Summary Of Tell Freedom By Peter Abraham
Analysis of the Theme of Oppression in Peter Abraham’s Tell Freedom (1954)
Peter Abrahams writes the Novel to expose the pitiable and inhuman conditions to which the non-whites are subjected: poverty, disease, hunger, dirt, and ignorance are their lot. In Tell Freedom, Peter Abrahams means to talk of freedom for the oppressed non-whites who are deprived of their fundamental human rights.
Again Abrahams expresses his disillusionment in which the blacks are so oppressed that they are like prisoners. They are subjected to restrictions, obnoxious pass and labour laws, they cannot say or write what they want to, they cannot participate in politics or even contribute to policies concerning them. Under these conditions, Abraham seeks a conducive atmosphere in which he can bring about all these problems to the attention of the world.
A clear picture of the theme of oppression is seen in the character of Uncle Sam who works on the white man’s farm and at the end of the day, he brings home a big bundle of the white man’s laundry for his wife Aunt Liza to do. This is part of an effort to hold on to a job that is their only source of income. The black labour conditions discussed above are possible because the blacks lack a proper medium through which they can table their problems. They can hardly come together to discuss issues of common interest. At work, they are not allowed to form trade unions. Also, when Lee’s condition deteriorates and his sister Maggie forces him to resign his job in a hotel, he is not paid for the weeks he worked, as such Abraham is not in support of this act of “oppression”.
Socio-Political Oppression in Tell Freedom
Tell Freedom is set in South Africa in the 1920s and 1930 a period in which racism had already taken roots in society. In this period a number of legislations legitimizing the system of apartheid have already been affected. Blacks and other non-European racial groups are completely marginalized from the political arrangements upon which the society is based. Social, economic, political, and cultural programmes are tailored to serve the benefits of the white minority. By use of superior firepower, the whites have been able to successfully subjugate other groups like blacks, coloured and Indians to their control. Consequently, Africans are not permitted to live in the cities and must carry a “pass” to be allowed to move.
Tell Freedom realizes this situation in the life of Jim, the hotel worker. Again, the Novel focuses on the wretched social system that inflicts so much pain and deprivation on some of its members. The conditions of the Indians who came to work in the sugar plantations, the coloured, and the blacks whose land was stolen are shown to be full of frustration and bitterness hence the prevalent violence.
Moreover, Abraham recalls his sad experiences and risks his life in the process of trying to obtain his freedom. The slums as locations meant for the blacks are indicative of the poverty the black man knows. Black settlements like Malay camp Vendedor and eating spots like “the burning meat” capture much of this poverty as we see blacks continue to compete for breathing spaces with flies. The shanty homes that make up these places are swamped with people who live in poverty and hunger, sickness, misery, and insecurity. Securing the past and money become the only strong weapons with which the blacks man can survive.
Hence, the economic deprivation that is evident in the people’s poverty is equally heart-tending. The whole life of the blacks depends on efforts to survive. For instance, when young Lee goes and lives with his aunt Liza and uncle Sam at Esburg his life is resolved into a routine. He was up early to fetch water which Aunt Liza uses for the white man’s laundry. She does this to support her husband’s position as a labourer on the white man’s farm. These menial jobs are to be taken seriously if they have to survive.
Summary Of Tell Freedom By Peter Abraham
Again, throughout Lees’ stay with Aunt Liza the food is the same every day “dollop of pap, a spoonful of moeroga and a piece of cracking”.
Also, Peter starts working early in life, he is exploited, he resumes work before dawn and closes at dusk hardly seeing daylight. The tedium affects his health and his sister Maggie steps in to stop him from work. As he leaves, the white boss refuses to pay him for the week he put in. Furthermore, the socio-political oppression in Tell Freedom is shown below:
- Occupation: The grow-ups: No meaningful occupation, except the Indians who own shops, mass unemployment, women work as house-maids. Examples: Aunty Liza (Peter’s Mother) Aunt Betty, Aunt Mattie.
- Boys: Like others they are idle, the big indulge in waylaying small boys and sending them on forced begging. They smoke dagga, and dice for money as seen in Harry’s case.
- Children: No schooling, loiter about in the streets stealing and begging as seen in the character of Peter’s gang. Generally dirty and neglected, with sores at the mouth indicating underfeeding.
- Sources of Happiness: Generally depressed but somewhat happy on:
- Saturday Night: Streets are crowded people go to the Bioscope (the theatre) houses where illicit liquor is sold are crowded-house boys besiege such places.
- Christmas Period – The week of glory:
- The only rally happy period: coons mounted.
- New year spent in a wooded green place, away from Vrede dorp
- Environment:
- Streets: mean, narrow, dirty, crowded, and noisy with children half-naked playing in the gutters and struggling over orange peels.
- House: small, dirty, and neglected as seen in the house where Peter’s mother was rejected as such others are just like the house Peter’s mother lived in.
- The people and the law: The blacks live in fear of police laws strict and severe for the blacks. The blacks sell illicit liquor which is a serious offense in South Africa, as such it is a calamity if one is caught as seen in Harry’s case and Aunt Mattie’s case.
- Mass illiteracy: Government is indifferent to the people education, they spend only one million pounds on the population of eight million people
There are very few schools and these are not equipped, no seats and no writing materials. The primary school Peter attended is a good example – Peter had to write on a broken slate and occupies the only vacant seat of a pupil who has withdrawn from school.
Education falls on the missionaries – some communities establish their own cape flats school is a good case. Educational statistics – 6.5% of the people receive primary education, 2.4% post-primary education.
Summary Of Tell Freedom By Peter Abraham
Consequences – it is because of lack of education the people are kept down and in darkness, the effect of education on Peter illustrates this point.
Poverty: This is as a result of deliberate underdevelopment. The people have no education and cannot enter into any meaningful engagement. The blacks were employed in very mean capacities and very poorly paid. As such, the few who have education are deliberately denied employment as seen in the character of Peter who was denied of employment.
Again, the consequences are:
Squalid dwellings – Aunt Lina’s house is a good example of which the street was not planned, as such the street was narrow and dirty.
Children half-naked and underfed: They have sores at the corners of the mouth which is evidence of underfeeding. The struggle over orange peels in the gutters and stealing from Indian shops, meals to the poor – meals in Uncle Sam’s house at Elsburg is a good example.
Social Segregation: The blacks carry passes; any black caught without a pass is treated as a vagrant and jailed. Jim tells Peter that “Life is ruled by pieces of paper” the white have special buses which are strictly outbound to non-Europeans as seen in the character of Peter the protagonist who was pushed out of the bus in one occasion. The good things of life Peter sum it “is reserved for Europeans only” as such non-whites are physically barred from certain places.
General Attitude
(I) The non-whites are treated with brutality by the police as seen in the case of Harry, and the experience of Peter when he went on coal-hunting.
(ii) Non-whites treated as animals by the white civilians: Good examples as seen in the case of Peter’s mother’s bad experience in which she received burns in the course of her duty but her white employer showed no sympathy; she told Lin “I can’t help it, if she is careless enough to get hurt. She can’t ask for a penny from me”
(iii) Aunt Betty was sacked by her employer because she wanted someday off to be with Aunt Lina who was in trouble. In a nutshell, the non-whites have no identity and therefore are not human beings: they are deprived of fundamental human rights. It is in the light of this plight that Peter Abrahams calls for freedom.
The Effect of Oppression in South Africa as portrayed in Tell Freedom
The sub-title demands a careful examination of the psychological effects of the subjugation on non-whites. What are the non-whites compelled to do in the face of this deprivation and oppression?
Lawlessness and Crimes
Experience shows that one of the immediate effects of subjugation of one group by another is an out-break of lawlessness and crimes. Vrededrop is a noisy, lawless, and criminally inclined society. Children at early age take to stealing as an occupation: Peter’s gang is just one of the numerous that exist. Even the white feel insecure hence one of the reasons behind issuing for passes to the blacks. The children themselves are not free, bigger boys waylay small boys and compel them to beg for them.
Summary Of Tell Freedom By Peter Abraham
Drunkenness and Excessive Smoking
Experience again shows that a frustrated man more often than not, takes to drinking or smoking or both. The atmosphere of Vrededorp is that of private houses to drink illicit liquor. The busiest night is Saturday night when Mine boys besiege the places where the illicit liquor is sold. To be more specific Aunt Betty a drunkard (dipsomania) and Aunt Mattie is a chain-smoker; Harry is a drunkard and a heavy smoker.
Gambling
This again is very common in the streets of Vrededorp hence a straight law against it. Two reasons can be adduced for this habit; one is want of meaningful occupation. They gamble to pass the time another is poverty. People see in gambling a way to make quick money but as to be expected gambling worsens rather that alleviates the problem of the people.
General Carelessness
The people are generally careless with themselves because they have no future. Their children are dirty and neglected; their houses and the surroundings are dirty and uncared for even the people themselves have no refinement, they shout at one another across the streets and easily take to fighting.
Violent, Anger, and Moodiness
This is as a result of injured feelings in which certain characters in the Novel portray this trait in the people. Aunt Mattie is harsh with herself and with the world and easily takes to angers Adries mother is strict, she warns her son about the money for cracking “/i/ skin you to lose the money”. Aunt Eliza is also quick-tempered, Uncle Sam and Harry are moody – all brooding about their financial problems and bleak future. It is not surprising that Harry who had expected much from the world grows violent when his dreams are disappointed and he often fights with his wife.
Summary Of Tell Freedom By Peter Abraham
Discrimination
Discrimination against the non-whites by the whites invariably becomes an infection: the non-whites discriminate among themselves. The coloureds consider themselves superior to the blacks. Peter’s employer at the hotel warns him about Jim.
“But I don’t want any nonsense about your being better than him”
The colored’s discriminate among themselves. The richer discriminate against the poorer, the richer live in separate quarters in Vrededrop and are indignant about the poor bringing their dirt into their area to lower the standard of the people. Here is seen in society today. The poor are discriminated against by the rich, the poor cannot build a house in a street where rich men areas such as the street are reserved for Governors, Presidents, Commissioners, Permanent Secretaries, and top Officials. (46-50)
This is the reason behind the general outcry against Ann’s family when they move into the “reserved area”. The fairer coloureds discriminate against the darker coloured. Christopher fortune’s very fair mother has hesitated over meeting Maggie’s very dark mother.
To crown it all, oppression, subjugation and discrimination create complexes in people. The behaviour of the oppressed non-whites can always be explained in the context of the social situation in South Africa.
Summary Of Tell Freedom By Peter Abraham
The Effect of Oppression in South Africa as portrayed in Tell Freedom
Abraham’s Tell Freedom portrays oppression and its socio-political and economic effect on Nigerians and Nigerian society.
Abraham expresses the psychological and physical hardships and suffering of the masses in an oppressed Nigerian society, perpetuated by the leaders and opponents.
The sufferings are seen in the character of Peter and his mother, Aunt Lee, Uncle Sam, Aunt Eliza, Aunt Mattie and others which is contrast, the white and their people even the fellow blacks who are rich are the embodiment of oppression, discrimination, exploitation and victimization both in the private and public services.
Summary Of Tell Freedom By Peter Abraham
In South Africa these oppressors, colonial master and corrupt people are only interested in themselves and their relatives. They ruin the economy, loot the nation and illegally mass or embezzle wealth to themselves while the masses or the poor are left in doom and abject poverty.
As evident in the Novel, hunger and starvation, exploitation, oppression and victimization, faced by Peter in Tell Freedom and Zuman in Mine Boy and others really affected their soul, spirit and mind which made them to commit various crimes like; stealing, fighting, smoking etc. and work under a very bad condition in order to survive.
This is why in Nigeria; the prevalence of oppression is as a result of government insensitivity to the plight of Nigerians and Nigeria. For example, the house where the mother of Petre lives and Zuma in Mine Boy and even and even all the blacks is described by the Author as ‘Mine’ which is dirty, noisy and overcrowded, narrowed, badly cemented floo as such is not good for a healthy living human being.
Again, this shows the high level of poverty in many homes as well as physical and environmental hazards suffered by poor South Africa and the society during rainy seasons that their houses will be blown off by wind and storms which sometimes led to loss of lives and properties. Hence, there is an assertion that says “a hungry man is an angry man” Aunt Mattie exhibit what a hungry man does which is harsh with herself and with the world and she is involved in anger. Aunt Eliza, Harry and Uncle Sam are also victims of violent.
This invariably is one of the physical humiliations suffered by many poor families in South Africa because of oppression corruption and victimization. It is on this account of poverty which is caused by the oppression that makes Harry who had expected much from the world but gets known expect oppression which makes him to grows in violent when his dreams are disappointed and he often fight with his wife. This shows that Nigerian families are always in a dispute over financial responsibilities because of the evil of oppression as such they lack patience and tolerance and are easily provoked because their full rights are not given to them and they live in anger, frustration, hunger etc. and some of them indulge in illegal in stealing as well as Zuma in Mine Boy in order to survive.
Summary Of Tell Freedom By Peter Abraham
Apart from poverty, the non-whites are slaves in their own land. This is seen in the case where Peter works for a whole week without being paid, and Aunt Mattie was sacked by her boos because of seeking permission to go and see her friend who was not feeling find. This is clear exploitation, wickedness and humiliation of the poor by the rich and the government of today is full of oppression and corruptible in nature. Workers are often laid off without adequate settlement because they are oppressed and deprived of their working conditions. The private and public sectors both exploit their workers, they sack them at will and deprive them of their financial incentives.
Consequently, this hardship and frustration of the people rich make it impossible for most children to obtain a basic and formal education. Again, the incident where Peter indulges in stealing in order to survive portrays that many Nigerian because of hardship, poverty, oppression, involve themselves in the armed robbery because of lack of employment, lack of money for clothing, feeding of their families, lack of money to send their wards to schools forces them into crimes, a situation which poses a negative image to Nigeria.
In a nutshell, the effect of oppression in South Africa as portrayed in Tell Freedom has turned society into survival of the fittest or survival of the smartest. As such the resultant effect of crimes, madness, prostitution, robbery, stealing, adultery and other social vices caused by oppression, victimization and discrimination are unwholesome to humanity and society. The system of South Africa which offers poor and limited opportunities to average South African affects their mind, soul and spirit as such it brings violence in Nigeria and the world at large.
Style
Unlike, Tell Freedom is divided into three main books. In the first book with five sections which are further broken into smaller units. Peter Abraham describes his life as a small boy growing up among members of his family. We learn of his first encounter with a printed word when the Jewish girld reads of “Lamb’s Tales from Shakespeare” to him. This later arouses his great desire to learn how to read and write.
The second book has three sections with several units which recall Abrahams’ struggles to learn in order to achieve his life’s ambition. The book progresses to light the various difficulties he encounters in the process. He finally achieved his aim when he gains admission into the College of Pierfersburg.
In the third book which also contains three sections and some units, Abrahams tells the reader of his successful entry into a secondary school with the kind help of his father wood field. This continuous search for knowledge and freedom creates obstacles that he triumphantly overcomes and finally finds himself in England.
Summary Of Tell Freedom By Peter Abraham
As part of the development, we see peter Abraham’s use of symbolism to depict the feelings of others and portray the conditions to which the South African non-white are subjected. There is the use of symbols like “death” to describe the artificial quietness of the black location (Malay Camp) one day other than Saturdays when Mine Boy comes home with their pay and the place become overcrowded and lively: He also uses words like “puppies dogs, pigs and bastards” to describe the blacks. This shows their dehumanized and worthless life, the continuous use of bright coloured attires to describe free woman show how comforting and appetizing the women can be around the black settlements. These women provide one way of coping with the harsh realities of apartheid.
Again Abrahams employs the use of simple language to captive all these real-life experiences.
Moreover, the plot of the novel can be said to be linear, it develops with the physical and emotional growth of young Lee. However, there are several episodes and digressions but on the whole, every event stickers us sincere.
The setting is apartheid South Africa. The story moves with the movement of the authors-narrator, from Vrededorp to Elsburg, and back then to Pietersburg, and back to Cape Coast and black until Abrahams finally leaves South Africa for England.
The theme treated is relevant to the social condition or class system-color bar, exploitation repression, poverty, childhood innocence, oppression and eventual education.
The language of the Novel is accessible. The writing plan is good and the ideas are properly organized. In a nutshell, Peter Abraham uses the first-person narrator in Tell Freedom.
The story is an account of his life and his people in South Africa. His characters are straightforward or ordinary people who suffer from the consequences of apartheid policy in his country.
CHARACTERIZATION
The major characters are:
(1) Peter Abraham: He is the protagonist in the novel, the story is Peter Abraham’s autobiography. It recounts what he passes through in South Africa that is oppression, victimization, discrimination etc. which he later overcomes with the education his interest in Education makes him to travel out of South Africa to Europe.
(2) Father: His father’s name is James Henry Abrahams Deras. He was from Ethiopia and a son of landowners and slaves owners. He was an adventurer and migrated to South Africa for no accountable reasons. He had seen Peter’s mother than a widow living with a sister like her, wooed her and married her. He was a jovial man and made the home a happy one with his wife they had Peter and Natatie, but soon he died leaving his wife poor and lonely.
(3) Mother: Her name is Elizabeth and is fondly called Lina by her friends and relations. She is a member of Coloured Community: She had married first a Cape Malay with whom she had two children before the husband died. Later she remarried an Ethiopian; Peter and Natalie were born out of this marriage, the husband die again and she once more found herself lonely, poor and miserable.
In appearance, she is dark, smallish and tall unlike her sister Aunt Mattie. She is quiet and retiring. Again, she is highly religious and has the most gentle feelings towards her white tormentors. Quite unlike others, she does not speak about the white with venom even though she sustains burns in the course of serving them. When the daughter wants to speak heatedly against her employer for their inhuman treatment on her when she sustained the burns she calms her.
“It is nearly a year ago now, child forget it”
In the same way as a good Christian, she does not like the idea of Aunty Betty stealing clothes from her employer to provide Peter with some cloth she calmly tells Aunt Betty.
“The Lord takes care of his own”.
(4) Maggie: She is Lee’s sister and the one most close to him. She lived in Aunt Mattie’s house soon after her father died. She is ambitious and wants to become a teacher so as to take care of her mother, but Aunt Mattie’s financial limitations frustrate this plan, and she must like other non-whites “go and work for the whites, clean their dirt and look after their children”. She hates the whites for their arrogance and inhuman treatment of non-whites. “When I think of these whites people I shall all over with rage”.
Summary Of Tell Freedom By Peter Abraham
She loves her family, especially Lee and her mother. She stops Lee from working herself to death in a hotel. She is hardworking, she has helped to sustain Aunt Mattie’s large family, and when Christopher’s fortune her husband losses his job, she struggle to keep the family going by hawking vegetables and fruits.
(5) Harry: He is Lee’s elder brother who lives with Aunt Mattie until he suddenly marries and parks out of Aunt Mattie’s house. Naturally, he is stubborn and wants to live his life in his own way. Thus, he comes to hate Aunt Mattie nagging habits. He is not constructive in the way he does things: he is always rash and it is not surprising that he cannot run a happy home after he has married. He is a gambler once he was caught and sent to prison.
(6) Aunt Mattie: She is Aunt Lina’s sister. She is short, stocky, and fair enough “to pass” for a white. She is quite opposite of her sister, she is as loud and assertive as her sister in quiet and retiring. She is a chain smoker, especially when she is upset.
She had married a scot who worked in the mines and was fairly rich and with him lived a life above that of Vrededorp. Suddenly her husband was caught in gold smuggling and he wasted his wealth in the defense. She is harsh in the way she does things and believes in cleanliness. She scrubs Lee almost to the point of bleeding quite unlike her sister who is unassuming, she is arrogant in the way she talks to people blows her to the disgust of even her daughter she tells Denny.
“I took you off the street – I pay you, feed you, and keep a roof over your head so that you should do what I want”.
She is a very hardworking woman and by her strength, she is able to keep her daughter at school and maintain her large family. She sells illicit liquor which she was caught and she has to sell her property to pay off the fine in order not to go to prison.
(7) Catherine: She is the daughter of Aunt Mattie and her only child. She has blonde hair and blue eyes, she suffers from the violence which is made worse by the family tension. Perhaps it is her illness that causes her mother much concern. She is against her mother’s nagging habits, she later marries Jacob Loft Her boyfriend. Other characters are Danny, Aunt Betty, Aunt Liza, Uncle Sam, Oupa Ruiter, the Gans, Mr. Wylie Boeta Dick, Nnodi, Jim, Mr. Peter Dabula, Mr. Rathebe, father Woodsfield, etc.
