Nadine Gordimer

In Nadine Gordimer's writings, "Good Climate, Friendly Inhabitants", "Amnesty" and Six Feet of the Country", I found her narrators to be people with which I wanted to empathize.   I think that her characters could easily carry over into societal situations today and are a good reminder about accepting the status quo.

In "Good Climate, Friendly Inhabitants" we find the narrator working in a service station and she quickly describes the heirarchy of the working enviroment.  Everyone has a place and it works for them; she seems content with the way things are.  Along comes this young, charismatic stranger that makes her behave in a way that is unfamiliar.  She begins to question her ability to trust the way society says she should.  In the end the person she feels most comfortable sharing her situation with, and who helps her out of it, is one of the natives.  If you think about it, several similar situations come to mind.  A person of influence (whether perceived or real) comes in and charms the naive woman who trying to do what is right to the point where she behaves completely out of character.

"Amnesty" is the story that I feel I can best relate.   I grew up in a single parent home and I have a sibling that is 12 years younger than me; this resulted in my taking on the responsibilities of women at an early age, since my mother went to work after I came home from school.  It became part of my life, who I was.  I went to school during the day, did housework at night and once I graduated, I went to work during the day, and school at night.  Long story short, two marriages, two children and an unsuccessful attempt at a career because I assumed the responsibilities that are placed on women in our society...mother, homemaker, nursemaid, teacher, etc...and was perfectly content doing it.  I really sympathized with the narrator, while she was taking care of the family, life outside of her home was moving on without her, which included the love of her life.  I just hope that young women reading this are encouraged by this character and learn to move on with life and not wait for it.

"Six Feet of the Country" made me really sad.  I have had a conversation with a close friend about the fact that I spend so much time with my family that they are the only people that will care when I die.  That is not a fair comparison to this story, but it is heartbreaking to think that a person who is so important to the life of any other person can be discarded in such a cruel way.   Unfortunately, there are so many situations today that have a very similar result.   Poverty, war, terriorism, natural disasters, and simply cruel and inhumane behavior by other people.  The narrator could be any human being, with self-serving needs who makes a feeble attempt to set things straight.  He was able to balance right in the center, not too far to the left or to the right, so whoever may question his actions would get an answer that could be manipulated either way.

Nadine Gordimer's message is that blatant segragation of any people living within a region is ridiculous.  There is no situation that one could imagine which would result in a happy outcome for anyone involved.  It becomes so second nature to each social 'class' that even when people question it within their own mind, they choose not to seek the answers.