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Marguerite Poland's

Shades

Possible essay questions

Dr Keith Tankard
Knowledge4Africa.com
Updated: 25 November 2006
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Here are some possible essay questions for Shades. Work through them so as to be able to answer anything that might come your way.

HINT: Do NOT criticise the book in a negative way. Always be positive. The examiner wants to see whether or not you have understood the book, whereas badly presented negative criticism tends to indicate that you did not understand it at all.

  1. What did you as a teenager learn from the novel? What were its highlights? What were its weaknesses? (HINT: Concentrate on the positive aspects rather than on weaknesses!)


  2. Would you recommend that this book be set again as a matric setwork? Explain your reasons. (HINT: Do NOT say no!)


  3. Is Shades a good love story? Is it only a love story? (HINT: Of course it's a good love story but there's a lot more to Shades than just the romance bit!)


  4. Why is the book called Shades? To what extent are the characters in the book determined by forces beyond their control (e.g. fate, the spirits, predestination)?


  5. To what extent is Victor a manipulative person? Be able to quote all instances of where he manipulated people: Frances, Walter, Benedict, the Pumani brothers, Crispin, his Aunt Emily, etc.


  6. Although Frances says she was guilty of the sin of sex with Victor, was this really true? Was she not merely a victim?


  7. Be able to trace the growing love between Frances and Walter. Explain how each allowed obstacles to come in the path of their love. How did it all resolve itself?


  8. Why did Frances accept her mother's demand that she marry Victor? Be able to explain why it was that Frances slowly changed her mind about her love for Victor.


  9. Explain why it was that the Pumani brothers were recruited to the mines. What was the consequence of this for each of them? What hardships did each go through?


  10. Explain Crispin's death. Show the evolution of Crispin's life from a person totally manipulated by Victor, his own desires and insecurities, the evolution of his distrust for Victor, his attempts to find Sonwabo and return the other brothers to the mission, and finally his suicide beside the isivivane cairn.


  11. Explain the evolution of Walter's life at the mission, his decision to leave before the Shades took hold of him, his growing love for Frances and the frustrations involved, his move to Mbokothwe, his decision to leave the missions and the priesthood, and his change of mind after his accidental meeting with Frances in Grahamstown.


  12. Discuss Helmina Smythe's background, the reason for her arrival on the mission, her search for a husband, her attempts to get in the way of the growing affection between Walter and Frances.


  13. Explain the problems which Benedict faced on the missions, his discovery that he was no longer isiXhosa yet not accepted into the Farborough family, his attempted liberation through writing for the Xhosa newspapers and his eventual decision to leave the mission in search of a new beginning.


  14. Discuss the various crises on the mission station and how these affected the people: the drought, the rinderpest, the Boer War, and finally the conscription of people to the mines.


  15. Discuss the events on the Mbokothwe mission: Walter's first meeting with Brompton, his return to the mission to find Brompton, his eventual life at Mbokothwe as mission priest.


  16. Contrast the attitudes of the different missionaries: Charles Farborough, Walter Brownley, Hubert Brompton.
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  17. Contrast the attitudes of Charles Farborough with those of his wife, Emily. How did they differ in their view of mission life, and their view of the suitability of Victor and Frances as marital partners? Explain how it was that Emily was so bitter and insisted that accepted morality had to be applied to the last letter.


  18. Is Shades a good novel? Explain why. (HINT: the answer is YES, it is a very good novel! Any attempt to argue otherwise will indicate your lack of taste and your inability to understand good fiction.)


  19. Would Walter and Frances have made good marital partners? Why would Helmina Smythe NOT have made a good wife?


  20. In what way were Emily Farborough, her daughter Frances, and Helmina Smythe the products of Victorian morality?
    21. Go to the Shades homepage?

    See also:


  21. What is meant by Capitalism and Racism? How do each of these differ from Colonialism?


  22. In what way did Victor Drake and Harold Stanbridge reveal capitalistic and racist tendencies?

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