Donald Woods is a 42-year-old white man of courage; he works as an editor for the Daily Dispatch in East London, South Africa. Due to the fact that he has made it his job to fight the Government's treatment of Blacks via editorials and articles he has put the city on the world map. Donald Woods has an education as a lawyer and through this education he has learned how to look through people's ability to manipulate, and thereby also the Government's race laws.
The author John Briley's description of Donald Woods has the effect that you can decide for yourself whether you like him or not. On the one hand you tend to dislike him because of the fact that he is not against apartheid, but he is however not pleased about it either. Donald Woods just accepts the apartheid because he has grown up with it, still he thinks that Blacks should not be harassed in the way they are. According to Donald Woods, South Africa belongs to South Africans, which means not only Whites or only Blacks, this on the other hand makes you like him. So because of the fact that Donald Woods politically stands in the middle you can say that everybody has got some reason for hating him, and therefore you can say that the author makes you think by placing you in a conflict with your feelings when asked if you like Donald Woods or not.
Woods says that everybody has got human rights that no one should be able to take away, and everybody should therefore be treated equally, ethically and humanly. But still Woods does not look upon the black people as equals, for example should black people not be in the Government or be administering anything of importance. He says that they are not capable of such things. He has got a paternalistic concern when it comes to Blacks, because he wants them to be treated as equals but without any responsibilities when it comes to the country. .
Also the episode with Mamphela on pages 25-27 shows that he cannot think beyond colours.
