Six Feet of the Country

“The farm hasn’t managed that for us, of course, but it has done other things, unexpected, illogical.”

This quote contextualizes the main events of the story and the internal conflict between the cultural populations. The protagonist believes the farm is secure from the racial tensions of the city, but the farm ironically brings the political mindsets of the time to the forefront, given how the unfolding events on the farm symbolize the white populations’ apathy and racism toward Black individuals.

“And for a moment I accept the triumph as I had managed it.”

Gordimer details the protagonist’s mindset regarding his and Lerice’s separation from racial tensions in the city. However, the idea that racial tension doesn’t exist in the countryside thanks to the “feudal” distance is ironically disproven when current apartheid politics derail the young man’s funeral.

“When Johannesburg people speak of ‘tension,’ they don’t mean hurrying people in crowded streets, the struggle for money, or the general competitive character of city life. They mean the guns under the white men’s pillows and the burglar bars on the white men’s windows. They mean those strange moments on city pavements when a [B]lack man won’t stand aside for a white man.”

This quote alludes to the political separation and racial hostility caused by apartheid in South Africa in the 1950s. This is part of the story’s exposition as the protagonist elaborates on his motivations for moving to the countryside, but the vaguely sarcastic tone with the phrase “strange moments” also shows how the protagonist resents apartheid. His resentment will reappear when he describes the police sergeant as “dull witted.”