Otjikoto Lake Analysis

After the horror of the drowning that happened at the Otjikoto Lake, Painter decided to remain in the base camp. He does not apply for any further leave owed to him. His work shifts are based on a twelve hour work-shift and then a twenty-four hour recovery period. It works out that he labours through the night and then has a day and a night off. The cycle of shifts changing daily, Painter would then have a night and a day off and labour through the day. This arrangement suited him well. On the days that he had off, he spent his time trying to court Maria, major Theron’s daughter, make art, or listen to music by the pool.
Painter’s room is close to the pool so he is able to layout an extension cord and connect it to a tape recorder or ‘gecko-blaster’,
‘Drawing is like swimming. You just need to break that blank surface and then you are in.’ He points to the water. Prof places the sketchbook back on the table and then comes over to the pool. He sits at the head of the steps and looks at his fragmented reflection in the rippling water. His reflection is all broken up due to the waves Painter made by walking around in the shallow end while imploring him to come into the pool. Painter understands how Prof related to his drawing as he used passage to emphasise the shimmering midday hot blinding sunlight. The rippling water is doing the same thing to Prof’s reflection. Maybe, that is why Prof is scared of the water; he feels that the water will fragment or dissolve him. ‘Put your feet into the water!’ Painter says and swims up to the steps and climbs confidently up them, then sits next to Prof with his feet in the water as a point of demonstration that the water is a friendly place. Unexpectedly, Prof slides his thin white feet and bony purplish ankles into the tepid crystal clear water. He has just surpassed his first big obstacle, breaking the surface of the water and making his first
They walk the shallow end over-and-over to Painter’s undying frustration. Prof explores the circumference of the pool by holding on to the raw stone slab pool edge, like a leech to a blood sausage. Painter persuades him, not without a significant struggle, to go into a horizontal position in the water. This is a conditional agreement Painter has with Prof. Painter that balances Prof in the water supporting him by placing both his arms under his stomach. After a time Painter discovers that if he bends his arms slightly he can support Prof’s slight figure at an adjacent angle to his body and in a position that Prof has the illusionary experience of safety and of actually swimming. For days Painter leads Prof to believe that he is swimming on his own. This helps to build Prof’s confidence. In actual fact, Painter’s intervention with Prof’s dead weight is the only thing keeping Prof afloat as he is clueless about