Shades

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Walter's party goes off in search of the demented Brompton, finding him holed up in a nearby forest cave where he defends himself by shooting at them. They take him back to Mbokothwe and clean him up, discarding his soiled clothing.

Once Walter is back at St Matthias, however, Frances is desperate to get close to him for comfort but Victor's continued presence prevents this. Walter judges from the look on Victor's face exactly what has taken place between Victor and Frances.

In a work of art, nothing happens by chance.

Often the author mixes imagery into the narrative but leaves it to the astute reader to detect this imagery and interpret it. There are no flashing lights or ringing bells to pronounce to the unobservant reader, "herewith you must espy an image!"

For example, DH Lawrence uses the presence of a horse to signify male sexual dominance (Virgin and the Gypsy).

He also often uses colour imagery to make his point. In Sons and Lovers he uses the colour red to signify passionate love while the colour grey denotes sadness — and also religious fulfilment.

In this way Paul Morrell's brief passionate affair with Clara is flooded with the colour red: the houses have red roofs, the river runs red, the mud on the river bank is red, Clara wears a red flower on her lapel which is eventually left shattered and its petals scattered on the ground.

In contrast to this, Paul's love scene with Miriam is clouded in grey. The trees are grey, the sky is grey, the houses appear grey in the mist. Lawrence tells us in this way that Miriam gives herself to Paul as a type of religious sacrifice, offered out of duty rather than passion.

Imagery does not creep into a novel by accident.

If this is so, then what of the image of the guilt-stricken Frances, standing before Walter and Victor, and forced to hold the bloodied bird in her hand?

Frances had been a virgin. That night when Victor had found her in his bedroom, he had thrust himself into her — suddenly, unexpectedly, and against her will. He would have damaged her physically, causing her to bleed.

The following day she would have been distraught — and yet wracked with guilt because she had been indoctrinated into believing that it was always the woman who was to blame. The sin therefore was hers.

Frances was therefore bleeding physically, psychologically and spiritually.

When Victor thrusts the bleeding bird into her hands, the bird becomes the image of Frances's feelings: she is spiritually dead — and bleeding because of Victor's action.

Can you imagine a more forlorn person — or image?

Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?

Read the notes in the left column before answering the questions below:

What is the purpose of the isivivane cairn? (2)

[Need help?]

It would seem that the cairns are places of contact with the "Shades" or ancestors — places where one can talk to the ancestors and then leave a stone as a permanent continuation of that prayer. It's not unlike the votive candles in Catholic Churches where the supplicant makes a prayer, then lights a candle which continues to burn and maintains the prayer long after the supplicant has left the church.

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Be able to describe the entire incident in which Walter finds Brompton in the forest caves near Mbokothwe. (10)

[Need help?]

This is just a question of reading the relevant pages and writing a summary.

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Walter feels sick when he sees Brompton's emaciated, naked body.

• Why does he have this reaction? (6)

[Need help?]

There are some pretty obvious reasons for Walter's reaction but you need too to consider the less obvious: the realisation that this could be Walter's own fate sometime in the future — a body befouled and emaciated, which has never seen the joy of sexual fulfilment.

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Explain clearly Pusey's attitude towards Brompton. (5)

[Need help?]

Remember that Pusey had within him the natural powers of divination. Such powers cannot be suppressed without serious consequences. Given that Brompton treated Pusey as an inferior and regarded his powers of divination as evil, it is natural that Pusey in turn would have reacted negatively to Brompton.

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Note the way in which Crispin confuses Christianity with traditional Xhosa beliefs. (5)

[Need help?]

This should be a pretty easy question. Crispin was obviously a Christian but he also held some Xhosa beliefs. What were these?

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Is there any significance in Frances's holding the bloodied bird? (6)

[Need help?]

Frances had been a virgin. That night when Victor had found her in his bedroom, he had thrust himself into her, suddenly, unexpectedly, and against her will. He would have damaged her physically, causing her to bleed. The following day she would have been distraught — and yet wracked with guilt because she had been indoctrinated into believing that it was always the woman who was to blame. The sin therefore was hers. Frances was therefore bleeding physically, psychologically and spiritually. When Victor thrusts the bleeding bird into her hands, the bird becomes the image of Frances's feelings: she is spiritually dead, and bleeding because of Victor's action. Can you imagine a more forlorn person — or image?

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