Selling Komoetie is the husband of Fiela and the biological father of her children. Selling used to be a strong and relatively wealthy “Coloured” (multiracial) man. Many young women in his community wanted to marry him, but he was always most interested in Fiela. He admired the white man Petrus, who in turn helped Selling get started in his new married life with Fiela. But after a dispute over a sheep leads Selling to kill Kies Laghaan, Selling ends up in prison, narrowly avoiding execution but getting a life sentence. Selling spends many years doing back-breaking forced labor, possibly only surviving due to the food that Fiela risks her own welfare to bring him. Eventually, with some help from Petrus, Selling manages to obtain a pardon, but he is never the same and remains sickly for the remainder of the book.
Selling Quotes in Fiela’s Child
The Fiela’s Child quotes below are all either spoken by Selling or refer to Selling. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 6
Quotes
‘You’re making a mistake, Fiela, wait another week or two.’
‘No. I’ve kept them apart long enough, I had them out at pasture for weeks, I’ve put paraffin into their ears so that there wouldn’t be a single tick to worry them, I’ve let Kicker starve—I’m not waiting any longer.’
Chapter 10
Quotes
‘I’m going to Knysna,’ she announced.
Related Characters:
Fiela (speaker), Benjamin, Selling, The Magistrate
Related Symbols:
Ostriches
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 11
Quotes
Petrus drove the wedding-cart himself and gave them five pounds as a start. It was a lot of money. But on the other hand, Petrus had been afraid that he would lose Selling for Selling had hear from a man by the name of Barrington near the Knysna River who was looking for a good harness-maker.
Related Characters:
Petrus, Selling, Fiela, Kies Laghaan
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 17
Quotes
In fact Petrus did not come riding up the Kloof until late on Thursday. Alone. A sugar-cake was waiting on the kitchen table.
Related Characters:
Petrus, Fiela, Selling, Benjamin, The Magistrate
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 21
Quotes
She had to give up Benjamin to the forest people, Dawid to the grave. There was little difference in the bitterness within her. The question she put to God was the same: Why, God, why?
Related Characters:
Fiela, Benjamin, Dawid, Selling, The Magistrate
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Fiela’s Child LitChart as a printable PDF.
Selling Character Timeline in Fiela’s Child
The timeline below shows where the character Selling appears in Fiela’s Child. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3
...sees some bad omens but only recognizes them as bad in hindsight. With her husband, Selling Komoetie, she watches her children, including Benjamin, as they herd an ostrich back home with...
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...read and write, and Fiela says she can. She begins giving the census-takers information for Selling and then for herself, including approximately when they were born and when they got married...
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Chapter 4
Time passes. By April, Fiela begins to feel better when the census-takers don’t come back. Selling tries to reassure her the men are gone for good. The family names their new...
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...begins to worry about how The ostrich Kicker doesn’t seem interested in mating with Pollie. Selling tells her to just be patient—it might take as long as a year. Fiela is...
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Chapter 6
Selling enters the kitchen, and when he hears that Fiela wants to put Kicker and Pollie...
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...She instructs him to address the magistrate politely, not tell lies and not mention that Selling has been in jail before. She says he might need to show the magistrate how...
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Chapter 10
...Benjamin’s trial is going. She feels that her hand-lamb child is about to be slaughtered. Selling comes by to let Fiela know that the ostriches have been living together peacefully so...
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...and Sunday passes too. On Monday, Fiela begins making plans to go to Knysna herself. Selling isn’t strong enough to come along, so he promises to take care of things at...
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Chapter 11
...Knysna. Still, she prefers walking to waiting around for news of Benjamin. Before Fiela left, Selling warned her not to get angry at the magistrate, since this might just cause him...
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...to many years ago, when Fiela is still young, people begin to talk about how Selling, the richest “Coloured” man in town, seems to have chosen Fiela over all the other...
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One Christmas Eve, Selling helps lock up Petrus’s property while he and his family are away. But a sheep...
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On Christmas morning, two constables come to the property. They allege that last night Selling stabbed Kies Laghaan when he caught Kies skinning his lamb and claiming it was one...
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Petrus returns and hears about Selling’s murder charge. He uses his influence to get Selling’s hanging reduced to a life sentence....
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...knows of a hidden route, an old elephant track, that might take her to where Selling is working. She needs to breastfeed Emma, so she brings Emma on the trip. She...
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Fiela climbs up a gorge to try to be closer to Selling, fearing Emma will wake up and attract a guard’s attention with noise. She makes her...
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A week later, Fiela finally manages to make contact with Selling. She smuggles him food this way for four years. At one point during those years,...
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With the completion of the road that Selling’s gang is working on, Petrus comes to Fiela and promises her that he’ll go check...
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Chapter 13
...worrying about where Benjamin went and what will happen if the magistrate finds out about Selling.
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Chapter 15
...has been back in Wolwekraal for two days, and she’s full of sadness for everyone. Selling worries that Benjamin will die in the Forest because he isn’t used to it, but...
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Petrus asks Fiela if anything’s wrong with her family—he thinks Selling looks unhealthy. Fiela doesn’t want to tell Petrus or anyone else in Kloof about Benjamin,...
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...The next day, Petrus comes by and asks her again, this time in front of Selling, if anything is wrong with her family. Fiela tries to hide it again, but Petrus...
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...go talk to the magistrate. This idea seems to temporarily bring some life back to Selling. Fiela doesn’t admire Petrus quite as much as Selling, but she nevertheless feels hopeful for...
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Chapter 27
Fiela tries to get Selling to walk, since his doctors have recommended regular exercise. Selling hasn’t wanted to do much...
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As Fiela helps Selling walk, Selling asks about a man he sees in the distance. All of a sudden,...
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...return spreads in the Kloof, Petrus and many others come by to visit. Fiela tells Selling that Benjamin has left the Forest for good, but Selling warns that there’s still a...
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...Benjamin builds a real boat from wood. Fiela is worried about him using it, but Selling encourages him, giving him rowing tips based on Selling’s own experience when he was a...
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...doesn’t know about his feelings for her. Fiela realizes this must be the sadness that Selling recognized in Benjamin earlier. Although a part of Fiela wants to tell Benjamin to forget...
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Chapter 30
...much for him. She leaves out, however, that Tollie is now in jail. Fiela lets Selling add to the letter, and he dictates almost a full page, much of it about...
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