'Life for a life' af Alan Paton, analyse

Apartheid is an African word meaning “apart” or “separate”. Apartheid is separation between the black and the white people. In this analysis we will focus on the relationship between the black and white people and the themes in the short story and two themes.

In ”Life for a life” blacks and whites lives in totally different lifestyles. The whites live in big houses and the blacks live in small stone houses, which are cramped and like shelters. Black people have no rights and just a little bit freedom; the blacks are employed on the Kroon farm as shepherds, laborers and servants.

The blacks hate the whites and are afraid of them, but they are unable to stand up for themselves. The blacks have to be polite and respectful even when they get provoked, they can not show their feelings, and we can see that in page 27 “But as befitted people in their station, with salutes and deference.” The white people take advanced of the black people being a minority; they feel like they can say what they want to the black people because the black people don’t have anything to say at all. “Someone must pay for so terrible a crime, and if not the one who did it, then who better than the one who could not grieve?” (s. 27) he refers to the black women because she is not sad about her husband's death. The white people think that it is the black people who killed the rich farmer, because they do not like them, asking questions “Don’t you hate him”, made the whites think that the black killed the farmer. Sara seems afraid when she talks with the detective “Did you think i was insulting your husband? No bass” (s. 32) she answers with short words when they are talking, and she ends her sentence with, bass maybe for showing respect. The police are not helpful for the blacks “The young policeman said to her with an angry voice: “we don’t answer such questions here”, if you want to ask such questions, get a lawyer. Good she said. I shall get a lawyer.” She want to bring a lawyer to find out something about her mans death because the police are not helpful. Robbertse is a racist “Robbertse smiled at her ingratiatingly. I only called him a creeping yellow hottentot bastard he said” (s. 32) He is cruel and he thinks it is okay, because he said “I only “. Another example subservience of the blacks is when Sara is feeling angry about the way her husband was treated.