Country Lovers

The story “Country Lovers” by Nadine Gordimer is a forbidden love story between a white man and a black woman that takes place in South Africa during apartheid. At that time, interracial relationships were taboo and not accepted in society. There were certain roles that whites and blacks had to maintain and there were consequences for stepping out of those roles.

The theme of the story “Country Lovers” is love that is tainted by power and oppression. This story demonstrates two people of different ethnicities who love one another; however, it is during that time their different cultures would oppose interracial couples. The story also shows how one person feels powerless and inferior compared to someone who they feel is powerful and superior. The feeling of inferiority will cause one to not speak for themselves or stand for what is right. The feeling of superiority will cause one to do whatever they want to do without any consequences or repercussions.

“Country Lovers” is written in a third person objective point of view. The third person point of view is “when the speaker is not a participant in the story” (Clugston, 2010, p.104). This story is objective because the narrator is detached from the characters and their actions. The narrator is simply stating what happened in this story and not including her own interpretation or feelings. The setting, the place and time that the action occurred, is in South Africa on a farm. In the time period that the story was written, the black laborers were submissive to the white farm owners. Paulus Eysendyck, a white man, and Thebedi, a black woman, are the center of the story. The farm is owned by the Eysendyck family and workers of the farm are black in which some are family members of Thebedi. The children of the white and black family often play together but as they grow older they separate and assume their positions in society. The white children will pursue a higher education and become successful in life while the black children will maintain employment on the farm throughout their lives. This is an environment where blacks will not obtain the power as whites as they tend feel submissive and powerless.

The local color of the story is obvious. The mannerisms of the workers are polite and respectful to the farm owners due to the workers ways of thinking. With the feeling of powerlessness and inferiority, the workers would address the farm owners as “missus and baasie little master” (Clugston, 2010, p. 64) or they would greet