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A Dry White Season

Text
A Dry White Season by André Brink
Penguin Books, 1984

Prescribed Question
How and why is a social group represented in a particular way?

Word Count
916

Outline

Prescribed Question:

How and why is a social group
represented in a particular way?

Text:

A Dry White Season by André Brink

Part of Course:

Part 4 – Literature: Critical Study

Focus Points in this Critical Response:



The representation of Soweto as a slum

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The generalization of Soweto citizens



The reason why Soweto and its people are presented the way they are, and what effect
the generalization of its people has on the reader



How different the novel’s effect would be on the reader if the people of Soweto were
individualized, rather than generalized

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Critical Response
A Dry White Season is a novel written by André Brink, which takes place in Africa during apartheid
in the late 1970’s
...
The novel explores many different social groups,
such as the wealthy citizens in the city, and the government officials with god complexes
...
This particular
social group is presented as a contrast to the wealthy people living in the city
...
This critical response
will examine how this social group is represented in the novel, and why
...
Children
playing in the dirty streets
...
Barbers plying their trades on
street corners
...
In many places there were the hideous burnt-out skeletons of
buses and buildings
...
”1
The quote above is the novel’s first description of Soweto, during Ben’s first trip there
...
It is describing Soweto as a completely different
world, where everything is broken, dirty and useless
...
This is most likely because those children have never seen the
wealthier parts of the world yet
...
This means that any individual from Soweto, who has visited the
wealthy city, knows that they are living the exact opposite lives of those in the city
...

“The car pulled off again, following once more an intricate route through patterns of identical
houses, as if they were passing the same ones over and over again
...
In contrast, characters in the novel from
the wealthy city are given a personality, some background information, and individuality
...

A Dry White Season is a novel with a strong message, and as any other text with a strong message,
it requires parts or content that enforces or supports that message
...


1
2

A Dry White Season, Penguin Books, 1984: Page 89
A Dry White Season, Penguin Books, 1984: Page 93

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To do this, the novel needs to underline the brutality of the suppression, all seen through the eyes
of Ben du Toit
...
This is at the cost of generalizing the people of Soweto
...
However, the author, André Brink,
did most likely not choose this option as a whole picture of the situation of South Africa is stronger
for the purpose of motivating the overthrow of a corrupt government, since it allows the reader to
understand the scale of the suppression
...
Instead of fueling hate for the government, it would have a sympathetic
effect on the reader, which means that the reader would be occupied with sympathizing with the
individual Soweto citizens, instead of seeing the whole picture and being motivated to take action
...
André Brink
presents Soweto in a way that guarantees that the reader has to reconsider their own actions, or at
least know that they are turning a blind eye to the violation of basic human rights, which Soweto
and its people represents
...
It shows Soweto as a slum, void of any luxuries, with dirty streets and ruined buildings and
objects everywhere
...
André Brink does a spectacular job at presenting a social group in a way that supports
the message and purpose of his novel, and what he aimed for with presenting Soweto and its people
this way, is indeed effective
...
(1984)
...
Penguin Books

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