The two goats (Symbol)
The two goats are symbolic because they represent the loneliness of the narrator and his brother. The narrator and his siblings were taken to live with their grandmother in the village. Unfortunately, their grandmother was not gentle or cheerful because she was always strict. The narrator and his brother felt lonely and desperate because they needed company and compassion. However, when the narrator's parents bought two goats, he was delighted that the goats would understand that their company was crucial. The narrator says, “My parents bought two goats. I was happy because the animals seemed to understand that we needed their company, my brother, and I." The goats seemed to be the solution to the narrator's loneliness because the goats appeared to be more understanding than his grandmother.
The School (Symbol)
The narrator uses school to mean suffering and physical pain symbolically. The school is not a conducive environment for two main reasons. Firstly, it is very far, and the narrator had to skip some days. Secondly, the teachers were ruthless and punished learners by caning them unnecessarily. The narrator says, "I started to detest the whole idea of school. I came to associate it with physical pain - with the rod, which the teachers applied liberally as a panacea for teaching and organizational ills.” The narrator also argues that he hated school than anything else in his life because it was full of torture rather than encouraging learners to pursue education.
The communal fireplace
The communal fireplace is figuratively used by the author to represent male supremacy and dominance in society. The narrator says that women are not allowed around the communal fireplace because it is reserved for boys and men. The only time women are allowed to come close to the communal fireplace is when they bring food during supper. The author writes, "The communal fireplace. Men and boys of the village met here to talk about important things and trifles, away from women and girls. The only time women and girls were allowed to come near was when they brought supper in calabashes." This symbol implies that women are not allowed to listen to the important matters regarding the village, but young boys are allowed to attend. Therefore, the emblem clearly illustrates male dominance in this society.
The allegory of the Black man
The story told by Old Segone paints a picture of the immoral mistreatment of the black man by the whites during the era of apartheid in South Africa during the early 19th century. It is not ethical to treat fellow people as lesser beings. The whites perfected the ideology that they are superior to blacks, and all the good things in life belong to the whites. Segnon says, "The Black man must enter the white man's house through the back door. The Black man does most of the dirty work. When a white man who has not gone far in school is given such work, he says, 'I am not a kaffir!' A black man cleans the streets but must not walk freely on the pavement…..." Consequently, it was not ethical for the whites to mistreat the Blacks because they are also human beings who deserve respect.
Mecca (symbol)
Mecca is emblematically used by the author to mean the land of opportunities. The narrator compares Pretoria to Mecca because all well-built young men from the village migrate to Pretoria to look for jobs. Those men who went to the city come to their homes in December with good clothes, shoes, and other goodies, illustrating that they are coming from a city of opportunities. The author says, "The young able-bodied men were leaving the village to seek work in answer to the call of the city. Vaguely I understood that Pretoria was Mecca. At Christmas-time, they came back in dashing clothes: trousers with wide sweeping pipes, shoes with harp pointed fronts; hats with small brims………"
