D O R I S L E S SING

A SUNRISE ON
THE VELD
AN ANALYSIS
UMI ERNI ELLYANA BINTI HAIRUDDIN (2021869132)
NUR AISYAH BINTI KHAIRUL ANUAR (2021887954)
IZZAN ADRIANA BT ALI AKBAR (2021614346)
NURUL ATIQAH BINTI HAFIDZ MURSHIDI (2021461976)
NORFATINI AQILAH BINTI ZAINAL HASNUL (2021868734)
NURUL FARAHANIM BINTI PAJAR (2021486332)
01. Author's Biodata
02 Plot
03 Settings and POV
04 Characters
05 Literary Devices
06 Themes
07 Personal Response
 01.
Author’s
Biodata
 BRIEF INTRODUCTION

Doris May Lessing (original

Name
name Doris May Tayler)

Born Date October 22, 1919.

Place of
Kermānshāh, Persia
Birth

November 17, 2013 [94] at

Died
London, United Kingdom
 BRIEF INTRODUCTION
attended convent school and a
School girls' school (ended her studies at
the age of 14)

The Grass is Singing (1950)

Other works The Golden Notebook (1962)
Shikasta (1979)

Los Angeles Times Book Prize

(1995)
WH Smith Literary Award
Award
(1986)
Nobel Prize for Literature
(2007)
 Interesting info

Doris Lessing captures the reader's interest

by creating an emotional bond between the
reader and the main character. The crucial
issue of life and death was highlighted by
the author's use of literary forms and
emotion throughout the short story.
02.
Plot
 SUMMARY
The years spent growing up on an African veld give a fifteen-year-old boy an
obvious spark for life. He finds the world fascinating and thinks he has a
complete understanding of what it has to offer. The child wakes up at half past
four every morning feeling alive and unstoppable and thinking he has the power
to rule the entire world. One morning while hunting, he comes upon an injured
buck being eaten alive by ants and feels obligated to assist it. The buck's
suffering teaches him that death is inevitable and that there are aspects of life
that he cannot control. He learns that nature has greater power than he does,
which forces him to consider the purpose of life in more detail.
 EXPOSITION
The story begins with the main character,
a fifteen-year-old boy, crying "Half-past
four! Half-past four!" before falling asleep
in order to wake himself up at 4.30 a.m.
the next day. He immediately gets
dressed in the morning and leaves the
house for his hunt.
RISING ACTION
The young boy leaves his house with his
dogs and his gun to go hunting. As he
makes his way through the veld to a rock,
he shouts out to the world how great he
is. Then, he hears "a shortened scream"
and goes in search of the source of this
alleged misery by himself.
 CLIMAX
The boy witnesses a wounded buck being eaten alive by ants. He knows the buck is going
to die, but he still wants to save him because he thinks he "can change everything that is
going to happen." He must choose between ending the buck's suffering himself and
letting it pass away naturally.

FALLING ACTION
The boy makes the decision not to shoot the buck after realising that it will inevitably die.
Although he looks for a reason for the buck's passing, he realises that not everything in life
has a reason; sometimes, things just happen. He eventually comprehends that there is a
loop of life and is made aware of the darker side of life. Just as the animals the boy hunts
give him a source of food, the ants are feeding on the buck to stay alive.
 RESOLUTION
The boy walks home at the end of the story, reflecting about the dead buck and trying
not to believe that he was responsible for it dying, although he's certain he did.

CONFLICT
MAN VS SELF
MAN VS NATURE
 03.
Settings
and POV
POINT OF VIEW SETTINGS
Written in third person; Time: Modern time,
limited omniscient. during winter
Uses words like he and Place: Africa (in a veld)
the boy. Environment: In a
grassland, around
woods and animals
 04.
Characters
 Protagonist and Antagonist
Protagonist
The protagonist of this story is the young boy
because he is the main character and the "hero" of
the short story.
The story revolves around him and he is the
character that experiences all the events and
hardships.
Influences the protagonist's ideas
Antagonist
The dying buck acted as the problem in the story
and influences the ending, without it there wouldn't
be a story.
This proves the buck could be the antagonist.
The antagonist is most likely life, more specifically
fate, because the fate of death also influences his
opinion and choices.
 Types of Characters

Dynamic Character

The young boy is the main character and
also a Dynamic Character.
In the beginning of the story he ignorantly
thinks he has power and control over
everything
After the encounter with a dying buck, he
realized that he doesn't have control over
the world
The buck is a Static Character
It is used to symbolise freedom because it's speedy, usually fast
animals symbolize freedom and power because nothing can ever catch
up to them or their greatness.
In the story the death of the buck by small ants symbolizes the death
of something great and powerful by small pints of useless ants.
The ants are also Static Character because in society they are looked
at as small weak creatures that are most of the time forgotten.

.
 Flat Character
The dogs that accompany the boy when
he goes hunting are Flat Characters
They are only used to enhance the story
by making it seem more realistic.
The dogs are minor characters that only
have one use and do not undergo any
change they are only mentioned in the
beginning of the story and near the plot.
Static Character
The parents are Static Characters
They are only mentioned in the beginning
and are later forgotten.
Only mentioned to make the story more
realistic and set a mood for the audience.
they do not develop any change.
 05
Literary
Devices
IMAGERY
The grass stood to his shoulders; and
the trees were showering a faint
silvery rain.
Near him thick swathes of grass were
bent with the weight of water, and SYMBOLISM
diamond drops sparkled on each The Buck - symbolizes inevitability
frond. of death to all living things
The gun - symbolizes the feeling of
superiority that the boy has
The Ants - living things that are
simply existing in his world.
 TONE
The tone of this story is
melancholic.

IRONY
The Irony in this story is shown through the
way the boy felt so powerful and mighty but
felt utterly powerless when he witnessed the
cruelty of life.
 06
Themes
 LIFE AND DEATH
The story teaches you that everyone is going
to go through death and no one can stop it.
You also learn that life is not internal. The boy
learns and realizes about death when he
sees the buck dying.

HELPLESSNESS &
DISILLUSIONMENT
In the beginning, the boy cherishes the false perception of
mortality. He thinks that his courage is immortal and says,
“Even my brain…. I can control every part of myself". While in
his state of youthful exuberance, his fascination with the
world was interrupted by the cries of a creature in intense
pain. He saw a buck in the grass dying. He realized he was
helpless and could do nothing to save that wretched animal.
 PERSONAL RESPONSE

This story felt like a reflection to us that life is frail

and is unexpected. We cannot avoid death or pain
even if we are courageous to face it— as it is the
nature of life.
Thank you