Genre
Novel
Setting and Context
The novel is written in the context of the immorality Act of 1927.
Narrator and Point of View
Third-person narrative
Tone and Mood
Informative, hopeful
Protagonist and Antagonist
Niki is the main character in the story.
Major Conflict
The main conflict is when Niki is arrested for giving birth to a mixed-race child who breaks the apartheid rules. Africans are prohibited from having sex with whites, and Niki is found to have broken that rule.
Climax
The climax is when Niki is raped by a white man and realises that she is in high demand among the white men.
Foreshadowing
The protagonist’s illegal sexual encounters with the white men foreshadowed the end of apartheid rule.
Understatement
The sexual harassment act is understated in the novel. For instance, blacks are prohibited from having sex with white people, but white men are in the front line sexually harassing black women.
Allusions
The story alludes to the lethal aspects of the apartheid rule in South Africa against the blacks.
Imagery
The author uses sight imagery to describe Niki's beauty which drove white men nuts and increased their desire to have sex.
Paradox
The main paradox is that Father Claerhout asks women to stand naked in front of him for painting purposes. According to Christianity principles the actions of this priest are immoral.
Parallelism
Apartheid rule parallel’s Niki’s defiance to achieve her sexual goals.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
Painting is incarnated as a human evil act.
