Symbolism in “Country Lovers”

A Forbidden Love Thebedi and Paulus Jennifer pelter ENG 125 Introduction to Literature t to each oneer Kristina Stutler March 24, 2013 Country Lovers by Nadine Gordimer is a short narrative centered rough the infrastructure of veto love betwixt the two main characters Paulus and Thebedi. They met when they were kids, as Thebedi utilise to work on Paulus generates farm. They used to solicit out and meet at the river bed. aft(prenominal)ward Paulus went off to veterinary school, Thebedi had his baby.When Paulus came back for the summer he heard of her baby be electric discharge skinned and killed it so that no one would ever admit that it was his baby. The storys composing of forbidden love is spikeed by Gordimers use of typeism, imagery, and local anaesthetic change. Symbolism is a key element contributing to the storys motif. one and only(a) symbol that repeats itself in Country Lovers is the prosperous hoop ear-rings that Paulus gives to Thebedi when they were young (as cited in Clugston, 2010). The earrings argon a symbol for their love together. make up subsequently Paulus killed their baby girl, Thebedi still wore them when she accused him of gushing liquid into the babys mouth (as cited in Clugston, 2010). Even in her hysteric situation, she still wore those earring that Paulus gave to her. She wore them again when they went to trial. This leads me to believe that after all was verbalise and done, she still loved Paulus, even though she knew they could neer be together. Another symbol that is relevant to the theme is their baby. Their baby was reinforcement proof that they were in love with each other.After seeing the baby with his own eyes, Paulus seemed to attain panicked anyone who looked at this child would know that it was not Njabulos. Njabulo was Thebedis husband who was the opaque coffee-grounds distort that had always been called black the same tinct of Thebedis face (as cited in Clugston, 2010). They would know t hat the father of this child was a white man. In their culture, it was socially unacceptable to have miscellaneous relationships. Paulus felt he had to get unblock of the baby, and he did. Imagery also contributes to the theme of forbidden love.One day Thebedi and Paulus met at the riverbed. Gordimer noted that the girls that Paulus went to school with would swim in bikinis and they never made him feel want Thebedi did when she came up the bank and sat beside him, the drops of water astragalus off her dark legs the only points of light in the earth-smelling deep shade (as cited in Clugston, 2010). The image of Thebedi, a regular African American girl, making Paulus feel like he had never felt sooner contributes to the theme of forbidden love. Local color is another literary element that strengthens the theme in Country Lovers.Local color is be as unique images, realistic dialogue and true-to-life descriptions to fully portray raft and life in the region where the story will occur (Clugston, 2010, ch 6. 1, para 1). In this story, local color is demonstrated in the first paragraph when Gordimer discusses the relationship amidst the black and white children changes as they scram up. They athletics together up until they go to school but then after that, the white children do not play with them anymore even in the the holidays (as cited in Clugston, 2010). The white children are apparently unmindful(predicate) to how society thinks they should act toward black children.It was not until after they went to school did they learn that they are superior to the black race. It is very serious to use different literary elements to strengthen a story so that the reviewers guardianship can be grasped. It is beneficial to the reader when the author uses elements such as symbolism, imagery, and local color because it allows the reader to put his or herself inside the story and feel the forbidden love that Paulus and Thebedi experienced. References Clugston, R. W. (2010). Journey into Literature. Retrieved from https//content. ashford. edu/books/AUENG125. 10. 2/sections/ch00