Summary

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

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Institution
12th Grade

Book
Asem

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.

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Summarized whole book? Yes
Uploaded on October 24, 2023
Number of pages 60
Written in 2023/2024
Type Summary

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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

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

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