Comparative

Analysis
P R E S E N T A T I O N
Nadine Gordimer’s
Country Lover’s
Short stories Was established in year
1975 and it is a story of
forbidden love between a
black woman
Once Upon a Time
was published in 1989 it is an
analysis of which reveals that the
writer Nadine Gordimer makes a
summary of themes of fear,
insecurity, death, racism, and
becoming a self-prisoner to avoid
intruders.
 Table of Contents

Background of the Literature Biography of the Author Objective of the Analysis

Elements of the Story

 Characters
Point of View
 Settings
Moral of the story
 Themes
Analysis
Literary Devices/Figures of Spe
 Plot
ech
BACKGROUND
of the
LITERATURE
 “Country Lovers”
Country Lovers (1975) is a story of forbidden love between
Thebedi, a black woman, and Paulus, the son of her white
. masters. It was the story of a love that began as a harmless

flirtation and blossomed into adulthood until the harmless

flirtation turned into sexual curiosity. Without his knowledge,
Thebedi became pregnant with his child. When he returned
home after leaving for college, he discovered that Thebedi was
already married to Njabulo. Njabulo accepted the child as his
own, but when he discovered the child, Paulus overcame his fear
and took matters into his own hands. The child died
 “Once Upon A
Time”
“Once Upon A Time" was published in 1989
and is set in South Africa; an examination of
the novel reveals that the author, Nadine
Gordimer, summarizes themes of fear,
insecurity, death, racism, and becoming a
self-prisoner to avoid intruders. This single
short story already contains three stories. The
writer/narrator informs the readers. The
second is a bedtime story that she tells to
herself. The third is told to the boy by his
mother during his bedtime story. All three
stories, however, have common themes.
 Nadine Gordimer (20 November 1923 – 13 July
Biography of the 2014) is a distinguished novelist and short-story
writer. About Selected Stories, drawn from her
Author earlier volumes of stories, a reviewer said that the
stories “are marked by the courage of moral
vision and the beauty of artistic complexity.
Gordimer examines, with passionate precision,
the intricacies both of individual lives and of the
wide-ranging political and historical forces that
contain them

What makes Nadine Gordimer such a valuable

and increasingly valued novelist and short-story
writer is her ability to meet the demands of her
political conscience without becoming a
propagandist and the challenges of her literary
commitment without becoming a disengaged
esthete.” Over the course of her career, three of
her books were banned in South Africa.
 Country Lover’s

Gordimer writes a short story in form of a narrative giving

Objective of the it ironical title “Country lovers”. Gordimer has organized
the story in form of well-structured paragraphs accurately
Analysis punctuated. Furthermore, each paragraph highlights a
different idea. The Country Lovers” is formal, using
This study is for analyzing the short story written by standard grammatical structures and complex
vocabulary. The choice of words helps create an
Nadine Gordimer, titled “Country Lovers” and “Once atmosphere typical for South-African rural environments.
Upon a Time”. Nadine Gordimer experiments heavily The author uses symbolism to portray the love, the two
shared and yet creates the conflict of the racial divisions
with point of view, narrative perspective, unexplained
between the two characters and it inserts plenty of words
incidents, switches between internal monologue and associated with the South-African landscape. The
third person narrative (rather like Virginia Woolf) and a narrative also mentions terms which are meant to
symbolize segregation and class differences, like
heavy use of 'as if' prose where narrator-author “missus and baasie”. These words show how black
boundaries become very blurred. people were supposed to address their white employers
during apartheid.
Once upon a time
The language Nadine Gordimer uses in
her story is reminiscent of children’s
stories and fairy tales. First of all, the
title, “Once Upon A Time,” is the
epitome of a fairy tale; it is the most
familiar opening line. The language she
uses is simplistic, the story is full of
simple vocabulary, and has very simple
sentence structure. The author also
makes use of repetition. The phrases,
“take heed,” “YOU HAVE BEEN
WARNED,” and “living happily ever
after” are repeated several times
throughout the story. This simplistic
language is often seen in fairy tales
because it makes them easy to
understand. She uses this simple
language to create a fairy tale to
explain the horrors of apartheid.
Elements of
the Story

I. Characters

The main characters in “Country Lovers” by

Nadine Gordimer are Paulus Eysendyck, a
white boy, and Thebedi, a black girl. The
narrative follows their relationship from “Once upon a time” had three main characters: The husband is an imperialist and
childhood to young adulthood, focusing on racist man. He believes in the supremacy of his own race and feels superior to
the conflict that emerges between them and others and to such a degree as to rule them all. The son, the only boy is another
on its consequences. The Antagonist in their character who is actually a tragic characters becoming a victim to the measures
story is the Racist world or system they
taken by his father. He is the much and the most beloved of his parents. The wife
belonged. Njabulo a young man who has had
is not a very important character as she doesn’t play a great role either in the
feelings for Thebedi for years. He asks
Thebedi's father for her hand in marriage, tragedy of the boy or the life of the husband. However she loves her son as any
and the two are married. would.
Settings:
“Country Lovers” by Nadine
Gordimer takes place in a rural
landscape set somewhere in
South Africa, during apartheid.
The events take place over
several years, starting with
Thebedi and Paulus' childhood,
and ending with one year after
Thebedi's baby dies. The rural
aspect is highlighted by the
title, so the readers know
immediately the story will take
place in the countryside.
“Once Upon a Time” by Nadine Gordimer is not
explicitly specified, which at first glance seems
like a typical fairy-tale feature. However, several
hints indicate that the events take place somewhere
in South Africa, during the time when the
apartheid system was in place. Apartheid was a
political system of racial discrimination, which
was in place from 1948 until the 1990s. The
physical setting of the outer story is the writer’s
house. At nighttime, the writer is startled by
strange noises she hears in the house. The writer
reveals that her suspicions that a perpetrator has
entered the house were invalid, as the noises were
caused by a mining site over which the house is
built. Symbolically, the writer’s house might
represent the separation between black and white
South Africans. While black people historically
worked in mines, the writer – a white woman –
Theme
“Country Lovers” is a story that deals with the theme of
inter racial love or the forbidden love, racial
biasedness, female exploitation "Country Lovers"
represents life in South Africa to show the situation for
black people at the time and how they were oppressed.
“Once Upon a Time" is the danger of overreacting to
fear. In the story, the protagonist tells herself a bedtime
story in which a family goes all out trying to make their
home safe -- including putting up a deadly razor wire
fence.
Rising Action:
Country Lovers- The Sexual affairs of Thebedi and Paulus begin a
romantic relationship, that lead them into sexual activities which for
obvious reasons they kept private. But soon Paulus left Thebedi and
Njabulo came at the scene asking the father of Thebedi her hands for their
wedding after that Thebedi realized that she was pregnant.
Once upon a time-due to the violence happening in the neighbourhood,
the family put up security fence and alarm system. Upon the
recommendation of a witch lady not to trust anyone, they build a high
fence. The mother read the boy a fairy tale story.
Plot
Exposition :
Country Lovers- The farm children play together when
they are small; but once the white children go away to
school they soon don't play together any more, even in the
holidays The beginning of the story also introduces the
main characters – Paulus and Thebedi. Furthermore, it is
hinted that their relationship does not end, as most
relationships between white and black children .
Once Upon a time- A rich family with their son live in
suburb area. They love the son very much. Their life
seemed perfect with their own swimming pool and
trustworthy
Climax: housemaid.
Country Lovers- When Paulus comes back upon hearing that his
girlfriend was married and had a baby he payed a visit to Thebedi.
When Paulus sees the baby he is shocked to see the light brown skin
and hazel eyes of the chilld he was not sure at first but soon he realized
that it was his son.
Once Upon a time-The next day the boy pretended to be a prince who
braves the terrible thicket of thorns. He dragged the ladder to the wall
and he got stuck with a razor-teeth barb wire.
Falling Action:
Country Lovers- Paulus visit Thebedi again and Thebedi
finds her son dead. Njabulo buries the child but the
neighbors spread a rumor about how the baby looked
“almost white” even though Thebedi and Njabulo are both
black. the police dig the baby up to investigate. They find
that the child died from unnatural causes and Thebedi lies
saying she saw Paulus poison her baby. There is a trial and
later Thebedi says she saw no such thing. Without enough
evidence to convict Paulus he is free to go and Thebedi has
another child with Njabulo.
Once upon a time- The undoubted, trustworthy housemaid
and gardener save the boy from further harm.
Point of view
“Country Lovers” is told by a third-person
narrator, who follows the main characters over
the years. The narrator is confined to the
perspectives of Paulus and Thebedi, following
them in turns.
“Once Upon a Time” at the beginning of the
story, the point of view is first-person narration.
When Gordimer introduces the bedtime story
Resolution:
Country Lovers- The end of the story is interesting as Gordimer appears
to be exploring the theme of shame. Paulus’ father feels ashamed over
his son’s actions and can only hope that he is still accepted (by whites)
in the district again. This may be important as it shows the reader that
Paulus’ father has no real concern for his son because he has a black
mother. If anything he is more concerned with what people will think of
him than the loss of his son.
Once upon a time- The injured boy is carried is carried into
the house by the man, the wife, the trusted housemaid and
the weeping gardener.
Moral of the story
"Country Lovers" shows that children of blacks and those of the
whites could play together until they started school. White children
received better educations, while black children were slighted. The
story reveals the toll that took on blacks for their entire lives.
“Once upon a time” taught me that the real solution to solve a
problem is to face it and to be empathetic towards those who do not
have the same benefits as you, also human fear normally stands in
the way of human happiness that's why, it is always important to
face an issue instead of running away from it. If the family decided
to open their home to the unemployed, they could have made a
difference. However, they sheltered themselves, too scared of what is
outside to be involved.

Literary
Devices/Figure of
speech
Methaphor:
“Country Lovers” Gordimer uses
metaphors to express black color as
ugly thus, not beautiful to look at or
admire. For instance, she describes
Njabulo skin as “matt, opaque coffee-
grounds. According to the author,
although the black skin is unique,
people tend to despite the victim.
“Once Upon a Time” the author, Nadine
Gordimer, uses metaphor to explicate
the terror of extinction in humans and
communicate to the audience that death
is inevitable.
Simile
“Country Lovers” in her short story, Gordimer embraces similes especially when comparing the social
lives of the blacks and the whites. Gordimer highlights the aspect of racism Through discussing the
adventures and social attributes of the characters Gordimer writes a short story in form of a narrative
giving it ironical title country lovers. Gordimer has organized the story in form of well-structured
paragraphs accurately punctuated. Furthermore, each paragraph highlights a different idea. For instance,
the first paragraph gives the picture of the environment or the setting of the story as a farm, which
harbors two races blacks and whites.
“Once upon a time” As Gordimer, the first narrator, lies in bed listening to the strange noises in her house,
she thinks about how vulnerable she is: her “windowpanes are thin as rime, could shatter like a
wineglass.” In this simile, she takes something that is supposed to be a protective barrier and reveals just
how flimsy it actually is. If a windowpane can shatter like the most delicate of glasses, then she is not at
all safe within her home
Graph logical Deviation in this two short stories i only use is the capitalization if it's
a name of a person, and after the end of the sentence or period. I also use
punctuation marks like full stop or period, comma, colon, apostrophe, and quotation
marks. I use them when i have to put a correct grammar or to emphasize something.
The period, i use it if my sentence is already done, The comma is my indicator if it
was a separate words, phrases, or ideas in order to prevent misreading the write
intended meaning, also comma represent a pause when a sentence is spoken
aloud. The Colon was to give emphasis or clarify composition titles in my
comparative analysis. While, the apostrophe even though it's not clearly a
punctuation mark because it was more part lf a word to indicate possessive case,
contractions, or omitted letters. I used the apostrophe to shorten a word and to
indicate a possessive case, and lastly, the quotation marks i used this one when it
comes to emphasizing a title or to show its exact words.
Analysis
“Country Lovers” by Nadine Gordimer. the short story is the second part of a two-part literary piece
called “Town and Country Lovers”. We choose the “Country Lovers” because it teaches us that love
shouldn’t matter with its skin color. This story gives/teaches us the importance of fighting the
Discrimination. “Country Lovers” was a story that represents life in South Africa. it shows the
situation and how the black people aren’t treated right like the white people, it shows how our world
was so unfair.

“Once Upon A Time” begins telling two stories that at first do not seem to have any relationship.
The first is about herself, and the second is about an imaginary family. We choose this story
because of their theme of greed and unfounded fear. In both stories she tells of the imagination and
handed-down beliefs literally making people become prisoners of fear and keeping them from
examining their preconceived ideas about apartheid. In Gordimer’s personal story, she is a victim of
a fear that “neither threatened nor spared”, a fear than can be universally understood and felt by
everyone. The object of her fear. however, is misplaced. The real threat is not the outsider who
might come into her house but the house itself, with its faulty foundation weakened by an earlier
mining for gold. Gordimer satirizes her own unwillingness to deal with the foundation of her fears
by calming herself with imagining a fairy tale, in which the fear is also misplaced. It teaches us that
we should face ours fears so we can overcome it.