Apartheid, Racial Oppression, and Dehumanization
“The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses” is set in a South African prison camp during the era when the system of apartheid was the law of the land in South Africa. Instituted after World War II, apartheid mandated strict classification and separation of the races according to a hierarchy of white, colored (mixed race), and black. This brutal and racist system incited much opposition, and the South African government frequently jailed political protestors. “The Prisoner Who…
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Idealism, Politics, and Resisting Oppression
“The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses” describes what life was like for a group of incarcerated South African political prisoners and narrates their small-scale subversion of the prison system. More specifically, the story describes the political development of a glasses-wearing character named Brille, who transforms from a man who was originally attracted to the clean and attractive theories of anti-apartheid political activism into a man who is an active and practicing member of a…
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The Possibility of Racial Coexistence
The brutal white guard Hannetjie is originally installed by the prison to beat Span One—Brille’s group of political prisoners—into submission. However, after Brille manages to turn the tables on Hannetjie by catching Hannetjie stealing from the prison, he tells Hannetjie that rather than forcing Hannetjie to buy him off with bribes, he instead wants to form an alliance with Hannetjie. The guard agrees, and a transformation occurs to the prisoners and guard…
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