100% satisfaction guarantee Immediately available after payment Both online and in PDF No strings attached
logo-home
Detailed summary of Asem: includes character sketches, relevant themes and summary of ALL CHAPTERS $11.42
Add to cart

Summary

Detailed summary of Asem: includes character sketches, relevant themes and summary of ALL CHAPTERS

 41 views  1 purchase
  • Course
  • Institution
  • Book

Written by a student who obtained 92% for Afrikaans FAL. A summary of the entire book "Asem" for IEB matrics in preparation for their final Afrikaans First Additional Language examination. It contains a summary of ALL THE CHAPTERS, characters and themes.

Preview 8 out of 60  pages

  • Yes
  • October 24, 2023
  • 60
  • 2023/2024
  • Summary
  • 200
avatar-seller
Characters
• Barries Barnard (main character, 17, wants to kill his dad, drug
addict, revenge, bad rship with mom, used to be very good at
school, hatred, cricket)
• Paul Barnard (dad, absent, full secret= not the father, beat Barries
with belt buckle, physical abuse = emotional abuse, EC, divorced
Vera, het go remarried, divorced, jail)
• Vera Barnard (mom, ex wife paul, raped by colleague= actual
father, handle barries disrespect, first-hand drug problem, tired of
drug abuse, vegetable= barriers, he got involved with the drugs)
• Lizette Kleyn (barries ex gf, intimate rship, she turns against
Barries, mom has big influence she fels about Barries, affluent
area, estate, theo, finds church)
• Floris De Kock (blonde brothers, not attractive one, acne, write
Barries off as a friend)
• Theo De Kock (blonde brothers, attractive, muscular, gets all the
girls, drives car, writes barriers off as a friend)
• Charles De Kock (dad, lawyer, defends him and helps him get a
smaller penalty, threatens barriers to not testify brothers, past will
declare his claim null and void, discredit him witness, paul being In
prison)
• Jumbo Kruger (bouncer at the club- Gold Miners Delight, let them
knowing that they weren’t 18, barriers hit a guy, jumbo threw him
out of the club)
• Butcher (drug dealer, stabs and injures Vera, threatens Barries
with his shotgun)
• Stef Jonker (pauls friend, bus station guy, olga’s bf, abusive)
• Olga (much younger stef, rship with Barries, bad news for Barries,
colour of her nails was red symbolizes dangers, drugs, police are
looking for her, orphan, steals a purse, money, gun from paul)
• Jona (rescue dog, Eunice (barriers new gf- blind), badly injured,
pay for the vet bills, paul want to shoot joan- relieve him form his
misery, guide barriers through recovery journey, real name is Bart)

,• Captain Mfeka (policemen in charge of the case, bad cop role-
send to jail)
• Sersant scheurder // Nico (young policewomen, good cop role,
drops off at bus station)
• Sister Kapoor (wife of traffic cop who died, encourages him to go
back to EC)
• Fillie Booysen (steals barriers close, seeplaas, become friends,
saves barriers being shot by Stef- olga rship, goes to school at
Nico Milan
• Faith (nurse who helps Barries at the hospital)
• Wolfie Wolfaardt (pawnshop guy)




Symbols // Themes
ASEM
-breathe
-cannot live without breathing
-inhale and exhale


CHESS
-life is a game
-there are many choices you can take in life
-involved in a game of chess in JHB


LIGHTHOUSE
-symbol of hope
-warning (Olga)

,SEA
-healing
-to become whole
-waves = breath
-new beginning


WHALE
-warning
-bible interteks
-Jona swallowed – he has to believe that he would be spitout again
-symbol of barriers situation


HAAS TEDDY BEAR// Bollie
-Paul’s room
-small boy in Barries that had to heal
-memories
-forgiveness


DOG
-guide dog
-guided Barries to healing
-dog is mans best friend
-they saved one another
Nelson
-freedom
-bird
-pappegaai

,Chapter 1


-Barries Barnard (main character)
-sitting on his bed with his Gibson guitar (expensive)
-smoking dagga “slowboat” → dagga + ecstasy
-its his bday (17th)
-they are planning to go out that night
-he tells his gf and friends how he wants to poison his father with rat poison


-lizette = gf = dark hair
-Theo = friend = blonde = goodlooking and muscular
-Floris = friend = blonde = acne


-barries packed is bag to go to his father including the rat poison
-he hates his dad and wants revenge (“wraak”)
-he sees his dad as a rat who should die as a rat


-Barries is playing his guitar and sings → words are heartsore & depressive (sad
lyrics)
-he tells his friends why he hates his dad so much
1) his dad got drunk (drank brandy)
2) he hit barriers with a belt when B was 5y


-for last 11y he received no phonecall/ card from his dad
-but this time his dad makes contact with him and he wanted Barries to visit him
-his father is suddenly back in his life


-Barries wants to murder his Harris wants to murder his father and wants the maiden
name of his mother Nelly
-he wants to drop everything related to his father

,-lizeth mocks him in an attempt to lighten the mood
-she asks him is he “Barries Jammerbal”
-he is always feeling sorry for himself
-Lizette and Barries start kissing each other very erotically and intensively
-when his mom comes into the room it is quite an awkward moment


-his mum is Vera Barnard
-she is quite good looking she comes into the room and scolds at him
-she tells him the whole flat “woonstel” is smelling like smoke (dagga/weed)


-Theo openly flirt with Barries mom
-he is a very confident guy
-this flirting upsets varies quite a bit


-barries wanted to use Vera’s Mercedes to go out but now Vera is going to use it
-Theo suggest that they use his car because he's old enough to drive


-the brothers went home to get ready for the night and Barries tries to have sex with
Lizette
-this would suggest that they have had sex before
-but we find out later that they have never had sex
-things get steamy between lizette and B
-lizette asks him if he has a condom because she won't allow him to have sex
without one
-Lizette it realizes that B is acting differently
-he's quite spiteful because he's not getting his way
-the whole dad thing messed him up
-He is saying weird things
-he even accuses her that she will sleep with Theo even his mother
-she tries to convince B to leave the poison at home when he goes to his dad after
the exam

,-her mother fetches her with a red Volvo before they go out later with theo's Opel
cadette
-this shows that lizette is from an upper class area of Johannesburg


-B stays in a block of flats
-he is middle class
-his friends are upper class


-add flat B and his mom discusses his weed smoking
-she doesn't know that he also smokes ecstasy with the weed
-she thinks the weed really affect him
-but it's probably the ecstasy


-B doesn't do athletics anymore
-he's doing very bad in school because his grades had dropped
-and this is the result of smoking


-he asks his mom whether she will ever sleep with Theo
-where are says that Theo looks like a Barbie Ken but she doesn't play with dolls
-quite a weird conversation
-she says that B is just like his dad
-he gets angry and upset because she is comparing him to his father
-he goes out to the balcony and smokes weed
-he does this often
-whenever he does this he has thoughts about whether there's a God looking down
onto earth
-like he's looking down from the 10th floor


-he also has a parrot (pappegaai)
-Nelson who is an African grey
-he's also sitting on the balcony

,-B forgot to take him inside
-bird is neglected since Barry's has been doing drugs


-his mom explains that she has a restraining order against Barry's father
-he can't be violent towards B
-this is her way of trying to convince him to go visit his dad
-she doesn't know how to handle beyond his drug problem
-she wants him to know that Theo and floris are bad influence
-but B tells her that they father whom Charles is a lawyer and their mother is a doctor
that is why they cannot be bad influences


-he looks at all awards against the wall of their flate
-“man of the match”
-medals for athletics
-medals for long-distance running (landloop)
-chess trophies


NB: PROOF OF HIS PREVIOUS ACHIEVEMENTS AND INDICATES HOW BAD
THINGS HAVE GOTTEN FOR BARRIES


-he then nelson that he wishes he also had wings but he is glad that he does not
have to be locked in a cage
-IRONY: barriers is not free, he is in a emotional/metal prison→ he is a prisoner to
his thoughts and circumstances (father’s abuse + drug problem)


-before he leaves to go out he buys:
1) daggakoppe
2) condoms (plans to have sex with Lizette)
3) Chlorettes
4)sugar sweets


-he sees a santa claus next to plastic tree with lights at the shop

, -theo and floris brought 2 girls with the,
-in the car B tells Liette that he has Ultra Thins (condoms)
-he kisses her
-he tells her that she is going to make him very lucky tonight
-Lizette asks him if the condoms are going to make him happy?
(indirectly asking him if sex is going to make him happy)
-B tells her that he knows what will make him happy
-if his father dies of pain like an abused donkey




Chapter 2
-they are out at Gold Miners Delight in Houghton
-affluent area
-jumbo Kruger = big bouncer of the club
-barries lies to him and tell him that they are all 18
-jumbo can see that they are not
-lizette flirts with jumbo a lil bit
-he let's him in
-paffendof = DJ
-he has this phrase he says on the microphone, he keeps repeating it
-be cool. Yeah. God made me cool. Everybody, be cool. You, be cool.
-get over your problems, be chilled and relaxed


-lizette says that theo's gf is a real slut
-barries says that he likes their little silky mini shorts (fluweelbroekies)


-they're drinking captain morgan and ciders
-also smoking weed and ecstasy

*now problem starts

The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:

Guaranteed quality through customer reviews

Guaranteed quality through customer reviews

Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.

Quick and easy check-out

Quick and easy check-out

You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.

Focus on what matters

Focus on what matters

Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!

Frequently asked questions

What do I get when I buy this document?

You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.

Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?

Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.

Who am I buying these notes from?

Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller sammy07. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.

Will I be stuck with a subscription?

No, you only buy these notes for $11.42. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.

Can Stuvia be trusted?

4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)

56326 documents were sold in the last 30 days

Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now

Start selling
$11.42  1x  sold
  • (0)
Add to cart
Added