A group of black South African political prisoners, called Span One, works on the prison’s farm picking cabbages. Because of their strong sense of group solidarity and lack of guilt over their political crimes, they have grown rebellious and impossible for the white guards to subdue. Consequently, they flout many of the prison’s rules: they eat cabbages, smoke tobacco, talk to each other, and enjoy more considerably more freedom than other prisoners.
Span One’s special status changes when a new guard, or warder, arrives at the prison. Strict and brutal to the point of inhumanity, one of Warder Hannetjie’s first acts is to severely beat a prisoner with glasses for a minor offense. In fact, he punishes the entire work group, and, seeming “to have eyes at the back of his head,” his surveillance and authority destroy Span One’s freedom. They live in fear and suffer under Hannetjie’s harsh treatment until the bespectacled prisoner, Brille, concocts a plan to subdue the guard.
Before Brille puts his plan into action, the story describes his life before prison. He had been a teacher with a large family of 12 unruly children who fought with each other all day long. To escape his domestic turmoil, he became involved in political activism, inspired by its vision of “an ordered beautiful world” as well as the chance to attend conferences away from his tumultuous home. However, after Hannetjie’s savage beating and then witnessing the suffering of his comrades, Brille determines to take a more practical approach in their power struggle with Hannetjie.
Brille puts his plan into action after seeing Hannetjie steal fertilizer to use on his farm. He informs the authorities of Hannetjie’s theft, and the warder is strictly reprimanded. Hannetjie then pleads with Brille and bribes him with tobacco. However, when Brille is seen smoking, he again betrays Hannetjie by telling the authorities that the guard supplied him with the contraband tobacco. Disciplined by his superiors once more, Hannetjie’s “nerve br[eaks] completely” as he crumbles under Brille’s machinations. He promises to do anything if the prisoner will stop informing on him.
However, Brille surprises Hannetjie by not asking for the usual contraband items. Instead, he tells the guard, “It’s not tobacco we want, but you.” Span One needs a “good warder” on their side so that they can endure the long incarceration ahead of them. This proposal prompts Hannetjie and Span One to form a sort of alliance that benefits both sides materially as well as morally. Hannetjie stops mistreating the prisoners, and he brings them food and cigarettes. Span One, for their part, help Hannetjie by stealing supplies for his farm. Hannetjie also seems to become “good” by relinquishing his authority, as seen when he removes his gun and works alongside the prisoners in the cabbage fields. Span One, contrasting with their earlier rebellion, respond “nobly” to their better treatment, becoming known as “the best work span in the camp.”
