Nadine Gordimer's Life In South Africa

937 Words4 Pages
Nadine Gordimer was born on November 20, 1923 in Transvaal, South Africa. She was raised in a small mining town, and from a young age she witnessed the racial discrimination black people faced in her country. These injustices transformed her outlook on life and inspired her to become a writer. Since then, she has gone on to become one of the most famous anti-apartheid writers, giving a voice to black people at a time when they were constantly silenced. Gordimer, as a white woman, speaks about the experiences of black people because she acknowledges the fact that her privilege gives her a voice which the world is interested in hearing. This essay will discuss Nadine Gordimer’s life, and how she constantly worked to make South Africa a safe,…show more content…
The vast black population is regarded as if it was there only to serve whites in industry and at home.” Nadine Gordimer wanted to be part of the group of people that changed how the South African society treated black people. While many of her friends fled the country, she remained, “out of commitment to black liberation and also for the sake of her own creativity and that of black South African writers who were silenced, for whom she had to speak.” [1] In her writings, she presented racism from different perspectives, giving voice to all types of people in her short stories and novels. For example, her short story Amnesty talks about this young black woman whose fiancé is arrested and sent to prison for 9 years due to his involvement in the anti-apartheid movement. Gordimer demonstrates how families can be torn apart just because a group of people are fighting for their rights. In the story, the fiancé misses out on raising his daughter, and the bond between the couple is now ruined forever because he is no longer the same man he used to be. Even though all her work is fiction, it is undeniable that it is all based on fact. By writing these type of stories, she forces people to acknowledge that this is indeed happening: families are ruined, lives are taken away, all because of
Show More
Related

  • Nadine Gordimer's Short Story

    1107 Words  | 5 Pages

    This is a fiction novel written by Nadine Gordimer. This book is about a family who was affected by the system of segregation in Johannesburg, South Africa. Its about a “black” family who lived in the 1970s who got mixed up in politics and an affair within a marriage. The son filled with disappointment witnesses how his family secrets starts changing and tearing them apart. Sonny is a “black” man who loves William Shakespeare. He is a father of two kids, was a school teacher and later

    Read More

  • The Welcome Table Literary Analysis

    1619 Words  | 7 Pages

    Literary Analysis “Country Lovers” and “The Welcome Table” My final paper for this course will be a literary analysis which will analyze the literary techniques that draw out the conflicts presented in two short stories “The Welcome Table” by Alice Walker and “Country Lovers” by Nadine Gordimer (Clugston, 2014). Both of these short stories have a black woman as the main characters that are betrayed by ethnic challenges, discrimination, and segregation because of the color of their skin. The comparison

    Read More

More about Nadine Gordimer's Life In South Africa

Open Document