Dead Man s Shoes essay
Dead Man’s Shoes – Essay
The short story “Dead Man’s Shoes” (1998) by David Evans is an astonishing view into the life of a rural village in South Africa after the fall of apartheid, and of the different attitudes flourishing in the community. The story depicts the life of a rich widow, Anne Bezuidenhout, who lives alone on an enormous farm with only her black workers to help her. She has many offers of marriage, all with something to offer her, but she ends up surprising everyone with her choice. However, at the heart of the story we see the persistence of apartheid and conservative values in the ‘new South Africa’.
Perhaps one can see this persistence in the narrative voice of the short story. As a 1st person narrator, he is part of the story, as one of the seven suitors of Anne; “Last and least me, a teacher, divorced by a wife who had found me, my profession and Pampoenfontein too dull for her.” The story is slightly affected by the narrator’s opinions. This is visible in several quotes such as “Most important, she was rich.” and “But a good Black staff was one thing. A woman trying to manage it on her own was quite another.” The last quote is one of several quotes in the short story pointing towards the narrators both racist and slightly patriarchal mind. One could argue that the quote just pities Anne for being alone on the farm, however on page 3 Anne tells the suitors that she is in fact used to hardship. If one reads between the lines, it is clear that she is aware of her situation but is not worried about it at all. The language in the story also has a role in the slightly racist values of the narrator. We see this in the choice of words the author has made when describing, for instance, Anne and Samuel. In the description of Anne, the author uses many positive words to do a detailed image of her, as seen on page 1; “pleasant-faced with wide green eyes and a voice which carried soft currents of her native Galway. She also had a flickering smile
The short story “Dead Man’s Shoes” (1998) by David Evans is an astonishing view into the life of a rural village in South Africa after the fall of apartheid, and of the different attitudes flourishing in the community. The story depicts the life of a rich widow, Anne Bezuidenhout, who lives alone on an enormous farm with only her black workers to help her. She has many offers of marriage, all with something to offer her, but she ends up surprising everyone with her choice. However, at the heart of the story we see the persistence of apartheid and conservative values in the ‘new South Africa’.
Perhaps one can see this persistence in the narrative voice of the short story. As a 1st person narrator, he is part of the story, as one of the seven suitors of Anne; “Last and least me, a teacher, divorced by a wife who had found me, my profession and Pampoenfontein too dull for her.” The story is slightly affected by the narrator’s opinions. This is visible in several quotes such as “Most important, she was rich.” and “But a good Black staff was one thing. A woman trying to manage it on her own was quite another.” The last quote is one of several quotes in the short story pointing towards the narrators both racist and slightly patriarchal mind. One could argue that the quote just pities Anne for being alone on the farm, however on page 3 Anne tells the suitors that she is in fact used to hardship. If one reads between the lines, it is clear that she is aware of her situation but is not worried about it at all. The language in the story also has a role in the slightly racist values of the narrator. We see this in the choice of words the author has made when describing, for instance, Anne and Samuel. In the description of Anne, the author uses many positive words to do a detailed image of her, as seen on page 1; “pleasant-faced with wide green eyes and a voice which carried soft currents of her native Galway. She also had a flickering smile