Country Lovers

Country Lovers
May 27, 2013
Nadine Gordimer wrote Country Lovers in 1975. This story is about a prohibited relationship between an African American girl and a Caucasian boy on a South African farm. (Clugston, 2010) Years ago a relationship between two people of the opposite ethnic group was frowned upon. I am going to explain why this story caught my interest, explain the reader response method, and I plan to assess the story I chose using the reader response method.

I chose Country Lovers by Nadine Gordimer because I love romance and mystery stories that are full of suspense and drama. Country Lovers is one of those short stories that have romance, suspense, and drama. Thebedi and Paulus are the main characters in this story. Thebedi and Paulus grew up together on Paulus father farm. (Gordimer, 1975) Thebedi and Paulus were childhood friends who flirtation leads to them to have a sexual relationship. (Gordimer, 1975)

This story is full of suspense, drama, and romance. Thebedi had gotten pregnant from Paulus but she never told him. (Gordimer, 1975) She married another man he was a member of her tribe in South Africa. (Gordimer, 1975)When Paulus returned, he found out that she had married another man and had a baby. (Gordimer, 1975)

The baby that Thebedi gave birth too was Paulus baby. (Gordimer, 1975) Paulus did not know that Thebedi daughter was his. (Gordimer, 1975) Paulus thought that she had gotten pregnant from her husband. Paulus was very emotional and suicidal.

The passion in this story had my attention to the very end. It had some shocking details. The prohibited romance theme was great because it was something that others could relate too. Racial prejudice is something that still goes on today.

The analytical method I chose to use is reader response. The reader response method is a literary theory that focuses mainly on the person reading the story or his or her understanding. (Clugston, 2010) The reader response method is the mostly used method there is. (Clugston, 2010) You cannot depend only on your feelings and judgment as you expand your critical paper. (Clugston, 2010)

I have been using the reader response method for years. I did not know the name of the method but before I start reading, a book I tend to read the back of the book to see if it was something that would interesting to read. I think that the reader response method is the best method to use in literature. It lets you account for your point of view by finding a detailed characteristic of the literary work that makes you think the way you do (Clugston, 2010)

This story had me upset and sad at the same time. The reason I was upset was that two people who was in love could not be together because of their color. They had to go their separate ways because they knew that that could not be together. What made me sad was to see how upset Paulus was to see that his childhood friend and lover Thebedi got married to someone else and had a baby. (Gordimer, 1975)

In addition, I have not been in a situation like Paulus and Thebedi but I do know how it feels to be in love with someone that you could not marry. I felt sorry for Paulus to have a child that you did not know about, and then to be accused of murdering that child has to be the worst thing in the world to go through. Paulus was found not guilty of murdering Thebedi baby. (Gordimer, 1975) Thebedi and Paulus friendship could not be repaired because of what happened to Thebedi baby. (Gordimer, 1975)

In conclusion, Nadine Gordimer wrote a great story that some people could relate too. Country Lovers had the suspense, drama, and romance that I love. I explained why this story caught my interest; described the reader response method, and assess the story that I chose using the reader response method.

REFERENCES

Clugston, W. R. (2010). Journey Into Literature. San Diego, California: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Gordimer, N. (1975). Country Lovers by Nadine Gordimer, an Analysis. Retrieved from Country Lovers by Nadine Gordimer, an Analysis: http://leecustodio.hubpages.com/hub/Country-Lovers-an-Analysis