We know this as when Mamphela Ramphele went to go see Mr Woods about the article he had written about Steve Biko, they entered into a heated conversation and Woods said,
"Your Mr Biko's building a wall of black hatred in South Africa, and I'll fight him as long as I sit in this chair!"
This shows me clearly that Donald Woods was certainly not fond of Steve Biko and his beliefs and Woods deeply believed that Biko's principles were wrong and unfair. However, Woods is being prejudiced himself as he has never met Biko or spoken to him to come close to a conclusion as to why he may believe the things he does. It seems to me that Woods is confused about his own beliefs so he has no right judging others.
In a later incident in the book, once Biko and Woods have met, we begin to see a change in Woods' attitude towards blacks and the apartheid system. After a suggestion by Biko, Woods decided to hire a black man and black women to work as reporters for his paper. During this part of the novel, we see how Woods had to argue his way through to get them hired. The board was hard to convince as they argued about what they would report on and who would care. But we can see that Woods would not give ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
In a later incident in the book, once Biko and Woods have met, we begin to see a change in Woods' attitude towards blacks and the apartheid system. After a suggestion by Biko, Woods decided to hire a black man and black women to work as reporters for his paper. During this part of the novel, we see how Woods had to argue his way through to get them hired. The board was hard to convince as they argued about what they would report on and who would care. But we can see that Woods would not give up as he continued to argue with the board. This shows to me that Woods was determined to make a change and he wanted to be a part of helping this to happen,
"Not everyone agreed with him but in the end his determination carried the day."
It seems to me that Woods genuinely wanted to make things better and now I see that this was just the beginning. By doing this, Woods was helping to explore the effects of racism as he was helping to include blacks in a society where a lot of racism existed.
As for Steve Biko, we are able to see aspects of his character throughout the book, until he dies. We are able to observe what he is like when he first meets Woods. It seems to me as though Biko had felt he had been through a lot in his life, but he always seemed to find a reason to smile. I noticed this when Biko and Woods first met. At their first meeting they get into a heated conversation about how blacks were forced to live in townships and Whites had all the luxuries of the world. Biko says,
" 'Now that is a charming idea. Whites in the townships and me in a Mercedes.' And then, with a smile that was as warm and genuine as his wife's, he stuck out his hand."
This quotation shows me that Biko has the ability to make a situation seem unthreatening simply by smiling and not being so controversial. This is one of the qualities that Steve Biko has. I find it difficult to understand how he can be so calm in a situation where he is not even allowed to talk to two people at the same time. It seems to me that John Briley is trying to show that Biko is an exceptional character. Also, by saying a smile like his wife, Briley is trying to show how Biko is a normal family man and he is emphasising the fact that he is not threatening. Even though they are living under rule in their own country and Biko is banned, and not allowed to leave his area, they are warm and caring and it seems as thought they do not have a care in the world. They are portrayed as not causing riots and being willing to work together and make things better for everyone.
Also, in another part of the novel Wendy, Woods' wife, begins to see what she believes is the real Steve Biko. This is when they begin to see that Biko just wants the best for himself and his people.
"... beneath Steve's eloquence and humour lay a man deeply touched with a sense of tragedy. Whether it was for his own life, or his people's, or South Africa's, she wasn't sure but she felt it, deep and certain."
I believe that after Wendy notices this part of Steve, she brings it to the attention of Woods also. She begins to see him in a completely different way. She sees the more sensitive side to Biko as opposed to the hard and tough image or the humorous side that he had with most people. I also feel that after reading this, I began to see Biko in a different light. So far, I had only looked at his funny side. As I have already said, it seemed to me that he always made a joke out of things and looked towards the bright side and I feel, as a reader, that nobody really knew his true colours and how he felt until this quotation.
As the novel progresses and the relationship between Steve Biko and Donald Woods is developing, John Briley begins to explore the themes of racism and friendship.
Racism, which is one of the themes, is fully explored by the author in a number of ways.
In the beginning of the book when Biko and Woods meet for the first time, racism is brought up as an issue as Donald Woods says,
"I attacked you for being racist."
Here we can see that Donald Woods is accusing Steve Biko of being racist, which to me seems unrealistic, as in my opinion Steve Biko can not be racist.
As the novel progresses further and Biko and Woods friendship is developed even more, Biko takes Woods to a black township to illustrate the lives of the blacks and to show how they faced their everyday hardships. As they are sitting in the Shebeen Queens house, Biko, Woods, Tenjy, John and Mapetla get into a conversation which later spirals into an argument about racism. Here Woods is faced with Mapetla who has firm beliefs of what she believes is fair. Woods argues with Mapetla that Blacks cannot go back into history as the 20th century is marching on, for all of them - black and white. Mapetla then argues back with a strong opinion,
"But it doesn't have to march only to your time, the best you want for us is to be allowed to sit at your table, with your silver and china, and if
we can learn to do it like you do it, you'll kindly let us stay. We want to
wipe the table clean. It's an African table. We'll sit at it in our own
right."
After this opinion from Mapetla, Woods feels that it revealed layers of bitterness, which he had never felt before. In my opinion, I think that this brought Donald Woods down to earth, and he was finally faced with the truth about the hardships that blacks faced and how they felt about the apartheid system. From this point on, it seems to me that Donald Woods feels the pain and suffering of the blacks, and finally sees that South Africa is an unjust country. This is when Woods begins to change his attitudes and we start seeing a more positive outlook on the blacks of South Africa.
The other theme of 'Cry Freedom', which is friendship, helps the author to develop the friendship of Steve Biko and Donald Woods and explore the effects it ha on their lives and the society in which they live.
Briley makes it clear to the reader that Biko and Woods' friendship is going to be successful from the very beginning. I believe this because their very first meeting is a success, as even though they get into a heated conversation, eventually they smile and shake hands. We know the friendship is going to be a success as the author portrays a clear image of how they feel towards each other as he says,
"Woods hesitated for a moment, absorbing the swift change in mood, the intelligence, the unexpected sincerity in the eyes and the smile.
Then he took the proffered hand.
It was the beginning."
From this quotation, Briley portrays a positive image of the forthcoming friendship for me, as the protagonists both seem to be sincere.
Also the last sentence of this quotation enables me to envisage a positive outcome. This is a clear hint that the relationship of Biko and Woods will form into a reliable friendship, which will have an effect on the racist attitudes of the South African society.
The developing friendship between the two protagonists continues to improve and the story moves on. A little later in the novel, Briley develops the theme of friendship, this time showing the support and determination of Woods wide, Wendy.
After and attack on the community centre, the friendship bond between them seems to grow tighter, whereas, one would expect it to weaken. It seems to me, the reason it grows instead of weakens is because Biko has more trust in Woods than before and he can rely on him to bring up the attack in his newspaper to increase the number of supporters. Here Wendy's trust and support is also gained as she says to Woods,
"Donald, go to Kruger. He's the Minister of Police and he's told you personally that he'd fight police illegality. Well, take him up on it!"
The determination of Wendy in this quotation shows me that she and Donald Woods are not going to sit back and let this incident fly by. It shows they are wanting to make things better and will take action towards unfairness on behalf of all the blacks of South Africa.
Their friendship with Biko has become so strong that they are willing to be attacked and criticised by the police, who did this in the first place.
The fact that Wendy said, "Take him up on it!" shows me that it is almost like a challenge to Woods. It also seems to me that it is a challenge facing Woods, to save his friendship with Biko.
In addition, Woods friendship with Biko is certified a true friendship after Biko dies. Here their true friendship is declared by Biko's wife Ntsiki, as she asks Wendy and Woods to attend Biko's funeral and explains why she wants them to attend,
"Yes Donald, you and Wendy are our brother and sister."
This shows the final stage of their friendship, when Woods is declared a brother to Biko rather than just a friend. This proves their trust and love for each other and how their race did not seem to have any sort of effect on their relationship.
Another technique which is used by Briley to portray the friendship between the protagonists and the effects is has on the society in which it exists are a series of point turning key incidents.
These incidents take the friendship of Steve Biko and Donald Woods onto another level. An example of this is when Biko encourages Woods to hire a couple of black employees for his newspaper to write articles, which may interest black people. Here we see that Woods is faced with his assistant Ken, who is not too pleased with the recruitment of two black employees. Ken is being sarcastic with Woods and suggests that Biko practices Black Magic as well. Woods smiles back at Ken and says,
"I'm not certain, but I think this is worth a try. They're going to cover black news. Things we've never covered before: weddings, music, sport - crime. There's nothing illegal in that, and we'll pick up a lot of new readers."
From this quotation it becomes clear to me that Woods is honestly willing to make this work and he has trust in Mapetla and Tenjy to make it work. He is also trying to convince Ken it is a good idea as he is emphasising the fact that they cover news that is not threatening to whites.
Here Woods is endangering his job as editor of the paper. With these consequences in mind, Woods still takes on the risk, and to me this certainly proved to Biko he wanted thing sot be right thus allowing their friendship to move to a new level.
Another technique, which is key in the novel, is Woods' reaction to Biko's death. After Biko dies we are able to see just how much their friendship had developed. In the beginning Woods did not approve of Biko's ideas and beliefs. Donald Woods believed that Steve Biko was building a wall of black hatred, and if anyone ought to be banned, it was Steve Biko, but when Woods hears of Biko's death, it is explained as though he had never had such thoughts,
"At first he didn't believe it. Biko was too big a name - he was too prominently associated with non - violence."
The key part of this quotation is the fact that Woods is now saying Biko was too involved with 'non-violence' to be a target of such hatred. Woods has changed his opinion of Biko and does not think him threatening.
This is a key incident as this is when the absolute trust is shown between the two protagonists, the theme of friendship is fully explored and the relationship is fully developed.
Therefore, the novel 'Cry Freedom' by John Briley is a fascinating study of the real life relationship between Donald Woods and Steve Biko. Briley helps me to explore the portrayal of the theme of racism and the effects it had on South African society through his use of thought provoking characterisation, point turning key incidents and fully exploring the related themes of racism and friendship. The use of these techniques has helped me to understand the relationship between the protagonists and enabled me to visualise the devastating effects racism can have on individuals.
