Shades

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Victor's victory at the mine backfires when the mine authorities have Sonwabo arrested for sodomy. Tom and Reuben then run away.

In the meantime, Victor is anxious to enlist in the Imperial Army against the Boers and attempts to bully Crispin into enlisting with him. Crispin, however, feels a duty to stay behind to search for the Pumani brothers.

Conscription into the British army did not start until about World War II but before that there were immense pressures to force men to enlist voluntarily.

The usual method was to accuse them of cowardice. During the Great War (1914-1918), a white flower was often sent to non-enlisting men as a symbol that society regarded them as cowards.

Victor uses the accusation of cowardice against Crispin. He also tries emotional blackmail — that Crispin is letting everyone down. In short, that Crispin has become an embarrassment to both family and friends.

Crispin's response is interesting. He points out that, since Victor is not yet married to Frances, he is therefore not part of the family. This is a barb which would hurt Victor enormously because in reality Victor has no other "family" except the Farboroughs.

Many of course would have supported Victor's bullying tactics. On the other hand, many men refused to enlist. It was noted, for example, that thousands of the male refugees from the war refused to sign up, claiming that this was not their war.

Of course, Crispin was not to know this. His confusion as to whether to side with Victor or do the honourable thing of sticking by Tom and Reuben was therefore a very lonely internal battle.

In the long run, Crispin chooses the honourable course. Yet such a decision is not easy for a person who has never before shown much by way of moral fibre and who has always succumbed to Victor's bullying.

Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?

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

Sonwabo was arrested for sodomy.

• Why was this charge applied? (5)



• What evidence was there to convict him? (3)



• Was the evidence genuine? (3)



• Why did Sonwabo confess to sodomy? (4)

[Need help?]

Sonwabo would probably have confessed to anything once the ZAR police began torturing him. Their methods were known to be brutal and would have caused a gecko to confess to being a crocodile just to get them to stop the torture! Does the novel explain what exactly the police did to him?

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While dealing with Sowabo and the sodomy case, the author mentions a massive conspiracy that existed on the mines.

• What was that conspiracy? (5)

[Need help?]

The White officials on the mine each had vested interests, each earning extra money through illegal means. It was essential therefore that the authority of the indunas be supported, no matter how badly the indunas treated their underlings. A collapse in the authority of the indunas would lead to an investigation, which in turn would lead to an investigation of the White personnel and their probable arrest.

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What is Victor's reaction to Sonwabo's arrest? (4)

[Need help?]

Victor appears more perturbed about the fact that the authorities have found a way to get back at him rather than being worried about Sonwabo's arrest. He is prepared to do a bit of negotiation to get Sonwabo's prison sentence reduced but he is now far too busy with his own future — and his enlistment into the Imperial army — to worry about something that he regards as quite minor.

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Explain Victor's bullying attempts to get Crispin to enlist with him. (4)

[Need help?]

Victor is determined to get Crispin to enlist with him. At its heart is the fact that he is worried about the affect that Crispin's failure to enlist will have on his own reputation. He therefore tries a barrage of arguments ranging from not letting the family down, to accusations of cowardice.

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Why does Crispin choose not to enlist? (4)

[Need help?]

Unlike Victor, Crispin is more concerned with the well-being of other people, isn't he? Victor's appeals not to let the family down nearly get to him, but ultimately it is his responsibility to find Sonwabo — and to help all the Pumanis to return home — that makes him stay.

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Crispen's decision not to enlist, despite Victor's bullying tactics, reveals for the first time his decision to become independent of his "big brother" whom he had always hero-worshipped. Comment. (5)

[Need help?]

The entire story dwells on the fact that Crispin hero-worshipped Victor. He was always prepared to do anything that Victor asked. Several things, however, seem to have led Crispin to change his attitude towards Victor: The fact that Victor had caused him to get drunk and visit a prostitute; Victor's dating the Warburton woman despite the fact that he was engaged to Crispin's sister; Victor's apparent disregard for the fortunes of the Pumani boys.

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