Analysis: "The journey to the brothers' farm" by Pippa Gough
- Cecilie 🇩🇰
- 1. sep. 2016
- 5 min læsning
Diversity, traditions and other disasters
Who are the people we pay homage to the most? What kind of bravery do we praise? Think about that for a minute. Who do we applaud the most? Is it researchers like Charles Darwin and Alexander Fleming who discovered something revolutionary? Is it… Albert Einstein? Or maybe our 3rd grade teacher? If we think about it a few names come into mind; for instance Malala Yousafzai, the 18 years old girl with a dogged determination about women’s right to education, Martin Luther King who fought for Black people’s rights, Nelson Mandela who likewise fought for people of color’s rights and so on. What do these people have in common? Well, it is quite obvious – they all in one way or another fought for the freedom of other human beings at the expense of their own freedom. Yousafzai was shot on her way to school, Luther King likewise was shot but also killed and Mandela sacrificed 27 years of his life in jail for the sake of the people of color’s rights in South Africa. But they have more than that in common: They all fought for equal rights for everyone no matter their gender, culture or the color of their skin. In this instance quoting Desmond Tutu would be very appropriate: “We inhabit a universe that is characterized by diversity.” This can be interpreted in many ways – it is not just an explanation as to why we should treat everyone equally but it is also a statement that tells us how this world works. Planet Earth is inhabited by people with pale skin as well as people with almost black skin. Tall, small, fat skinny, white, black and everything in between is represented on our Earth. Today in our western culture our ears are filled with messages about loving who you are and not being ashamed of what you look like (and what you do not look like) and that everyone is equal. But naturally it has not always been like that – history has spilled the beans about that. The world is filled with differences and contrasts – that fact is undeniable. Some of these contrasts are shown in the short story “The Journey to the Brothers’ Farm” which is from 2013 and written by Pippa Gough. Not only are the differences and contrasts portrayed in the plot itself it is also shown in the way that the story is written – literally speaking. The story has an interesting composition. At first we get to hear a little bit about Annelie Louw’s thoughts as a child (more about that later on) but then suddenly the text is written in italics and we learn that the italic text is the official statement that the protagonist Annelie Louw made to the police. After this the story shifts between telling her personal story as she experienced it – with feelings and thoughts – and the official emotionless statement. This is an important point to bear in mind when reading the short story. As mentioned earlier the short story starts by telling Annelie Louw’s thoughts - as a seven years old child - about the differences that she becomes aware of already from this very early age. She becomes aware of the differences between looking African and looking ayran. She also becomes aware of what is preferred when her dad one day says to her: ““Mix with your own type now, Annelie,” […] “Play with kids from your school. Leave the workers now, hey?” (p. 3, ll. 55-56). From this moment she became aware of the fact that even though she was very good friends with the guy called Thabo she couldn’t play with him – purely because of their different skin colors. Children are innocent and not supposed to worry about social status, skin color or size but for some reason this little girl worries about it and with these words from her father she starts seeing these differences, which she also saw as a seven year old girl when she asked her teacher and it makes her see the differences even more – it made her realize the differences in the world, but also that some features and characteristics are preferred to others.
As an adult this strained relationship between Blacks and Whites is a big part of her life – on a personal level. She had a horrible experience at the Veldplatt Farm when she was young – she was sexually assaulted at the farm – mind you, by a white. Annelie has not yet recovered from that experience – even 20 years later. After her father’s words to her as a child she stopped playing with Thabo and even though it was filled with agony she started playing with Hendriks Kruger.
Hendriks Kruger went to the same school as Annelie and now owns the Veldplatt farm and even though he has Black workers he does not like people of color – he says: ““You’ve got to treat them like animals,”(p. 3, l. 42). This undeniably created an even more strained relationships between him and Annelie because deep down inside Annelie has nothing against people of color. This tension and confusion is also shown in the cold and hostile atmosphere of the story. This is also where another contrast is shown: Thabo is Thabo to Annelie but to Thabo Annelie is “madam”. Even though Annelie does not want to be addressed as madam by Thabo, Thabo undertakes an obeying role.
So on this fatefull day, Monday 17 February 1977, Annelie’s bubble of resentfulness towards Hendriks and the Krugers bursts. When she finds Thabo injured she helps him as an old friend and she did not doubt for a minute that Hendriks was the assailant in this matter. This also shows her contrast to the rest of the white society since they would probably just have assumed that Thabo was the culprit.
Because of her troubled relationship with the farm she has a hard time going there but she does it for Thabo. "I felt suddenly exhausted. I didn’t want to think about what Thabo was saying. I had struggled all these years to blank Hendriks from my mind.” (p. 5, ll. 119-120). The thought of going back to the place where Hendriks sexually assaulted her so many years ago is not tempting to her. When Thabo and Annelie arrive to the farm Annelie finds Hendriks and he is impertinent enough to blame Thabo for what happened. This triggers something in Annelie. “I took his hands from my arms and placed them over the stock, wrapping his fingers round the trigger. I slowly eased the barrel up to under his chin. He muttered and tried to turn his head away. I caught his chin firmly with my fingers, pressing it on to the gun’s muzzle. I leaned closer to his ear.” (p. 7, ll. 180-183). This shows that she settles with Hendriks. She shows him who is in charge, what is right and what is wrong and that he, with his pale skin, is not worth anything compared to Thabo who nobly tried to defend his family. This concludes the story and yet again we applaud the one who fights for justice and rights – Annelie.
The story shows the twisted mindset of segregation and partition of certain groups. Even though these old traditions have been foisted on Annelie since her childhood she never let go of what she thought was right even though her friends also undertook and obeyed these ideals. Maybe that’s what makes her similar to Malala Yousafzai, Mandela, Tutu and Luther King. Even though she fought the battle on a personal level. Maybe people like her who dare to stand up in the everyday life are what really makes a difference in this diverse universe.