Shades

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Another critical point is reached in the story.

The drought is broken. With the sudden rains, a flood of a different nature devastates Frances's life. She, Helmina and Benedict come across the starving mother of Dorcas, abandoned by Kobus Pumani and forced to live on roots — and from food which Dorcas can pilfer from the mission.

Back at St Matthias, Emily Farborough appears unconcerned with this injustice because she has received other desperate news, namely that Benedict has been "visiting" Dorcas Pumani. Emily decides to send Dorcas away, and to punish Benedict. Frances is so angry that she confesses that she and Victor have committed the identical sin of having had sexual intercourse.

Was Frances at all responsible for her sexual encounter with Victor?

Many would answer with a glib "Yes!" After all, she admits she knew about sex. It was, she said, all around her on the mission station and in the unwanted babies that were left abandoned at the church door. And, following Victor's lead, she had also ridiculed Helmina's prudish warnings on this subject.

Finally, she believed herself guilty. And there lies the problem! Frances HERSELF says she is guilty!

But are we to believe her? Think about it carefully. Frances went to Victor's room for no other reason than to see whether or not his clothes were there. She did NOT expect to find Victor in his room, and certainly did NOT intend to have sexual intercourse with him.

Remember this: she felt guilty about the fact that she had allowed Victor to kiss her down at the stream! Is it likely she would willingly consent to his going further? And another thing — she never allowed him to kiss her again.

Since that day when Walter had caught Victor and Frances together at the stream, Frances's affections towards Victor had become distinctly icy. Victor was beginning to treat her as a conquest, while she felt most guilty because she had allowed him to kiss her.

On the day when Victor discovered Walter and Frances together at the piano, it was very clear to him that a bond was growing between the two. Victor was about to leave for Johannesburg and he knew very well that, within a very short time, he would lose her to his rival.

The only way he could prevent that was to trap her into having sexual intercourse with him. By Victorian standards, such a deed would constitute marriage in her mind. Frances would therefore be his forever — and he could go to Johannesburg knowing that she would wait for him.

On the fateful day in question, Victor had to journey into King William's Town. Before leaving, he attempted to win her affections but she was deliberately curt towards him.

He responded by suggesting that he might not come home but might rather proceed directly to Grahamstown — and then to Johannesburg. She might not see him again.

His reply intended to provoke a reaction from her but he received none — just a cool, uncaring reply. No outward reaction whatever.

Victor then played a game with her. He knew she would worry about him. He therefore deliberately returned home very late that night, making sure that her emotions would be stretched to breaking point.

He guessed she would rush to welcome him back — and he would have her alone to himself, late at night and with no one to interrupt.

On his way back from King, he ran various scenarios over and over through his mind of what would happen when they met. Each ended in the same way — with his taking her virginity and claiming her as his possession.

Victor was quite correct. Frances was indeed worried — helped on by her mother who repeatedly suggested the possibility of Hector having gone lame, or perhaps had an accident.

It was now late at night. Frances was in her nightdress but could not sleep. Eventually she decided to go to Victor's bedroom to check in his cupboard to see whether or not his clothes were there.

The point is that she wanted to settle in her own mind whether he had gone directly to Grahamstown, or whether he was late in returning home — and therefore the possibility of an accident.

If his clothes were indeed missing, it would mean he had packed and headed for Grahamstown and Johannesburg. If his clothing was still there, however, it meant he was supposed to be coming home and might be even now lying in the dark somewhere — injured, or even dead.

Victor caught her in his bedroom. He was correct. Her relief at seeing him sent her into his arms. For her it meant no more than a huge sisterly hug of relief — and the knowledge that she had won her game because he could not leave without saying goodbye to her.

He, however, used the opportunity (as he has been mentally planning the whole way home) to help himself to her virginity.

Frances had no way of knowing the depths of depravity that Victor's game was taking him.

Did she willingly offer her body to him? Certainly not! "She neither thought nor feared," says Marguerite Poland.

Frances was not expecting sexual intercourse. The author points out that she quickly discovered his embrace was "too urgent".

And then there was the sudden pain of "UNEXPECTED" intercourse - "too sharp and unexpected", says the author.

It is true that she had a vague understanding of sex — but this was theoretical and not at all practical. She did not expect Victor to do that to her.

More importantly, she had certainly not give her consent!

Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?

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

In a good novel, nothing happens by accident.

• Why then does Marguerite Poland portray these graphic incidents as happening during a time of heavy rain? (4)

[Need help?]

Think of gloomy rainy days! What do they remind you of? Sadness? Sorrow? Tragedy? It's a common literary device to set events of great crisis, sadness and tragedy within the context of rain and thunder. The gloom of the conditions then reinforces the tragedy of the events. It is as if the heavens are weeping with the misfortunate of the characters.

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"Mzantsi went down the path towards the gate of the Farborough's garden and he opened it and went through, treading softly on the gravel path between the beds of flowers. Ragged crows tossed across the sky above him in the wind. He went, a lonely old man in a black alpaca coat."

• What has Benedict done to deserve being reported to Emily Farborough? (2)

[Need help?]

Benedict has of course broken the rules of the mission station by visiting Dorcas, and probably having sexual intercourse with her.

• Mzantsi is initially hesitant to report Benedict. Why? (2)

[Need help?]

Both missionaries at St Matthias (Charles Farborough and Walter Brownley) are absent and Mzantsi has no desire to confide in a woman.

• Why does Mzantsi eventually decide to report Benedict to Emily? (8)

[Need help?]

Mzantsi feels compelled to report Benedict because the young man has broken the rules of the mission station. But Mzantsi's own sense of guilt also comes into the question because he himself had had illicit sex when he was Benedict's age. His discovery that his chicken and two of his cabbages have been stolen also enters the equation. He is also aware that Benedict has changed since the incident at the dipping tank but he blames Dorcas for this change and therefore wishes to do something that will rid the mission station of her.

• Comment on the two images of the crows and of Mzantsi being a lonely old man. (4)

[Need help?]

The author uses these two images to make a useful comment on Mzanti's actions. First, crows are known as murderers and scavengers. Is Mzantsi not being portrayed in such a light — as a murderer who is about to destroy the well-being of several people by his actions: Dorcas and her mother, Benedict, Frances and Walter? Second, it is Mzantsi's loneliness and sexual frustration which ultimately propels him into action. Is it not really his jealousy at Benedict's youth and sexual prowess which drives him to report on his former friend?

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Why is it that Dorcas's mother has been reduced to abject poverty? (3)

[Need help?]

If you would remember, Dorcas's mother was Pumani's second wife who had allowed the inspectors into his kraal to innoculate his cattle. The cattle had subsequently died and Pumani blamed her for this. He decided to punish her by becoming a Christian, thus giving him the opportunity to repudiate her because a Christian is only allowed one wife.

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Comment on Helmina's part in the discourse between Frances and Dorcas's mother. (5)

[Need help?]

Despite being a Christian, Helmina seems irritated by Frances's concern for Dorcas's mother. At no time does she show any sympathy for the woman's plight but rather becomes agitated by the waste of time which means a danger of their getting wet. She also becomes agitated when Frances suggests that Dorcas and her mother ride in the wagon with them because the heavier weight in the wagon will slow their progress in the rain.

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Why does Frances confess to her mother that she and Victor have had sexual intercourse? (5)

[Need help?]

Frances is really angry with her mother who is more concerned with the theft of a cabbage and a chicken than the inhumanity of a man reducing his wife to abject poverty by becoming a Christian. She is also angry that her mother is not prepared to take a stand on the exploitation of young males by means of the labour recruitment system. When her mother then decides to punish both Benedict and Dorcas for their sexual conduct, Frances's anger overflows and she points out that, if her mother is going to punish them, then she and Victor must also be punished for doing precisely the same thing.

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What does Emily Farborough mean when she says to Benedict, "Am I to understand that that heathen vice that shields you from 'consequences' is practised, here on my mission, within sight of my church?" (4)

[Need help?]

Emily is referring to the concept of "mock intercourse" which Charles Farborough mentioned earlier. Her reasons for outrage are simple enough if you understand Victorian morality: Sex outside of marriage? Violation of hostel and mission rules? Stupidity for risking yet another unwanted baby? What do you think?

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"The tragedy of Frances's outburst to her mother is that Helmina witnesses her words."

• Why is this a tragedy? (5)

[Need help?]

Emily was totally bound up by her personal concept of morality. She might therefore have forced Frances to marry Victor anyway because, in terms of Victorian morality, Frances had already become married as soon as she did the marital thing of having sexual intercourse with Victor. Nevertheless, there was always a way out. As long as no-one else knew what Frances had done, it might be kept quiet — as long as Frances was not pregnant, of course. With Helmina knowing about it, however, there was now no chance of hushing it up. Frances had to marry Victor, and that was that!

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"Help me." Her hand reached out for Walter's.

"How?" His eyes were steady on hers.

"Undo my sin with Victor."

"By compounding it with another?" The sob was swelling in her throat. "I love you too much for that," he said.

• What does Frances want Walter to do? Explain. (4)

[Need help?]

What is Frances asking Walter to do? Is she suggesting that Walter hear her confession so that she could clear her conscience? Is she asking Walter to have sexual intercourse with her? Is she perhaps asking Walter to take away her sin by marrying her?

• What does Walter mean when he asks, "by compounding it with another?" (4)

[Need help?]

Even though confession would appear to have been an obvious inference, Walter does not seem to understand Frances as meaning this. It seems therefore that he understood that Frances was asking him either to have sex with her or to marry her. If so, however, it is rather strange. Did the Anglican priests at St Matthias believe in confession? One of the earlier priests whose picture donned the wall of the mission house (Fr William Greenstock) certainly did believe in confession. Indeed, he was banished from East London to St Matthias because of having heard the confessions of three convicted murderers!

• This is a critical moment in the relationship between Frances and Walter. Why? (4)

[Need help?]

This is a most critical moment for Frances and Walter. It is the first time that she confides in him, and runs to him for protection — even possibly asking Walter to marry her. It is also the first time that Walter confesses that he loves Frances. From now on, should circumstances arise, they would marry each other — but unfortunately she is already considered as married to Victor because of her sexual intercourse with him. Walter would therefore be committing the sin of adultery if he stood in Victor's way by marrying Frances or by having sexual intercourse with her.

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