She scolds the ostrich for essentially sitting around all day and not doing what is expected of it, to produce eggs. This again symbolizes Fiela's situation because in chapter 10 Fiela is simply waiting, hoping for Benjamin to come back from the Magistrates office; in essence she is angry at herself because she feels powerless in trying to rescue Benjamin. Moreover, in chapter 15 the ostrich directly reflects the emotions that Fiela is going through. "That night Fiela had a good night's sleep for the first since they had come to fetch Benjamin. At dawn, something woke her. It was the deep roar of a male ostrich getting ready to take his mate. It was kicker. " It is important to realize that when Fiela is optimistic, the ostriches are happy as well. This brings about the idea of omens and premonitions through the use of animal imagery. .
Fiela is a very spiritual person and she firmly believes in omens. Matthee utilizes this through the use of animal imagery. In chapter 3, Fiela says "It did not occur to her that it was Satan's own tidings; she took it as being as summer and snake-time. " Fiela kills a snake which comes close to her home. The snake that was killed was a puff adder, the snake responsible for the most deaths in Africa. The fact that this snake was used, apart from it being geographically correct, foreshadows the danger Fiela finds herself in when the 2 census men come. Withal, "On top of that, the hawk came and caught the most beautiful chicken of the whole brood. " This is a significant foreshadowing of Benjamin being taken away from her. Benjamin, just like the most beautiful chicken, is something of great value to Fiela. This happens to her, except the eagle is replaced by the white census men. In other words, Matthee makes use of African imagery in order to foreshadow events to come. But, the imagery also develops the geographical setting. The puff adder is smashed on the head several times by Fiela.
