The first was a play, which was set in hell, with characters Dante and Virgil being a main focus. Dante was visiting hell and asking those present questions. The people who were present were a scientist, a business man, and a poor woman, and a rich woman. These characters were the opposite of each other and in my opinion Gordimer used them to show us the problems with the world. The business man against the scientist and the rich woman telling the poor woman she is taking advantage of the system, and doesn't want her tax dollars to pay for her. It was an interesting way to portray what Gordimer feels is wrong with society.
The second reading I got to was written March 29th 1946 and was written while Gordimer was still a student. It is an essay titled, "Why it is not satisfactory to say that the function of language is "to communicate thought"? Gordimer presents the argument that language is used primarily for self-expression. Such as pain, surprise, and protest. She argues that all language always has this one thing in common. This essay received an A.
I only got to read a little bit of the next folder. It contained an manuscript of an unfinished novel. The novel was written prior to 1946, with a man in his 60's as the main character who is a polish man named Sam.
I think because I have three examples that are of very different genres it is hard to say what Gordimer's main themes or topics are. I would guess that much of her literary work has the same kind of "moral" as the play. Which is to discuss the problems within society. However, I have not read any of her later work, and this small sample is all that I have to go on.
I do know that she is a very easy read, and interesting. I am very happy I picked this over contagious disease!
I would be interested to know/read more of the play by Gordimer because it seems like it would have some connection to the work that I read by Ellen Barlee, Friendless and Helpless. She expresses one major problem in England is the attitude that most have toward the poor. The rich, the doctors, and the heads of the church do not see them anything more than their impoverished state nor as respectable members of society. They are left to die on the streets from hunger and disease.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that members of similar classes of people are all in Hell together. Barlee does make a reference to how as we descend in the social scale, our struggle to survive deadens the soul. Therefore, those more fortunate must help the impoverished not only to raise their "temporal prospects," but to also enhance the well-being of their souls. I wonder then, if the poor never achieve their spiritual well-being and if the well-off never attempt to reach out to their fellow humans, then maybe upon closer analysis, the connection could be made that they are all headed for damnation.
AJ, it sounds like you managed to cover a lot in a little bit of time! When you say Gordimer is writing about "problems with society," which ones in particular, and which society? I'm curious to know what kind of cultural influences bear on her work, including the culture she grew up in, the culture she probably thought she was writing to, and then the broader culture that has ended up becoming her audience since then. I wonder how we could find those things out? Something tells me that a study of Ongian audience construction will get us part of the way, but probably not all the way ...
ReplyDelete-Dr. Graban