4.2 THE MUSIC OF THE VIOLIN
4.2.3 USING INSIGHTS FROM NARRATIVE THEORY TO ANALYSE CHARACTER FUNCTIONS IN THE STORY
The construction of the character of Dorcas presents her as a vehicle or narratival device, which conveys the thematic tension in the story. This tension conveys the contrast
between loyalty to traditional African lifestyle and the trappings of a western or white middle class lifestyle. I examine her character construction in terms of her 'white', high culture, middle class aspirations, her attitude to township life and its people, and her perception of her own 'Africaness' and that of her family's. I start with the following extract in order to comment on Dorcas's character:
There is not a single boy in the whole of Soweto- including here in Dube - who has a room like yours. This room is as good as any white boy's. Isn't it exactly like Ronnie Simpson's? You yourself, you ungrateful boy, have seen that room when we visited the Simpson's in Parktown North. Kaffir children! That's what.
Always ungrateful! (1994, 92).
The character of Dorcas is constructed as the villain of the story. She is presented as being an unreasonable, ambitious mother, who aspires to all the trappings of a western
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(white) lifestyle and its high culture, rather than African culture. Her persistence at ensuring that her children are different from other ordinary working class children in an African township provides a constant source of pain in Vukani's life. This is reinforced by 'a violin you have and a violin you will play' (1994, 99). Teboho is also sternly cautioned about the expensive china that must be handled with care. Dorcas's aspirations towards a middle-class lifestyle is presented as being obtained at the expense of her children's right to personal choice and happiness. She speaks of black people as 'kaffir' who are crass and therefore 'other'. This extract also constructs her as being ashamed of a traditional, African, working class lifestyle, but in awe of westernisation. In this regard she is conveyed as disloyal to her African culture and identity. She is constructed as being disparaging of working class African people of the township, whom she considers vulgar and unable to rise above their working class condition. Her need to emulate a white middle class lifestyle is conveyed in 'relatives can be real nuisance.. .whites saw this problem a long time ago. That's why they have very little time for relatives. Nuclear family! That's what matters' (1994, 104).
She further attempts to ensure that her family leads a western, modern lifestyle that is different from ordinary working class Africans by imposing her will on the children in 'we are not going to be humiliated by such a little flea. Play, cheeky brute!' (1994, 105).
This highly negative construction of the character of Dorcas also embodies a thematic tension in the story that exists between westernisation and post-colonialism. This is conveyed through the post-colonial discourse that is privileged in this story.
The construction of Vukani's family is contrasted to Doksi's family who are presented as humble, pleasant working class people with a strong sense of family. These contrasts are implied in the language used to describe each family who may be considered to be binarily opposed. I present the following contrast between the two families:
DOKSI'S FAMILY working class
humble unambitious
simple extended family
VUKANI'S FAMILY middle class
proud ambitious competitive nuclear family
TABLE 6: Binary Oppositions showing the contrasts between Doksi's and Vukani's families.
This analysis privileges the construction of Doksi's parents in terms of their humility and quiet acceptance of a working class lifestyle and 'Africaness' as opposed to Vukani's parents, particularly Dorcas, who have imbibed a western lifestyle. Doksi is presented as an ordinary working class boy with working class ideals who wishes to become a barber when he grows up and appears content with simple pastimes such as sweeping and burning hair. Vukani is conveyed as the victim of mockery at the hands of his mother, his peers and the township boys. In this regard the story privileges the working class over the middle class, within a post-colonial approach that informs this text.
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If the preferred discourse is privileged it also depends on a particular discursive
construction in relation to class and provides an additional point of investigation within this analysis. The tension between working class and middle class lifestyles is also
created through Vukani and his family on the one hand and the gang of boys on the other.
Vukani is viewed as being 'different' by his peers and the gang of boys because of his access to a better lifestyle, which includes violin-playing. This is conveyed by the following extract:
Hey music man! Don't you know your name? Everyday we greet you nice-nice and you don't answer. Because you think you are being greeted by shit? (1994, 97).
Tough working class masculinities are attributed to the gang who are conveyed as 'the kings of the township' (1994, 96), which due to circumstances regarding poverty, hardship and related socio-economic ills, provides a fertile site for social and moral decadence in 'What are you rogues doing to this poor boy? .. .dogs of the street.. .you rogues just let decent people be' (1994, 97). The gang is also conveyed as consciously attempting to deride Vukani for having access to a cultural resource and possible socio- economic empowerment that they lack. In this regard Vukani is constructed as being a victim of an elitist lifestyle for which his mother is responsible. The following analysis examines the contrasts implied in the story between the working class gang of boys and Vukani:
GANG (Working Class) aggressive
threatening violent lion (p. 104)
vulgar obscene
deviant underprivileged
VUKANI (Middle Class) passive
respectful peaceful impala (p. 104)
refined polite disciplined
privileged
TABLE 7: Binary Oppositions contrasting Vukani with the township gang.
The difference in lifestyle and character between Vukani and the gang conveyed in this analysis points to the polarities between them in terms of belonging to different classes, and offers a point to enter this analysis. The discourse based on class constructs Vukani as the innocent victim of circumstances beyond his control, who becomes vulnerable to the torment inflicted on him by the gang due to Dorcas's need to subscribe to things western. The gang is conveyed as being products of a working class environment characteristic of an African township like Soweto. They are presented as ruthless and menacing towards Vukani, who suffers because of his middle class upbringing. In this regard the story privileges the anti-colonial discourse as a middle-class lifestyle and is presented as providing pain in Vukani's life and as being un-African.
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I examine the discourse on patriarchy as an additional point of investigation into the story. Gendered roles are conveyed through the presentation of male and female characters in this story. Certain gendered assumptions are conveyed when contrasting male and female character constructions. For example, Dorcas is conveyed as a domineering mother, ambitious wife and as caregiver. What is naturalised here is a position of Dorcas as nurturer (even as a stringent one). The well being of her children, both morally and physically, appears to fall within her domain as mother. It is Dorcas who is responsible for providing refreshments, having trained her daughter to handle the chore, whilst her husband reads the paper 'putting down The Daily Mail and picking up The Star' (1994, 104), and discusses matters of current political and social interest with Dr. Zwane. The men are presented as enjoying positions of dominance within the home as a private domain. Furthermore it is Dorcas, as proud mother, who escorts the guests to Vukani's bedroom, and offers his violin playing as a showpiece for the guests, as proud mother. Although this behavior may be regarded as being part of her character type, it also slots in with tasks traditionally associated with women and mother. The women are relegated to subordinate positions in the social structure depicted in the story. The men are the drinkers of the tea, while the women are the makers of the tea (Motheram, 1995).
The women are also conveyed through culturally defined roles, for example, Dorcas is a nurse, a profession traditionally associated with women. Teboho is asked to help with domestic chores like helping with making and serving the tea. The story contextualises women as mothers and nurturers in, ' "we women cook for you".. .retorted his wife' (1994, 89).
The men in contrast are presented as engaging in more 'serious pursuits', like reading the paper, discussing their jobs and current affairs and are seated in the lounge as ones who assume more privileged roles of authority in the social circle presented in the story. It is also Vukani's father who issues the final instruction when the domestic quarrel reaches an abusive climax in, 'Dorcas! That's enough now!' (1994, 106).
The following table presents the contrasts between male and female character constructions in the story:
MALE dominant Assertive Worldly providing
FEMALE subordinate passive domesticated nurturing
TABLE 8: Binary Oppositions contrasting men and women in "The Music of the Violin".