Republic of the Philippines

SULTAN KUDARAT STATE UNIVERSITY

College of Teacher Education
ACCESS Campus, EJC Montilla, Tacurong City

Dimalanta, Jehan Athena C. BSED ENG 3B

The Ultimate Safari

Nadine Gordimer's short story "The Ultimate Safari" is about a Mozambican

family who embarks on a trip as refugees to escape the atrocities of war in their

homeland. The account is told by an anonymous young girl, the family's middle child,

who chronicles the events of the family's flight to South Africa. There are no names

given to any of the characters in the story. Gordimer disclosed at a South African

university seminar shortly after the publication of "The Ultimate Safari" in Granta in

1989 that it was based on her personal experiences visiting a camp populated almost

entirely by Mozambican refugees.

A little girl relates her experience of fleeing her hometown due to violence and

robbers in her hamlet in Nadine Gordimer's short story "The Ultimate Safari." The

youngster and her family face various difficulties on their route to a refugee camp with

her siblings and grandparents. Still, she appears to be optimistic about the future

despite her lack of understanding of war. The child narrator's naive narration in "The

Ultimate Safari" gives a sense of hope in the story that would be lost if the narrator

were an adult voice.

There are a few points to remark in terms of literary analysis regarding "The

Ultimate Safari's" short story. Nadine Gordimer's short story "The Ultimate Safari" talks
about the challenges of dividing race and ethnicity among Mozambicans. The short

story's narrator emphasizes the segregation of colored and non-colored people and

how racial prejudice was quite evident at the time, with people being treated differently

depending on their race. The family in the story was obliged to comply with

segregation because they had no other option. As a result, they experienced

numerous problems that negatively impacted their way of life. The young girl's

experiences while traveling through Kruger Park in "The Ultimate Safari" illustrate the

family's injustices and the harsh realities of being maltreated.

The story's racial segregation is most evident when the young girl and her

family think that they are less worthy than the white characters because of how society

regards them. When they were severely undernourished after their long journey

through Kruger Park, a woman encouraged them to scavenge any remaining food

from the camp's "dustbins." They looked to feel unworthy of asking for actual food

from the camp since they thought they could only get leftover crumbs from the

garbage. They were desperate for food, but they didn't ask for anything since they

were afraid of what would happen if they were caught and continued to hunger. The

fact that they couldn't even ask for food that wasn't even being used demonstrates

how separated the individuals were, as interaction with one another, let alone sharing

food, was not possible.

Because of how much society has discriminated against them, the young girl

and her family grew to believe they were less worthy than the white people in the

story. It is evident throughout the story when the narrator and her family degrade

themselves by comparing themselves to animals such as hyenas. When they "gazed

at each other in the dark," the young girl observed the hyena's "large brown gleaming

eyes" and likened them to her own. She believes she is more like a hyena than a

person because they all think they must act like animals to survive. One of the

problematic aspects of crossing Kruger Park was the risk of being discovered by the

police or bandits. Thus, they were compelled to imitate animal behavior to hide and

protect themselves. They were afraid of being found since they knew they would be

discriminated against and maltreated due to their skin color and ethnic group.

The narrator describes their existence as they go through Kruger Park using

various literary devices. Because of how she portrayed how differently they lived and

were treated, the language employed throughout shows that there is a lot of racial

segregation. The young girl claims that her troop "walked at night as well as by day"

and that she could "smell the smoke and meat" that the white folks at the camp were

cooking via olfactory imagery. The short story is told from the perspective of a young

girl who remains optimistic while facing significant challenges such as losing her

house to invaders and not knowing where her parents are. However, her optimism

during such a painful period reflects her innocence and naivety, both of which are

associated with her youth. The fact that she can recognize the different treatment

people receive depending on skin color at such a young age demonstrates how

segregated their culture is. Society has already taught her how to act and live by her

ethnic group at such a young age before she is even sophisticated enough to

understand why.
 My Country (For Mandela)

This poem represents the reality that a child without enough understanding of
how cruel the world is could misinterpret what was happening in the surroundings. The
child in the poem misunderstood her parents' separation as he was naive about what
was going on back then. The poem is tightly linked with the life experience of Zindzi
Mandela when her father was taken away as a political convict. As a young child,
Mandela did not understand anything. The poem starts with the child going home with
tears in his eyes and seeing how his mother put on an ungenuine smile after his father
left his mother. Never did he know that his father was taken away and that he did not
leave his mother purposely at all. He was clueless, but he knew he wanted his father to
come back, and he longed for him.

The literary poem utilizes brief words making it easy to grasp and understand
what was going on. However, because it was brief, it lacks some detailedness that
makes the readers couldn't get a hold of what to visualize in the poem. The line,
"Smoke fills the location" is not followed by any supporting details, making it difficult to
comprehend why there was smoke in the area. Now, the following line says, "Tears
come to my eyes", "I wipe them away". What was the reason why he shed tears? Is it
because of the smoke? Some of the questions that the readers could develop while
reading the first part of the poem as it lacks details. But this is the style of the poem, and
that is only to highlight the vital parts towards the end on how the father is taken away
from his family.

The mother in the poem is described as having "Black hard-washing hands,"

which means a hard-working Black woman that gives the reader an overview of the
mother's personality. The words used are not logical, but it suits the poem as it lets the
reader analyze the word's meaning. The poem continued, "A forceful smile from A tired
face". This shows that although he was still a child, he still knows that his mother was
only putting on a smile for him not to worry. This displays the love of the mother to her
child, as even she is tired, she still tries to smile at his child despite also her husband
being jailed. When the child picked up the picture of his father, his mother looked away.
Although the child does not fully understand, he is still aware that there is something
wrong, only he interprets the situation differently.

The child believes that his father separates from his mother purposely, even if he
is not. This is an excellent representation of a child who experiences this kind of
situation. However, there is also a child who can already understand and interpret a
real-life situation and problem correctly, but usually; most of the child does not have the
capability to understand complex things, especially if they are not being talked about it.
When the van pulls away, as stated by the child, his mother firmly accepts the reality
and watches her husband going far away. The child feels pain, and he wants to caress
his father. Thinking he will be back someday. The poem is conveyed in the present
time, so the poem is timely. The poem includes what happened before and after the
child's father was taken away, so the readers can know the child's perception and
experience. Furthermore, the poem leaves a great lesson and enlightenment on how
these kinds of situations (e.g., taking the parents away) affected not only the adults but
also the children. Although the poem is not organized chronologically as there are gaps
and many fast forwards, it was indeed a masterpiece based on its content and context,
especially its implication towards society. However, the author could have added more
details to the poem to let us dig deep more about the poem's message.