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“Town and Country Lovers” by Nadine Gordimer

How does Gordimer unify the two narratives into a single story?
Gordimer has unified the two narratives into a single story by revolving around one single major
theme which is interracial love and relationship. In the two narratives, interracial couple’s
relationships and marriage is forbidden by the laws of the land which was during the apartheid
era. This is why Dr. von Leinsdorf and the cashier as well as Thebedi and Paulus are struggling
through similar problems.
In what way are the major conflicts in the two narratives different?
The major conflict in the story in the story is forbidden bi- racial relationships. The setting of the
story revolves around the apartheid period in South Africa where the whites were not allowed to
mingle with the blacks. The conflict differs in the two narratives. In the first narrative Dr. von
Leinsdorf and the cashier were arrested because of having interracial relationship, but it is
surprising that Leinsdorf is not ready to lose the girl and he organize with his attorney to bail the
two out of jail and their charges are dropped as well. On the other hand, Paulus on learning that
Thebedi has a light skin baby girl he is surprised and he advise her to give the child out but later
he decided to kill the baby to be able to hide any evidence of their interracial relationship.

How does the intervention of the legal system serve as the climax in each narrative?
The climax in the two stories arises with the intervention of legal system of the setting of the
narratives. The climax of the first narrative is when the cashier tells people and her mother about
their relationship with Dr. Von Leinsdorf, it is true that they have a relationship because for a
long period of time they have been sexually available for one another. This information prompted
the police to look for the girl in Dr. Von Leinsdorf’s apartment because there was the immorality
act and, a law which did not allow sexual relationships between races.
In the second narrative, the birth of Thebedi’s baby girl is the climax of the story. Even though
she was married to Njabulo, Paulus had information that the baby girl was light skinned and he
thought that he was the father because they had a relationship with Thebedi. Paulus thought that
this would be scandalous because the law did not allow whites and the black people to marry.
This is the point Paulus resolved to kill Thebedi’s daughter through poisoning her.

How does Gordimer make the female protagonist in each narrative more sympathetic than her
lover? How does his career as a geologist characterize von Leinsdorf? How does his schooling
shape Paulus Eysendyck’s character?

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Why does Gordimer set the first narrative in the white man’s urban world and the second part of
the story in the black girl’s rural world? How do the apartment and the river serve as symbolic
settings for lovemaking? How does Gordimer lead her readers to understand the inhumanity of
South Africa’s social and legal system without directly criticizing it?

Why does Gordimer create an objective narrator in these two narratives? In what ways does the
flat objectivity of this point of view add to or detract from the emotional power of the story?

How does Gordimer use both halves of this narrative to criticize the cruelty and folly of
apartheid? How does Gordimer show us that the system is sexist as well as racist? How does
the press report the events represented in the two stories?

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