The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses

by

Bessie Head

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The work group, or span, to which Brille belongs. Span One is comprised of ten men and is unique in the prison camp for a few reasons. They are all political prisoners grouped together to avoid the possibility of a black guard being converted to their opposition of the apartheid system. Since they have been imprisoned for political reasons and are not societal outcasts, they do not feel guilt for their crimes and “cower” like the other prisoners. This leads Span One to be more assertive than the other work groups. They have a strong sense of group identity and solidarity: “they moved, thought, and acted as one.” Because of their assertiveness and unity, they are not beaten like the inmates in other spans, warders cannot control them, and they are able to steal food and tobacco with ease. They generally enjoy more freedom than the other work groups until Hannetjie’s arrival, but due to Brille’s cunning manipulations, they get their special status back at the end of the story. In their final alliance with Hannetjie, Span One’s defiance transforms into subservience as they become known as “the best work span in the camp.”

Span One Quotes in The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses

The The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses quotes below are all either spoken by Span One or refer to Span One. 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:
Apartheid, Racial Oppression, and Dehumanization Theme Icon
).
The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses Quotes

Scarcely a breath of wind disturbed the stillness of the day, and the long rows of cabbages were bright green in the sunlight. Large white clouds drifted slowly across the deep blue sky. Now and then they obscured the sun and caused a chill on the backs of the prisoners who had to work all day long in the cabbage field.

This trick the clouds were playing with the sun eventually caused one of the prisoners who wore glasses to stop work, straighten up and peer shortsightedly at them. He was a thin little fellow with a hollowed-out chest and comic knobbly knees. He also had a lot of fanciful ideas because he smiled at the clouds.

Related Characters: Brille, Span One
Related Symbols: Glasses
Page Number: 125
Explanation and Analysis:

Up until the arrival of Warder Hannetjie, no warder had dared beat any member of Span One and no warder had lasted more than a week with them. The battle was entirely psychological. Span One was assertive and it was beyond the scope of white warders to handle assertive black men. Thus, Span One had got out of control. They were the best thieves and liars in the camp. They chatted and smoked tobacco. And since they moved, thought and acted as one, they had perfected every technique of group concealment.

Related Characters: Warder Hannetjie, Span One
Page Number: 126
Explanation and Analysis:

“Look ‘ere,” he said, “I don’t take orders from a kaffir. I don’t know what kind of kaffir you tink you are. Why don’t you say Baas. I’m your Baas. Why don’t you say Baas, hey?”

Brille blinked his eyes rapidly but by contrast his voice was strangely calm.

“I’m twenty years older than you,” he said. It was the first thing that came to mind, but the comrades seemed to think it a huge joke. A titter swept up the line. The next thing Warder Hannetjie whipped out a knobkerrie and gave Brille several blows about the head.

Related Characters: Brille (speaker), Warder Hannetjie (speaker), Span One
Page Number: 126-127
Explanation and Analysis:

“Prison is an evil life,” Brille continued, apparently discussing some irrelevant matter. “It makes a man contemplate all kinds of evil deeds.”

He held out his hand and closed it.

“You know, comrades,” he said, “I’ve got Hannetjie. I’ll betray him tomorrow.”

“Forget it, brother. You’ll get shot.”

Brille laughed.

“I won’t,” he said. “That is what I mean about evil. I am a father of children, and I saw today that Hannetjie is just a child and stupidly truthful. I’m going to punish him severely because we need a good warder.”

Related Characters: Brille (speaker), Span One (speaker), Warder Hannetjie
Page Number: 129
Explanation and Analysis:

“It’s not tobacco we want, but you,” he said. “We want you on our side. We want a good warder because without a good warder we won’t be able to manage the long stretch ahead.”

Warder Hannetjie interpreted this request in his own fashion, and his interpretation of what was good and human often left the prisoners of Span One speechless with surprise.

Related Characters: Brille (speaker), Warder Hannetjie, Span One
Page Number: 130
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses PDF

Span One Quotes in The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses

The The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses quotes below are all either spoken by Span One or refer to Span One. 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:
Apartheid, Racial Oppression, and Dehumanization Theme Icon
).
The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses Quotes

Scarcely a breath of wind disturbed the stillness of the day, and the long rows of cabbages were bright green in the sunlight. Large white clouds drifted slowly across the deep blue sky. Now and then they obscured the sun and caused a chill on the backs of the prisoners who had to work all day long in the cabbage field.

This trick the clouds were playing with the sun eventually caused one of the prisoners who wore glasses to stop work, straighten up and peer shortsightedly at them. He was a thin little fellow with a hollowed-out chest and comic knobbly knees. He also had a lot of fanciful ideas because he smiled at the clouds.

Related Characters: Brille, Span One
Related Symbols: Glasses
Page Number: 125
Explanation and Analysis:

Up until the arrival of Warder Hannetjie, no warder had dared beat any member of Span One and no warder had lasted more than a week with them. The battle was entirely psychological. Span One was assertive and it was beyond the scope of white warders to handle assertive black men. Thus, Span One had got out of control. They were the best thieves and liars in the camp. They chatted and smoked tobacco. And since they moved, thought and acted as one, they had perfected every technique of group concealment.

Related Characters: Warder Hannetjie, Span One
Page Number: 126
Explanation and Analysis:

“Look ‘ere,” he said, “I don’t take orders from a kaffir. I don’t know what kind of kaffir you tink you are. Why don’t you say Baas. I’m your Baas. Why don’t you say Baas, hey?”

Brille blinked his eyes rapidly but by contrast his voice was strangely calm.

“I’m twenty years older than you,” he said. It was the first thing that came to mind, but the comrades seemed to think it a huge joke. A titter swept up the line. The next thing Warder Hannetjie whipped out a knobkerrie and gave Brille several blows about the head.

Related Characters: Brille (speaker), Warder Hannetjie (speaker), Span One
Page Number: 126-127
Explanation and Analysis:

“Prison is an evil life,” Brille continued, apparently discussing some irrelevant matter. “It makes a man contemplate all kinds of evil deeds.”

He held out his hand and closed it.

“You know, comrades,” he said, “I’ve got Hannetjie. I’ll betray him tomorrow.”

“Forget it, brother. You’ll get shot.”

Brille laughed.

“I won’t,” he said. “That is what I mean about evil. I am a father of children, and I saw today that Hannetjie is just a child and stupidly truthful. I’m going to punish him severely because we need a good warder.”

Related Characters: Brille (speaker), Span One (speaker), Warder Hannetjie
Page Number: 129
Explanation and Analysis:

“It’s not tobacco we want, but you,” he said. “We want you on our side. We want a good warder because without a good warder we won’t be able to manage the long stretch ahead.”

Warder Hannetjie interpreted this request in his own fashion, and his interpretation of what was good and human often left the prisoners of Span One speechless with surprise.

Related Characters: Brille (speaker), Warder Hannetjie, Span One
Page Number: 130
Explanation and Analysis: