Genre
Novel
Setting and Context
The novel is set in Johannesburg, South Africa, in the year 1979, written in the context of apartheid.
Narrator and Point of View
Third-person narrative
Tone and Mood
Enlightening and insightful
Protagonist and Antagonist
Rosa Burger is the central character.
Major Conflict
The major conflict is that anybody having a contrary opinion against apartheid rules is tormented, jailed and sometimes killed. The protagonist’s parents died in prison because they were anti-apartheid protesters. However, the killing of her parents does not stop Rosa Burger from participating in a revolution against apartheid.
Climax
The climax comes when Rosa decides to leave Paris and go back to South Africa to join other Anti-apartheid protesters to end the brutal rule against Africans.
Foreshadowing
The brutality of the apartheid rule foreshadowed the killings of white settlers in South Africa by blacks.
Understatement
Rosa Burger's efforts to fight apartheid government are understated. Besides being a wanted person by the authorities, Rosa's passport had restrictions, and the state closely monitored her. However, none of these threats prevented Rosa from participating in a revolution against apartheid.
Allusions
The story alludes to the brutality of apartheid rule and the blacks' sufferings in South Africa.
Imagery
Riots and chaos that were rampant during the apartheid rule depict sight imagery. Readers can see the segregation that Africans were subjected to, which forced them to resist the white man's rule.
Paradox
The main paradox is that the black revolution lists against apartheid did not recognize the efforts of Rosa because she was not black. According to the black revolutionists, no white person could understand the problems the Africans were going through.
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
Apartheid is a metonymy for segregation against black people.
Personification
N/A
