Fiela’s Child

This passage occurs during a flashback to when Selling and Fiela got married. In particular, this passage describes Petrus, a white neighbor of the Komoeties who employs Selling as a harness-maker and then gives Selling and Fiela money so that they can get married. While many people, including Selling himself, see Petrus’s act as one of generosity, the more pragmatic Fiela sees how Petrus might actually be trying to advance his own interests.

Selling is a good worker for Petrus, and so it’s in Petrus’s interest to keep him around. This passage seems to imply that Petrus helped Selling marry Fiela in order to keep him in town and prevent him from taking another job elsewhere. The fact that Petrus and Selling make harnesses (used to control horses), is fitting, because at the end of the day, while Petrus’s generosity may be partly genuine, he also wants to “steer” Selling’s life like a horse in a harness. Furthermore, Petrus’s seeming generosity has the negative side effect of stirring up a sense of possessiveness in Selling, ultimately leading to Selling killing Kies Laghaan and ending up in prison. This passage provides yet another example of how in the novel, interactions between white and “Coloured” (multiracial) people in South Africa can be fraught even under the best conditions.

After promising to do everything in his power to return Benjamin to Fiela (the government ordered Benjamin to go Knysna to ensure that he would live with a white family) Petrus ultimately returns to Fiela and Selling alone, having failed to convince the magistrate to release Benjamin. The passage illustrates how even a relatively wealthy and influential white man like Petrus doesn’t have the ability to challenge the magistrate. It also reaffirms that Fiela’s skepticism toward Petrus is perhaps more justified than Selling’s admiration for him. The novel leaves it unclear if Petrus truly fought for Benjamin—whether he really did everything in his power to try to challenge the magistrate’s ruling, or whether he simply accepted magistrate’s ruling because his own status as a wealthy white man made him quick to trust the magistrate’s word.

The sugar-cake that Fiela left on the kitchen table is Benjamin’s favorite and recalls the one she made for him many years ago on his birthday. Again, the novel leaves some ambiguity, and it isn’t clear whether Fiela truly expected that Benjamin would return to her—or whether she was just trying to be optimistic while ultimately fearing the worst.

This passage occurs during a flashback to when Selling and Fiela got married. In particular, this passage describes Petrus, a white neighbor of the Komoeties who employs Selling as a harness-maker and then gives Selling and Fiela money so that they can get married. While many people, including Selling himself, see Petrus’s act as one of generosity, the more pragmatic Fiela sees how Petrus might actually be trying to advance his own interests.

Selling is a good worker for Petrus, and so it’s in Petrus’s interest to keep him around. This passage seems to imply that Petrus helped Selling marry Fiela in order to keep him in town and prevent him from taking another job elsewhere. The fact that Petrus and Selling make harnesses (used to control horses), is fitting, because at the end of the day, while Petrus’s generosity may be partly genuine, he also wants to “steer” Selling’s life like a horse in a harness. Furthermore, Petrus’s seeming generosity has the negative side effect of stirring up a sense of possessiveness in Selling, ultimately leading to Selling killing Kies Laghaan and ending up in prison. This passage provides yet another example of how in the novel, interactions between white and “Coloured” (multiracial) people in South Africa can be fraught even under the best conditions.

After promising to do everything in his power to return Benjamin to Fiela (the government ordered Benjamin to go Knysna to ensure that he would live with a white family) Petrus ultimately returns to Fiela and Selling alone, having failed to convince the magistrate to release Benjamin. The passage illustrates how even a relatively wealthy and influential white man like Petrus doesn’t have the ability to challenge the magistrate. It also reaffirms that Fiela’s skepticism toward Petrus is perhaps more justified than Selling’s admiration for him. The novel leaves it unclear if Petrus truly fought for Benjamin—whether he really did everything in his power to try to challenge the magistrate’s ruling, or whether he simply accepted magistrate’s ruling because his own status as a wealthy white man made him quick to trust the magistrate’s word.

The sugar-cake that Fiela left on the kitchen table is Benjamin’s favorite and recalls the one she made for him many years ago on his birthday. Again, the novel leaves some ambiguity, and it isn’t clear whether Fiela truly expected that Benjamin would return to her—or whether she was just trying to be optimistic while ultimately fearing the worst.