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ENGLISH FIRST ADDITIONAL

LANGUAGE SHORT STORIES
ANALYSES

A HANDBOOK FOR BOTH

EDUCATORS AND GRADE 12
LEARNERS
BOOK NO 1.

MATSHO K.P

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BACKGROUND

This handbook is written with the intention of minimising challenges encountered by both ENGFA
learners and educators when reading short stories prescribed for the 2023 academic year. It
provides a summary of the short stories ‘forbidden love’ by Canodoise Themba and ‘Rejection’
by Mariama Ba of Senegal.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR OF THE PAPER

This text is written by Mr Kamogelo Phillippe Matsho, a bachelor of education degree holder from
the Northwest University, youngest public management certificate holder from the University of
South Africa, an English and Sepedi teacher at Nkube High School, a deputy chairperson for
English First Additional Language in the Bakenberg South circuit, a Sepedi published author and
linguist of note. All these he has achieved in less than 25 years of his life.

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ANALYSIS OF ‘FORBIDDEN LOVE’ BY CAN THEMBA

Background of the author of the story
Canodoise Themba is one of the authors that has had a huge impact in the literature space of
Africa. He wrote all his texts when black people were prohibited to perform most duties. Themba
used his God-given talent of writing to protest against the Apartheid government. Most of his texts
are used by many scholars to analyse the injustices of the past. Unfortunately when he passed
on, the then government did not care about him as he protested against it through the pen and
paper. Canodoise was a teacher by profession.
Summary
The story ‘forbidden love’ discusses the injustices of the past through Michael, a native and his
coloured girlfriend named. Most of the events in the story revolve around the two. By using these
two, the author depicts how brutal the apartheid system was. It prohibited people of different races
to be romantically involved. There was an act passed (Law of interracial associations). Racial
separation was a doctrine the then government wanted everyone to learn. Michael and his
girlfriend, Dora met at night in a bushy place and kept looking around to check if they were not
seen. It was a taboo for natives to be in love with people of other races as they, the natives were
not considered human enough. The story took place when the government had not separated
citizens of South Africa, natives to be precise into ‘Bantustans’.
Michael was a loving and romantic man. He would take his girlfriend to cinema many times. At
least once every weekend. But one of the Saturdays, natives were prohibited from watching a
movie shown. This depicts how Africans were denied opportunities in many things. The way
Michael held Dora every time they met indicates how loving Michael was towards his girlfriend.
Dora also loved him dearly and would even endanger her life just to be with him. She cared less
of what other people would say about their relationship.
The pastor who would visit her home was a racist at heart. This is somewhat inquisitive that he
claimed to love God and live by His rules but he hated natives. He was in contradiction with what
he believed in. God is love and does not segregate people. Themba wanted to show the reader
that there is irony and hypocrisy in the actions done of the pastor. His remarks about natives
clearly indicated that he was pure in the eyes of the public but not before God. The pastor’s
behaviour can even make readers doubtful of God’s existence as his actions are against what the
bible says.
As the story progresses it is learnt that a teacher at Noordgesig Primary school, Mr Carelse was
interested in Dora but she was not in any way interested in the teacher and that hurt him. A friend
to her baby brother tells Dora’s secret that she was seeing a native. Everyone raised their brows
as they were taught racial segregation. The teacher took the matter to the principal who visited

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Bobby’s parents to let them know how their daughter was dragging their name in the mud. Dora
became a disgrace to her family and to the community of Noordgesig that was predominantly
coloured.

When the brother to Dora, David learnt that his sister was seeing a native, he became furious and
organised his friends to gang up on Michael. They beat him to a pulp and when she intervened
that was when he and his friends fled leaving Michael wounded.
Towards the end of the story, it is revealed to the reader that David who had ganged upon Michael
has a child with a native. Ironically, the woman he had a child with was Michael’s eldest sister.
She hid the identity of the father to her son until she visited her home after Michael was assaulted
by David and his friends. The mother to Dora welcomed the child, she cared less about his racial
background.
The story also explores ‘inferiority of women’ during the apartheid era. Though Dora’s mom was
not happy about racism, she could not express it because women were just carers of the
household. They had no say in political and general decision-making platforms.

The setting
The setting of a story speaks to the time and place where the events of a story take place.
It is very important to take note that there is a setting of the extract (which is likely to be examined)
and the setting of the whole story. The whole story takes place in South Africa, Gauteng Province,
Sophiatown a section called Noordgesig during the apartheid era or during the colonial era when
white people prohibited natives from doing a lot of activities. With the setting of the extract, you
need to be able to tell where exactly (as per the extract) the events take place and also make
mention of the main event related to that event.
Themes explored
Themes are the main ideas communicated by the author in the story. In this story, the following
themes are evident:

1. Racial segregation-Throughout the story, the author explores a theme of racial

segregation by showing how unlawful interracial relationships were and how the different
racial groups were taught to hate each other.

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2. Disgrace- This theme is shown through the exposure of Dora’s secret of being romantically
involved with a native. Dick Peters said that Dora was seeing a native in public, he said it
after having a fight with Bobby, Dora’s brother. Mr Carelse and the headmaster of
Noordgesig primary school saw her as a disgrace to the coloured community. They felt
that Dora humiliated their race.

3. Violence- Although there are limited number of events that depict this theme, there are
two main incidents that prove that during the Apartheid era, violence was a common thing.
David ganged up on Michael and beat him to a pulp. Instead of talking to him to cease his
relationship with Dora they assaulted him. One morning at school, Bobby has an
encounter with bullies. They end up having a fist fight and even exposing Dora’s big secret.
Bullying is one of the persistent issues in schools even to date.

4. Secrets- Dora and David had secrets that they never wanted to share with anyone but fate
made a way for people to know of those secrets. David and his baby mother, Salome
never wanted anyone to know that they were once romantically involved and even have a
child together. Dora on the other hand never wanted people to know she was seeing a
native. They kept these secrets to themselves because of the societal expectations and
prohibition of interracial relationships by the apartheid government.
5.

Title of the story

The story is titled ‘forbidden love’ and from the events of the story one can say: the love of people
from different racial groups was unwanted, illegal to the then government. Michael and his
girlfriend’s love/relationship was not approved and blessed by the girlfriend’s father because he
was a racist. The Noordgesig primary school teacher was unwanted by the girl.
Learners must be able to make a link between the title of the story and the events thereof.

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Irony
An irony can be defined as the unexpected ending of a story. When a story is read, readers have
an anticipation of how the story may end.

When Salome reveals that the father to her son is David, brows are raised as no one thought that
a man who fought his sister’s boyfriend could be intimate with a native. This shows that there are
things that people defend and fight for in public but in darkness they enjoy them.
It is ironic that the pastor who often visits David’s family is racist. It is expected in the society that
everyone who is a Christian or who claims to be having a relationship with God should have a
good heart and act like Christ.

Characterization:
Characters refer to all objects, not limited to human beings that participate in a literary text.
It is important for learners to take note that characterization requires them to be able to identify
the names of all the participants in the story and their characteristics. Also, their relationship must
be known to learners. Characters whose names are a centre of attention are called protagonists
(main characters) while those that initiate conflict are called antagonists.
In the story forbidden love, Michael and Dora are the centre of attention. Most of the events
revolve around them. David is the initiator of conflict. He was bitter towards Michael and never
wanted him to date his sister. The plot of this story gets to grow because of that and the climax
was reached when Michael was beaten so badly.
Mr Carelse was a history teacher at Noordgesig primary school
Mr Phillips was the headmaster at Noordgesig primary school
Salome, a native lady who had a child with David. She was Michael’s sister.

Point of view
This is an angle from which the story is told. This story is told from the third person narration. The
narrator is not part of the events but is aware of the emotions and thoughts of characters.

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ANALYSIS OF ‘REJECTION’ BY MARIAMA BA

Background of the author of the story

The author of rejection is Mariama Ba, a Senegalese woman who lived and wrote during the
colonial times. She was an activist of women’s rights but unfortunately due to oppression of
women, she was subjected to pain and being ‘thingified’ by men in her society.

Summary

The story is an extract of Mariama’s novel titled ‘so long a letter’ in which she wrote a letter to
express the hardships she encountered in her marriage. Mariama had a friend whose in-laws
never loved her and made her life difficult. It was a common thing for women to be abused
emotionally and otherwise in Africa because patriarchy was a flag lifted at all times.

She starts by explaining how her crisis came about. Her daughter Daba, who was in matric, would
bring with her a friend home for afternoon studies. Her husband, Modou fell in love with Binetou,
who was a teenager and still trying to find herself. Binetou was from a poverty stricken family and
at that time, she made means to put bread on her table by being involved with an old man, Modou
who was rich. She knew she was going to get anything she wanted.

Mariama was informed by Modou’s brother and the Imam that Modou had gotten married to the
second wife. The pair used idiomatic language to dish the news to Mariama. She became hurt as
they seemed happy about the second wife. She asked herself why her in-laws had turned against
her. Mariama reflected on the twenty five years she had spent with Modou and realised that she
was used, abused and fooled. As a woman, she had no say on polygamy, a man could get married
to a number of women he desires without even consulting the first wife.

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The marriage of Modou to Binetou broke Mariama, it left her shattered and down. Daba on the
other hand was frustrated by the actions of his old father. She kept asking herself why her father
would abandon his family for Binetou. Mariama had to take over and ensure that everything in her
house was in order all by herself. She took care of her 12 children’s educational needs until they
got independent.

What broke Mariama even more were the sacrifices she made in their marriage. She had turned
their house into a warm home. She cooked and took care of her husband who was constantly out
of the house for union meetings. She waited for her husband though he was having affairs and
concubines.

Five years after Modou’s marriage to Binetou, he died. Mariama mourned as per the Islamic
customs. She did all she could to show that she loved her husband and even prayed for his soul
to be received and blessed by Allah. As she was still mourning, the elder brother to Modou, Tamsir
told Mariama that he was to get married to her.

Mariama had kept grudges. She was not expressive in the past but after the death of her husband,
she vowed to herself to speak up of the things she did not like. Tamsir informed Mariama of the
arranged marriage as per their culture. Mariama got very furious that she was being objectified.
She hated. All the properties Modou owned were to be taken care of by Tamsir but fortunately,
Daba and her husband had bought them and denied the uncle the chance to own their father’s
assets.

Tamsir thought Mariama was a typical Islamic woman who would allow everything so long as it
was said or done by a man. She showed resilience and resistance towards women objectification
in the society. She encountered hardships but triumphed by being vocal. Most African women

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have lost their husbands’ properties and wealth due to being silent. Women must stand up for
themselves.

The setting

The setting of a story speaks to the time and place where the events of a story take place.

It is very important to take note that there is a setting of the extract (which is likely to be examined)
and the setting of the whole story. This story took place in Senegal during the colonial era when
women were subjected to emotional and physical abuse by men.

Themes explored

Themes are the main ideas communicated by the author in the story. In this story, the following
themes are evident:

1. Sacrifice- Mariama Ba sacrificed a lot of things in her marriage, her time, love and her
womanhood.
2. Objectification of women- Women were never consulted before making decisions, it did
not matter whether those decisions involved them or not. Mariama was not consulted
before the second wife was married. After her husband’s death, she was told that she was
going to be married by her brother-in-law. This shows how men in the story viewed women.
They saw them as object they can manipulate and use to satisfy themselves.
3. Poverty- Most people who find themselves in poverty, do whatever it takes to put food on
the table. Binetou was from a poverty stricken family and because she wanted to live a
better life, she saw no problem of being romantically involved with an old man.
4. Emotional abuse- Mariama was abused emotionally by her husband when he left her for
union meetings and moreover, getting married to her daughter’s friend.

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Title of the story

The story is titled Rejection and in it is learnt that a wife of twenty five years is rejected by her
husband Modou who chose to get married to a teenager. Tamsir, Modou’s brother was rejected
by the narrator, Mariama Ba when he told her that he would get married to her.

Characterization:
Characters refer to all objects, not limited to human beings that participate in a literary text.
It is important for learners to take note that characterization requires them to be able to identify
the names of all the participants in the story and their characteristics. Also, their relationship must
be known to learners. Characters whose names are a centre of attention are called protagonists
(main characters) while those that initiate conflict are called antagonists

In this story, most events revolve around the narrator, Mariama Ba. The husband, Modou and his
brother Tamsir are initiators of conflict.

Modou is Mariama and Binetou’s husband

Mariama is the narrator, the first wife of Modou

Daba, Modou’s daughter

Learners have to be able to make identify the relationship between and among characters.

Point of view

This explains an angle from which a story is told. This story is told from the first person narration.
The narrator is part of the events of the story.

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