Country Lovers by Nadine Gordimer

813 Words4 Pages
Country Lovers Should laws be passed if they will be broken? Ever since humans existed and got organized into social groups , there have been laws regulating them and thus providing an acceptable frame of behavior. This does not mean that all social organizations have always been fair. In fact, the world history is “plagued” with examples of unjust communities where laws have been issued to benefit certain social groups to the detriment of others. It is under circumstances like these that laws are likely to be questioned and disobeyed. The Apartheid system imposed in South Africa from 1944 to 1990 is a perfect example of a misconceived unfair society based on racial segregation. Whites ruled the country and the native black population was subjugated and exploited. Under those circumstances, breaking laws was commonplace but the question raised was: should those outlaws be considered criminals? The answer to this depends on two aspects: the nature of the crime itself and one´s sanity. Nobody in their right mind can accept crimes against humanity just as nobody should accept the idea that some humans can abuse on members of their own species. The short story “Country Lovers” is a good example of the consequences that challenging ridiculous laws may have on their lives. The main characters belonged to separate worlds: Paulus was a white farmer´s son and Thebedi was a black labourer´s daughter. They grew up in the farm and were used to playing together until Paulus went to boarding school. Since then, they grew apart but still shared some moments together when he came back for the holidays. These meetings led to their making love and an unwanted baby being born. Thebedi accepted her daughter but Paulus rudely murdered her. There was a trial but he was acquitted. Human society has always been ruled by both:
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