Woodstock immediately comes to mind; Jackie Robinson as the first African American Major League Baseball player for the Brooklyn Dodgers; Gandhi. All throughout history, there have been times in which a moment or event nearly summed up a generation: what happened during that time period, what the people were experiencing, the emotional state of a country, the impact of a single person all merely examples of stories that helped share a larger one. More often than not, an explanation is not even necessary. Nadine Gordimer may not be a household name here in the United States, but in South Africa her story, The Moment Before the Gun Went Off captured the heart of the country in a way that no other story during the time period could, a snapshot not only containing the picture of what was happening, but the feeling in the air, the thoughts on everyones minds, and what everyone knew was eventually coming. With such a large impact on so many people, the following essay will only be able to begin to touch on her work as a whole, but will include literary information on the author as a whole, an in depth look at The Moment Before the Gun Went Off, the theme behind it, and the literary methods used in it. .
Nadine Gordimer, born November 20th, 1923, lived a long, influential life as a citizen of Johannesburg, South Africa. Originally born just outside of Johannesburg, Nadine began to gain a political identity at a young age as the daughter of two Jewish immigrant parents, who spent much of their own young adult lives under repression in Russia. Her mother would go on to have the greatest impact on young Nadine, opening a day care for black boys and girls, helping her to see from an early age the separate standards for blacks in South Africa. After being home schooled through most of her younger years, Nadine began publishing stories at fifteen, and continued writing until the time of her death in July of 2014.
Spoken in the perspective and observations of the protagonist, "Amnesty," written by Nadine Gordimer, shows the crippling effects of a city movement upon the relationship of a poor couple. ... At the beginning of the narrative, Nadine Gordimer introduces the narrator in a state of excitement for the return of her husband. ...
Not Happily Ever After, After All In "Once Upon A Time,"" Nadine Gordimer creates a reverse fairy tale in order to represent her views of apartheid South Africa. ... The language Nadine Gordimer uses in her story is reminiscent of children's stories and fairy tales. ... Nadine Gordimer realizes that this is not the case and that the apartheid will not turn out happily ever after for anyone . ... In conclusion, Nadine Gordimer did an excellent job of using fairy tale elements to create her own fairy tale. ... This reverse fairy tale is representative of Nadine Gordimer's view of ...
Happily Ever After Written in caustic response to an annoying academic, Nadine Gordimer supplies penetrating social commentary on South African apartheid in her short story, "Once Upon a Time." ... Gordimer is insinuating that the circumstances under which these mines and people were exploited are collapsing and the system requires new foundations. ... Gordimer contemptuously implies in this instance that the "police and soldiers and tear-gas and guns to keep them away- (26) simply are not enough protection. ... Gordimer uses the boy as a...
Social and Racial Boundaries Between "Lovers" The social and racial boundaries in South Africa are clearly portrayed in Nadine Gordimer's short story "Town and Country Lovers". ... Gordimer illustrates the differenced between the two lovers and how their society reacts to them. ... Gordimer describes him as being a "geologist absorbed in his work" (1854). ...
Gordimer shows the reader that sometimes people we are so afraid of something that they put up barriers that hinder them from living instead of helping. It is first evident that all these precautions may be more trouble than they are worth when the new alarm they installed goes off, however there was not a burglar but instead the family cat.Not only did the family's alarms continuously go off but so did all the other homes in the neighborhood with pets.This is shown when Gordimer points out, " the alarm was often answered- seemed - by other burglar alarms, in other houses, . " (Gordime...
Burger's Identity Living in a world of conflict and betrayal, people search to measure themselves against the accomplishments of those before them. Rosa Burger in Burger's Daughter by Nadine Gordimer has always seen herself as an extension of her father Lionel's life and politics. Rosa grows u...
Ellen's grandmother becomes ill and passes, and Ellen is sent to live with her aunt, Nadine, and her cousin, Dora. Nadine and Dora look down on Ellen for being cheap. Ellen sees Nadine and Dora as being false and pompous, as they have nothing more than she. ... Nadine and Dora later aggravate Ellen, and when she retaliates, she is kicked out of the home. ... Nadine and Dora, on the other hand, show no love for Ellen, and aggravate and laugh at her shortcomings. ...
The scene then switches back to her mother's funeral with Ellen's Aunt Nadine and cousin Dora. ... Ellen then goes back to when she moved in with her Aunt Nadine after her grandmother died. ... For Christmas Ellen decided to paint her Aunt Nadine and Dora a picture of some cats. ...
This family, made up of a wife, husband, and young son, lived with their "absolutely trustworthy" maid and "itinerant" gardener, whom the reader assumes are both black (Gordimer, 82). ... She was addressed in the story as the "wise old witch" which, whenever read, would temporarily displace the sense of "fairy-tale flow" in the story (Gordimer, 82). ... "Under cover of the electronic harpies" discourse intruders sawed the iron bars and broke into homes and sometimes paused audaciously to drink the whisky in the cabinets or patio bars" (Gordimer, 83). ... And how incredibly poignant that p...
