RACISM
DSDSDSDSDSDDSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSual backgrounds and qualities, they represent the limitations. Clearly, both parts of the story, the men choose involvement with these women for convenience.
Dr. von Leinsdorf is a solitary man who, during the story, only welcomes one woman into his life and his apartment, so it is perhaps no surprise that he begins a sexual relationship with her. Similarly, Paulus has known Thebedi since childhood. She is comfortable and familiar to him, and he can easily arrange to meet with her when he visits home. In addition to their affection for the men, the women likely feel flattered and, perhaps, even a sense of duty. In a hierarchical society such as theirs, they know that they are not equals in their relationships with white men. These factors reflect the unique elements of interracial love in the story’s setting. In “Town and Country Lovers,” Gordimer condemns both the government and society in apartheid South Africa. In the first part of the story, she condemns the government more harshly because the legal consequences suffered by Dr. von Leinsdorf and the cashier are more serious than the social consequences. They both go to jail and endure evidence collection. The cashier is subjected to a physical examination, and Dr. von Leinsdorf’s apartment is ransacked for evidence. While the cashier must face social consequences, they are not insurmountable. She is, after all, of mixed race herself. In the second part of the story, Gordimer seems to condemn society more harshly than the government because the social consequences are more severe. Because he fears his community will learn of his illegitimate child with Thebedi. Paulus poisons his own baby. Thebedi’s community is aware of the situation surrounding the child but accepts it. It is not Thebedi’s community that applies such pressure to its members, it is Paulus’s. Finally, the story obviously shows that they are interracial couples forbidden to be together by the laws and
Dr. von Leinsdorf is a solitary man who, during the story, only welcomes one woman into his life and his apartment, so it is perhaps no surprise that he begins a sexual relationship with her. Similarly, Paulus has known Thebedi since childhood. She is comfortable and familiar to him, and he can easily arrange to meet with her when he visits home. In addition to their affection for the men, the women likely feel flattered and, perhaps, even a sense of duty. In a hierarchical society such as theirs, they know that they are not equals in their relationships with white men. These factors reflect the unique elements of interracial love in the story’s setting. In “Town and Country Lovers,” Gordimer condemns both the government and society in apartheid South Africa. In the first part of the story, she condemns the government more harshly because the legal consequences suffered by Dr. von Leinsdorf and the cashier are more serious than the social consequences. They both go to jail and endure evidence collection. The cashier is subjected to a physical examination, and Dr. von Leinsdorf’s apartment is ransacked for evidence. While the cashier must face social consequences, they are not insurmountable. She is, after all, of mixed race herself. In the second part of the story, Gordimer seems to condemn society more harshly than the government because the social consequences are more severe. Because he fears his community will learn of his illegitimate child with Thebedi. Paulus poisons his own baby. Thebedi’s community is aware of the situation surrounding the child but accepts it. It is not Thebedi’s community that applies such pressure to its members, it is Paulus’s. Finally, the story obviously shows that they are interracial couples forbidden to be together by the laws and