Summary
English fal short stories grade 12 summary
- Course
- Short stories english
- Institution
- 12th Grade
Summary of 79 pages for the course Short stories english at 12th Grade (Term1-4)
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Opgesom deur Maak leer maklikGrade 12
English
short
storie s
,Opgesom deur Maak leer maklik
A CH I P O F G L A S S R U B Y -N A D I N E G O R D I M E R
MAJOR CHARACTERS
Mrs Zanip Bamjee
Important actions
→
Arranges with a black taxi owner for a duplicating machine to be hidden in a wash
basket and brought to her.
→
Prints leaflets relating to the political struggle on the duplicating machine.
→
Holds meetings with African women and important people involved in the struggle
against the Apartheid government.
→
Does the housework and takes care of all her family’s needs, including
making clothes for them. → Is arrested for her political activism.
→
Tells the policeman not to take her copy of the book by Nehru.
→
Before she leaves with the policemen, tells her husband to remember to take the
family to the engagement party at the IsIsmailis
→
Goes on a hunger strike with the other political prisoners.
→
During a visit by Girlie, she tells her to wish her stepfather happy birthday.
Relationships
→
She is the widow of Mr Pahad, with whom she has
five children. → Mr Bamjee is her second husband.
→
She has four children with Mr Bamjee.
→
Her two eldest children admire her and her role in the liberation struggle.
→
She is friends with African women, and she holds meetings and has tea with them.
→
She has an important role to play in the struggle, as she is visited by well-known
freedom fighters.
Personality traits
→
She is a hardworking woman who places the needs of her family and
others above her own. → She is very good at multi-tasking (doing many
things at the same time).
,Opgesom deur Maak leer maklik
→
She respects her husband and keeps him up to date with everything
that is going on. → She is committed to the liberation struggle.
→
She is willing to make personal sacrifices in the name of the struggle
against Apartheid. → She regards black people as equals.
→
She is patient and does not lose her temper easily.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
→
She is very skinny when she is not
pregnant. → She oils her hair and
wears it in a plait.
→
She wears old cheap
saris. → She is not
pretty.
→
Her face is “sallow” (an unhealthy colour).
CHANGES
→
She does not change in the course of the story.
Mr Bamjee (Yusuf Bamjee)
Important actions
→
Marries Mr Pahad’s widow who has five children.
→
Provides for his family by selling fruit and vegetables.
→
Criticises his wife for her dedication to the liberation struggle.
→
Ignores the children as they try to come to terms with their mother’s arrest.
→
Complains visitors about having to take care of his family while his
wife is in prison. → Provides the money for Girlie to visit her mother in
prison.
→
Forgets his birthday.
→
Realises the importance of his wife at the end.
RELATIONSHIPS
→
He is Mrs Bamjee’s second husband.
, Opgesom deur Maak leer maklik
→
He is not happy with his wife’s political activities and criticises her loyalty to black
people and the liberation struggle.
→
In the end he admires his wife’s determination and purposefulness, although
he does not say it. → He is a good provider to his children.
PERSONALITY TRAITS
→
He is hardworking and firmly believes that he must provide food
for his family. → He is a very orthodox man who wants a traditional
wife.
→
He finds it difficult to show warmth and affection and comes across as gruff and
taciturn (uncommunicative). → He is selfish, as he thinks mostly about how events affect
him personally.
→
He is proud and stubborn.
→
He tries to understand events by speaking
aloud to himself. → He is a racist.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
→
He wears trousers, a dirty white hawker’s coat, and a muffler (a scarf worn around the
head and face to keep warm).
CHANGES
→
At first he does not understand what he had found attractive in his wife.
→
By the end of the story he does understand that he was drawn to her because she is
not like other women.
GIRLIE (FATHIMA)
Important actions
→
Is married and has moved out of the
Bamjee house. → Works in a factory.
→
Adopts the name
“Girlie”. → Wears
make-up.
→
Behaves like a white girl as she smiles too openly and boldly, has cut her hair, and
wears modern, fashionable clothes and make-up.
→
This is unlike the way Indian or Muslim girls were expected to dress and
behave at that time. → Goes with her brother Jimmy to the lawyer to find
out where her mother had been taken. → Helps out in the house while Mrs
Bamjee is in prison.
→
Goes for an interview with the police to get a permit to visit her
mother in prison. → Visits her mother in prison. 10 Is upset when
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