...The short story “The Guilt” is written by Rayda Jacobs and it describes a confrontation between two people from different races. The story takes place in South Africa in a time which includes danger and ignorance. It is a story from the post-apartheid South Africa; the period has infected the story which was based on discrimination on the basis of race, gender, religion and color. Apartheid was also a formal system of the racial segregation which divided its people; in this instance is it the white contra the black people who make its focus. The themes in the story concern danger and guilt in a society which includes violence and crime of the inhabitants, especially the white people are in serious trouble if they are going outside or at the streets in Centrum. It is told in third-person narration which provides the greatest flexibility to the author and that is the reason why it is the most commonly used narrative mode in literature. The main character in the short story is Lillian Thurgwood who is a widow and through the hole story gives us the impression of an old and lonely woman against the world around her through different incidents of her life. The writer, Rayda Jacobs, has sketched jock (her late husband) as having a big influence on her life in a way that the strength of her courage and the way she overcomes the challenges of her life to the readers very clear. Lillian lives in security with her two dogs, Tembi, and Tor, who guard and give her the sense of being secured...
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...Essay about ”The Guild” Summary “The Guilt” is a short story written of Rayda Jacobs. The story is about a confrontation between a young black boy and an old woman. At one day, she got tricked by the young black boy called William, who offered his work to her. She said no, so he asked about a donation, where after he got five rand. After this he were tricky and said, that he insist to work for the money. After he was done with the work he wanted more money. He said that the five rand were a donation and she now had to pay him for his work. But Lilian would not pay him and said that he should leave the house. After he would not leave the house Lilian took her pistol and threatened him and said that she will shoot him, if he came to her house again. Later that day, when Lilian was in her bed, she started to think about her dead husband so she started to cry. Characterization of the main characters The main characters in the story are the old woman Lilian, which also is a widow and the young black guy William, who try to trick Lilian. Lilian lives in a big house, she is not alone, because she has her two dogs, which are watching here. They work as a security man, so Lilian can feel safety. But she is not feeling safety enough; why else should she have her dead husbands’ gun in her bed. William Apparently “ The Guilt” might seem to be a story of an old woman’s crisis and its solution. But inner meaning, Rayda Jacobs has tried to reveal the eternal promises and responsibilities...
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...The Guilt The guilt is written by Rayda Jacobs, who was born in South Africa on the sixth of March 1947. As very young she started writing, and already at the age of 12 years old, she had her first story published. The short story is about a confrontation between a black guy, and a white woman named Lillian Thurgood. She is the main character, and it’s at her house the confrontation takes place. Lillian is an elderly woman, and lives alone because her husband Jock had passed away. She has two dogs, Tembi and Tor. A black guy named William Sidlayi asks for work, but instead Lillian just donates a five rand coin to him. He insists to work for the money, and somehow he persuades Lillian, to let him rake the leaves. After finishing his work in the garden he claims that the five rand was a donation, and that Lillian owes him 10 rand for the work. Lillian refuses, and at that point she realizes that the only thing between her safety, and his will was the two dogs. She sets the dogs on him, and in the meantime she finds Jock’s revolver. She forces William out of her premises and warns him that she will pull the trigger next time. In the evening she places the revolver under Jock’s pillow, and cries herself to sleep. The setting in the story is very dynamic, as it takes place in South Africa just after apartheid. Apartheid was a time with racial segregation between blacks and whites. The whites lived rich and wealthy in big houses, while blacks lived poorly in townships...
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