The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses

by

Bessie Head

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Themes and Colors
Apartheid, Racial Oppression, and Dehumanization Theme Icon
Idealism, Politics, and Resisting Oppression Theme Icon
The Possibility of Racial Coexistence Theme Icon
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Idealism, Politics, and Resisting Oppression Theme Icon

“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 resistance group, and who realizes how to use and wield political power to achieve tangible results.

Brille is initially attracted to political activism because it offered a kind of beautiful, idealistic escape. Political activism offered Brille an escape from the “chaos and mismanagement” of his home life. In his political work, “there were conferences to attend, all very far away from home.” For Brille, the world of political activism represented “an ordered beautiful world with just a few basic slogans to learn along with the rights of mankind.” By contrast with his violent and disorderly home, his experience of politics involved structure, certainty, simplicity, and an idealist, theoretical pursuit of the “rights of mankind.” However, after Brille is imprisoned, he comes face-to-face with real-world, high-stakes power struggles between prisoners and warders, and he realizes that he is “only learning right now what it means to be a politician.” He gains self-awareness of the escapist nature of his former political work, thinking to himself, “All this while I’ve been running away from Martha and the kids.” This self-awareness leads him to take more direct and concrete action, to become an integral member of his group of political prisoners, called Span One.

In contrast with his previous escapist, theoretical activism, in prison Brille becomes integrated into a group of 10 political prisoners who comprise Span One. This group is politically aware, defiant, unified, and focused on subversion of the prison system that will yield tangible benefits. Unlike the other prisoners, members of Span One do not accept the guilt attributed to them by the state: “As political prisoners they were unlike the other prisoners in the sense that they felt no guilt nor were they outcasts of society.” Their lack of guilt leads them to be “assertive” and “beyond the scope of white warders to handle.” Span One’s resistance to authority is particularly effective because they are unified. The story narrates that “they moved, thought and acted as one,” an idea that their very name reinforces. The group identity and solidarity of the Span is reinforced by their always being described as a group, with Brille the only member given unique characterization. For example, when Brille apologizes for his defiance of Hannetjie which leads to punishment of the entire Span, they reply as a group: “Never mind, brother […] What happens to one of us, happens to all.” By functioning as a seamless group, Span One is able to fight back against their oppression in ways that individual prisoners cannot. Members of the Span engage in surreptitious defiance of prison rules and the guards who enforce them. The story plainly states, “They were the best thieves and liars in the camp […] they had perfected every technique of group concealment.” They beat their tobacco smoke into the ground; whisper conversations downwind so as not to be heard, and pretend to plant cabbages that they then dig up and eat.

But it is after the especially brutal warder Hannetjie is brought in to beat and punish Span One into submission that Brille’s full evolution into a true politician occurs. In figuring out how to handle Hannetjie, Brille reverses the power dynamic between Span One and Hannetjie by breaking away from his earlier theoretical, abstract, and purely moral view of politics, and instead engages in techniques of realpolitik: politics based on situational and practical factors rather than moral and ideological principles. After Brille witnesses Hannetjie stealing five bags of fertilizer, he realizes that he now has leverage over the brutal warden and engineers a series of actions designed to gain power over the guard: he first accepts a bribe of tobacco in exchange for not informing on Hannetjie to the prison authorities, and then breaks this promise and informs on him anyway. Brille justifies reneging on the deal with Hannetjie with reference to consequentialist ethics, where an action is judged right or wrong based on the outcome it will produce. Brille tells his fellow inmates, “I’m going to punish him severely because we need a good warder.” Betraying Hannetjie, while morally wrong in the abstract, is justifiable to Brille because it will benefit all of Span One. Later, when Brille is seen by another guard smoking one of the cigarettes that Hannetjie gave him, Brille again betrays Hannetjie by revealing that he is the source of the cigarettes. After Hannetjie is harshly punished by the prison chief, Hannetjie’s “nerve broke completely” and the guard gives up, telling Brille that: “I can give you anything you want.” But at this point Brille makes another brilliant political move: he informs Hannetjie that he no longer wants bribes of tobacco, but an alliance with him. Hannetjie agrees to this alliance, which ends up being mutually beneficial. Hannetjie not only ceases his beatings and cruelty, he also actually helps Span One work in the fields and brings them eggs from his farm. And Span One helps Hannetjie by stealing fertilizer for him, that he can then use on his farm. Over time, Span One becomes recognized as the prison’s “best work span.”

“The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses” story shows how resistance to oppression can grow from theoretical principles like the ones Brille absorbed before prison, but also how such principles alone are not enough. Ultimately, the story suggests that what is required is both a motivated and unified group of resistors working together, but also a practical-minded politics that is willing to use opportunities to create good outcomes (and overlook certain possibly immoral actions), while also searching for mutually beneficial solutions to problems. And yet, it’s also important to recognize that Brille and Span One’s victory in the story is only partial. The prison still exists, they are still its inmates, and the other prisoners’ lives are unaltered. Moreover, Brille’s victory over Hannetjie ironically reinforces the prison system. Once it is in partnership with Hannetjie, Span One transforms from “out of control” into being the prison’s “best work span.” Thus, there is an implication that Brille’s realpolitik strategy, while effective, is at the end of the day also insufficient, as short-sighted as Brille himself.

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Idealism, Politics, and Resisting Oppression Quotes in The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses

Below you will find the important quotes in The Prisoner Who Wore Glasses related to the theme of Idealism, Politics, and Resisting Oppression.
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:

“Let’s face it,” he thought ruefully. “I’m only learning right now what it means to be a politician. All this while I’ve been running away from Martha and the kids.”

And the pain in his head brought a hard lump to this throat. That was what the children did to each other daily and Martha wasn’t managing and if Warder Hannetjie had not interrupted him that morning, he would have sent the following message:

“Be good comrades, my children. Cooperate, then life will run smoothly.”

Related Characters: Brille (speaker), Warder Hannetjie
Page Number: 128
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:

One day, at the close of work warder Hannetjie said:

“Brille, pick up my jacket and carry it back to the camp.”

“But nothing in the regulations says I’m your servant, Hannetjie,” Brille replied coolly.

“I’ve told you not to call me Hannetjie. You must say Baas,” but Warder Hannetjie’s voice lacked conviction. In turn, Brille squinted up at him.

“I’ll tell you something about this Baas business, Hannetjie,” he said. “One of these days we are going to run the country. You are going to clean my car. Now, I have a fifteen-year-old son, and I’d die of shame if you had to tell him that I ever called you Baas.”

Warder Hannetjie went red in the face and picked up his coat.

Related Characters: Brille (speaker), Warder Hannetjie (speaker)
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: